What do pre-employment background checks look for?

If you’re in the process of looking for a new job, then you may have noticed that many companies require a pre-employment background check to be filled out. While this may sound ominous, it’s a normal part of the hiring process. Employers want to verify information about you to make sure you’re the right candidate for the job.

You may be curious about what kind of information a company can dig up on you. The focus of most businesses seeking to hire new employees is to verify your identity. A pre-employment background check will look at your social security number, date of birth and driver’s license information to make sure they all match.

Another important piece of information for employers is to check your criminal background. This is required for jobs where you’ll be working with children, seniors, retail goods, transportation and high-level information. You should always be honest about your criminal background because it will all show up on your pre-employment background check. Not every company will disqualify you if you have misdemeanors, driving tickets or even felonies, but they will rule you out if you lie on the application.

Some companies may request a credit report as part of your background check. The basic information that an employer will be shown is your name, previous addresses, credit inquiries, credit history and public records. While it may seem invasive for a company to request to see a copy of your credit report, it helps hiring managers to get an idea of how responsible you might be as an employee. If you’re applying for any kind of financial job in banking, investing or tax preparations, then it’s likely your credit report will be looked at.

The best advice when it comes to filling out a pre-employment background check is to be clear and honest, that way there won’t be any surprises when you don’t get hired.