What is a Background Check?

A background check allows a company (or an individual) to learn about the education, employment history, criminal record, and other details of a person and to check for any discrepancies between what a person told them about themselves and what is true. These background checks are fairly common for anyone trying to rent a home, buy a gun, or even secure a job at a business. However, each of these circumstances needs a different kind of background check.

Here are the most common types of background checks that you may come across, as well as what they entail:

Employment background checks are used by 72% of employers, ensuring that a potential employee won’t be a liability for the company. They typically check work history, education, social media, and other pertinent information from the last 7-10 years.

Organizations or individuals use criminal checks to look for any major criminal activity, including sex offender records and crimes up to a federal level.

Universal checks are mandatory by federal law for anyone purchasing a firearm from a licensed seller. They check primarily for mental health records and felony offenses.

OIG (Office of Inspector General) background checks are required by the Social Security Act for any person seeking to be hired by a company. It checks for healthcare-related crimes.

E-Verify is completely online, and it allows employers to make sure that employees are legally allowed to work in the United States.

Fingerprint checks are often included as part of pre-employment screening for criminal history.

International checks looks for the same details as an employment check, but with international records.

Credit background checks look for the individual’s credit-to-debt ratio, showing how their credit has been managed in the past.

Professional license background checks show whether the individual has the license that they claim for certain types of work.