What is a Level 1 background check?

Every employer should consider doing at least a basic background check on all of their potential employees. If they don’t, they’re running the risk of hiring employees who either aren’t qualified or aren’t the people they claim to be. Companies can lose money by hiring employees who are incompetent, have a criminal record or are potentially dangerous individuals.

There are different levels of background checks that employers can use to get a clear picture of who they’re thinking about hiring. The minimum employment background check is a level one, and most employers do this as a part of their hiring or screening process. The level one background check only looks at the applicant’s information in the state you are hiring them in. The problem with this is that it misses important national information.

Getting a level one background check means that the potential employee’s personal details are verified. A level one check may also check for aliases that the applicant has used based on their date of birth, social security number and birth date. The level one check also looks at the applicant’s employment history, which is valuable for the employer.

Unfortunately, not everyone is truthful when it comes to what they’ve listed on their resume. Every hiring manager needs to cross-reference the applicant’s resume with their background check information to make sure they match. Big discrepancies in employment dates, job titles and company information should be a warning to any employer. Sometimes people make mistakes when it comes to filling out applications, but if they’ve listed a fraudulent job history it should be obvious.

Depending on what state the level one background check is being completed in, then it may also include a sex offender registry check and a criminal background check. These are two important sources of information that should always be looked at carefully.