Congratulations! You made it through the long interview process, and you have received a job offer in the post. But at the bottom of the letter, after the important stuff about salary and holiday entitlement, is a single sentence about the offer being subject to background screening. This is becoming increasingly common in the UK and background screening refers to the checks and searches which an employer might do before taking on a member of staff. Some employers may conduct the checks themselves, others may ask a specialist company to do it for them. Background checking isn’t necessarily something to be frightened of, and many of the checks you can run yourself to see what might come up on a screening check.
Inconsistencies and Discrepancies
Perhaps the most common check is a close inspection of both your application form and CV. This is often done pre-interview, but screening companies may be able to pick up issues which have been missed. Screening companies, or in-house HR departments will make sure that the information you have given on your application form is the same as that on a CV and might compare that with other public profiles on sites like LinkedIn or Facebook. Finding that someone has given three different dates for when they attended university, alarm bells might be ringing. Make sure that you are presenting a consistent back story about education and employment and can explain any gaps in your education or employment history.
Credit Checking
If you are applying for a job in financial services, then you might be asked to consent to a credit check too. Credit checks look at your basic financial situation and aim to weed out people whose serious financial difficulties mean they could be tempted to commit fraud or be vulnerable to blackmail or pressure. Your own financial information is yours, and you can look at the same information as an employer can, so it is worth doing this to make sure there are no nasty surprises in store. It’s surprising how many credit records contain basic errors, so contact one of the major credit referencing agencies to request your file and make sure there are no accounts you don’t recognise or defaults in your name. There is lots of information online about steps which you can take to improve your credit score.
Social Media Screening
One of the easiest things to do for an employer and the applicant is a social media screening. This involves looking at your Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn accounts to make sure that you aren’t posting or sharing content which calls your character into question. It’s very easy to do this screening yourself, by logging into the site and seeing how your profile appears to someone else. Sharing pictures of your cat or children isn’t going to raise red flags, but following extreme political content or several critical posts of a former employer might. Delete any posts you don’t wish to be seen or tighten your privacy settings so that very little is visible to people you don’t know personally.