Dodging a bullet
Lots of organizations begin an aggressive or comprehensive background check program because of something that happens to them. A violent attack or a charge of sexual misconduct or theft against an employee provides a wake-up call and the organization starts or improves a program of background checks. The case at the University of Colorado is different. They're going to start checking the background on all employees because of something that didn't happen. An editorial in the Canon City Daily Record titled, "Universities need to look into background for all employees" tells the story. Here's a summary. Kenton Drew Astin was [...]
Foster-grandmas get background checks
A story titled "New rules expand background checks" on Kentucky.com picks up information off the Knight Ridder newswire about the increased use of background checks by AmeriCorps. Here's a quote from the article. Senior citizens and others participating in the help-your-neighbor AmeriCorps program will now submit to background checks before getting certain assignments, under new federal rules. Volunteers working with the young, the old and the disabled will all be investigated. AmeriCorps is part of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which, in turn is an independent federal agency. It was created in 1993 to connect Americans of all [...]
Time for a Gen Y reality check
Two recent news stories highlighted for me just how interesting and strange the world of job hunting and background checks can be in this Digital Age. First there was story on MSNBC that underlined something that I think we all know: employers use online search engines like Google and social networking sites like MySpace to check up on prospective hires. Here's a quote: According to a March survey by Ponemon Institute, a privacy think tank, 35 percent of hiring managers use Google to do online background checks on job candidates, and 23 percent look people up on social networking sites. [...]
Check ‘em all, check ‘em all
The trend to do background checks for all employees is spreading in government. Recently two counties in different states joined the bandwagon. Montgomery County, Texas, just north of Houston, and Lee County, Florida are two of the most recent converts to the "check 'em all" movement. There are two big reasons why more and more government agencies and private employers are following suit. Companies and government agencies want to protect their people and their assets from employees who may abuse their position of trust. They also want to make sure that they're doing everything they can as part of due [...]
More companies using outside services for background checks
A survey by a Connecticut-based strategic planning consulting firm found that more big companies are using outside services for criminal background checks and pre-employment credit checks than ever before. The firm surveyed companies in Connecticut and New York about their recruiting practices. Here's what they found. Of the 73 organizations in Fairfield County and the metropolitan New York area that participated, more than 65 percent use an outside source to conduct formal background checks. My take is that this is part of a big and important trend. More and more businesses are realizing how important it is to hire people [...]