Did you become the subject of a background check or criminal history check? Have you considered conducting a background check? If yes, you have come to the right place. We will discuss criminal history checks, some tips for implementing them, and how to go around them to ensure you pass the background check.
What is a criminal history check?
It pertains to searching or checking an applicant’s criminal history. Companies or private institutions usually perform it as a part of the screening program for job applicants. The investigation results can help the company develop better-informed hiring decisions, eventually protecting employees and the business’s reputation.
A criminal history check can be done independently or outsourced to professionals. Performing a criminal history check requires consistency, especially regarding policy and procedure, to ensure fairness for all applicants. The goal is to prevent hiring employees with troubling criminal pasts, as it could mean trouble for customers, other employees, and the business.
Below are the recommended tips when performing a criminal history check:
Get consent
When checking someone’s criminal record, you need to make sure you are doing it all right, and the first thing to do is to get consent.
Understand what to include in the background check
A criminal check reveals information related to crimes such as misdemeanors and felonies. Still, there’s more to it, such as a sex offender registry check, US terror watchlist check, social security number validation, and address history check.
Know that some records are off-limits.
Know beforehand that some criminal records don’t appear in your search, especially if the criminal record information is over seven years old. There are instances when an employer is restricted from accessing criminal records until the later stage of the hiring process.
Some records cannot be accessed even if they’re not yet seven years old
Some documents cannot be accessed even if they’re a bit new, but such information varies from one state to another. The thing is, ordinary people don’t usually have access to such information. If you wish to have your criminal history checked in detail, hiring a third-party criminal record checker is best.
An arrest record might appear.
When checking for a criminal record, one of the most important pieces of information that would appear is the arrest record – several times, you were arrested even if you were acquitted. It could be that your criminal record is spotless, but your arrest record will pop up and can certainly affect your employment opportunity.
You can rub out some arrest records.
You are starting a new life, and you want to start clean. Now, you are bothered by your criminal records. Don’t you know that you can somehow delete some of them permanently? You can request to rub out records in certain instances if you get arrested but not convicted or your conviction was overturned on appeal. You can also request expungement if there are no pending charges against you or if it has been a year since you were arrested and won the appeal. To have these details erased from your record, all you need to do is contact the county courthouse in the state or the city where you were arrested and inform your intent to rub out such information.
Performing a criminal record check can be tedious, but it has many advantages for the hiring company and the applicants.
