Optimizing Your Background Screening Program: Advanced Strategy Options for HR Leaders

It's July, things are on lock for the summer. Baseball, 4th of July, kids at camp, vacation planned.

It's a lock with business too—hiring is humming, no surprises coming your way. Well, who can tell. They are "surprises," after all.

It's a good time to consider changes or just try different things that you may have been curious about.

For instance:

Social Media Searches. Can flag patterns in digital behavior—before a bad hire, a bad match or a brand disaster.

Reference checks.

• If you do your own reference checking, think about the time you would save to outsource this to a company that does it all the time. We are professional, fast and frankly, damn good at it.
• If you don't currently do reference checking and want to see if it's worth the return on investment, try us and see. From nearly 30 years of experience, I can tell you that not everyone can provide three good references
  • My all-time favorite story: We had an applicant who only gave his mother as a reference. While we don't usually call relatives, that was all we had, so I picked up the phone. "I wouldn't hire him. He's lazy, he drinks and can't hold a job." I was speechless. Dang, man. Your own mother.
  • On the flip side, there are a lot of references that give glowing reports on their co-workers and subordinates. Also incredibly worthwhile to know that you're looking at a true gem of a hire.

Criminal background checks. Not all are created equal, but how do you know?

• Cutting Edge Background prides itself on fast, accurate and—yes—cost effective reporting of actual courthouse records.
• Are your criminal searches including the federal courts? I never knew how many job applicants smuggle drugs across the border between the US and Mexico until we started doing the background checks for a company in San Diego. That's a federal offense that will never appear in state/local court records.
• Did you know that the FCRA contains language requiring background screeners to provide information that is "accurate and up to date"? That's a hard pull if your screener is using a database which can produce name matches (not accurate) and be days, weeks, months or even years behind (not up to date).

As Tina Turner said in her lead up to Proud Mary, we'll make it nice and easy (didn't know that? Stick with me.).

How about three complimentary background checks of your choice trying out any or all of the following:

1. Social Media Searches
2. References (up to three)
3. Criminal searches, nationwide, including federal courts

Cutting Edge will do the three for free (some restrictions apply). No obligation, just to see if you're missing anything that could make your life better. Then, if you like, we can talk.

I'm so sure of it, I'll buy the coffee, too. Let me know here if you're interested https://calendly.com/cuttingedgebackground/30min

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