Background Check Process for Employers: A Step-by-Step Guide

A fair background check process has seven steps: decide which checks the role really needs, tell the candidate and get their consent, send each request, track its status, record the result, give the candidate a chance to respond to anything adverse, and decide consistently. The checks can include references, employment and education verification, address, identity and, where the law allows and the role needs it, criminal record or police verification. Rules differ by country, so take local legal advice.

Step 1: Decide which checks the role needs

Do not run every check on every hire. A check should match a real risk in the job. A finance role may justify more checks than a role with no access to money or vulnerable people. Choosing in advance, and applying the same checks to everyone in the same role, is fairer and cheaper.

Step 2: Tell the candidate and get consent

Tell candidates which checks you will run, why, and who will do them. In many places you need written consent first, and in some, such as the United States for reports from a third-party agency, there are specific disclosure and authorisation rules. In the European Union, data about criminal convictions is tightly restricted. Do this step properly before anything else.

Step 3: Send each request

Each check goes to a different party: a past employer or a referee, a school or university, the candidate themselves for documents such as proof of address or a police clearance certificate, or a screening provider. Write each request clearly, say what you need confirmed, and say by when.

Step 4: Track the status of every check

Give each check one of four states: not started, in progress, done or failed. Note the date you asked, who you asked, and a due date. Most delays in background checking come from requests nobody followed up, so a single list of what is still open is worth more than good intentions.

Step 5: Record the result

Keep a short summary and a link to the report wherever you store it securely. Record what was found, not your opinion. Keep only what you need and for no longer than you need it.

Step 6: Let the candidate respond to anything adverse

If a check shows something that could change the decision, tell the candidate and let them explain before you decide. Information is sometimes wrong, out of date, or about someone else. In some countries giving this chance is a legal requirement.

Step 7: Decide consistently and keep an audit trail

Use the same standard for everyone in the role and write down the reason for the decision. Keep a record of who changed which status and when.

In Rezumz

Rezumz has a background checks tracker. For each candidate you can add checks such as a reference from a past employer, employment, education, address, police or identity verification, or your own kind, and move each from not started to in progress, then done or failed (a failed check needs a note saying why). Each check has a ready-written request email to copy, contact details including a LinkedIn link, notes, a link to the report and a one-line summary. The person who added the check and the account owner are notified when it is done or fails, and status changes appear in the audit log. Rezumz keeps a link to the report, not the report file itself.