How to Choose the Best Background Check Provider

Background checks have become an essential part of the hiring process, on this HR professionals agree. But only by partnering with the right provider will an organization benefit from the added protection and increased hiring quality that exceptional employment screenings bring.

Whether you’re with an organization that’s just introducing background checks or have an existing vendor who isn’t capable of delivering the timely, accurate information you need, here are some tips for identifying the best background check provider for you.

Consider screenings as an investment

First of all, avoid the “freebie” services you’ll see online. Most of them don’t turn out to be free, anyway, if you actually want to see the results of a background check you run. What’s more, employment screenings are definitely a “get what you pay for” product, and these clickbait companies aren’t investing in the tools, technologies, and partnerships required to conduct high-quality background checks.

How comprehensive are the results?

Many background check providers will rely solely on the address history provided by the candidate to structure a search. This means potentially leaving out some jurisdictions where the individual may have an undisclosed history.

The best providers look for ways to deliver a more complete screening. Asurint has taken this to the extreme with our IQLogics technology, which identifies a full address history so we can access all relevant records. This is how we deliver 16% more results than the standard background check—and frequently find the very information a candidate was attempting to hide.

How fast can a background check be returned?

Lengthy background check processes gum up the works, frustrate candidates, and can result in losing talent to competitors. Drawn-out background check processes also burden HR staff. That’s why Asurint has developed proprietary technologies, steeped in artificial intelligence, which enable us to return our comprehensive background checks 27% faster than competitors do a simpler, single-county search.

Can the provider integrate with your existing HR systems?

This feature makes running background checks and accessing and storing the results a seamless part of the overall hiring process. Asurint pairs well with many applicant tracking system and human resources information system (HRIS). See here for a full rundown on our current—and growing—list of integrations.

Will they help you stay compliant?

From the Fair Consumer Reporting Act on the federal level to “ban the box” legislation arising in states and localities, background checks are an ever-changing field, subject to strict legal requirements. Asurint is committed to helping our clients stay within the legal lines. Not only do we constantly post updates about the shifting regulatory environment, our automated compliance engine is constantly updated by legal experts and employs powerful algorithms to guide each search. Evidence of its success, our dispute rate averages less than 1 in 10,000 reports.

Any organization seeking a background check provider will also want to check references and reputation, compare pricing, and follow through on all the other elements of due diligence. The above questions, however, should help you home in on a short list of premier providers worth talking to.

And of course we’d be happy to share our insights into the background check market and give you some details about Asurint, too. Simply contact us.