PEOPLE SEARCH BACKGROUND CHECK
So, you want to perform a people search background check. Please read on…
When you hear yourself say, “I want to run a criminal check on so and so.” Like me, you probably feel a little strange, maybe a bit guilty or shady. The term “criminal check” is a loaded term and when it is added to the name of someone you know, it becomes a very powerful statement that carries a great deal of baggage, depending on the relationship with the person. Here is a cousin of the same loaded term, “I want to investigate Susan.” Or how about this, “I want to do a background check on Tom.”
Background And Criminal Report
As you contemplate this course of action, you might even go into the rights and wrongs of investigating someone you know. What about issues of trust? If you trust someone, why should you investigate such a person -why would you do a background check on the person? Doesn’t trust imply faith and your ability to extend goodwill? You might even begin to question your own mindset: What sort of person am I to want to perform a criminal check on so and so? Is it right to run a background check on someone I know?
Well, let me take away your worries and your guilt. Let us for the moment suspend the term “background check” and the term “criminal check” and remove them from the equation. Okay, the veil of dirt should be gone. After all, you have not done anything, yet!
In the business world, technically speaking, employers investigate all their employees. Think about it. When somebody puts in an application or applies for a position with a company, even to flip hamburgers, the application always require a full disclosure of past employers, which could include all or most of the following, including address, positions held, salary, the contact information, and why the job was discontinued. Beyond all of that, the application also requires the current address, phone number, social security number, and at least three references, among other information. I consider this a background check, or rather information that leads to a background check and a criminal check.
Do companies feel guilty about asking this information on their applications? Absolutely not! It is smart business and it is standard procedure in the working world: businesses run background checks and criminal checks on people all the time!
But that is not all. For positions that require the person to handle money, such as in the banking industry, the employer will run a credit report on the candidate. The reason? They do not want to allow somebody who has a horrible credit report to touch money; they could not and would not trust such a person. A bad credit report spells trouble. Ask yourself if you would trust a banker or teller, somebody who has access to your bank account, who has been in financial trouble? My guess is that you would not want that at all. Banks understand, so they run credit reports on potential employees to protect their good name and to protect their customers’ trust. Let’s be honest here. Background checks and criminal checks are common practice in business.
Turning to the government employers, no matter at what level, be it city, county, state or federal, potential government employees must pass a drug test and pass a criminal check and a background check before they can be officially hired, and credit checks are not out of the question, depending on the position. Sure, the government runs people search background checks, too.
So, as you can clearly see, employers, including the U.S. government, will thoroughly investigate someone before the person is allowed inside and is given the keys to the front door of whatever job position.
Going beyond employers, even educational institutions require applicants to disclose such information as criminal history and other legal marks on their record.
