What Information Is Included in a Background Check?
Where have you lived, worked or have you ever been locked up for a crime? From the time you are born, every detail about you forms your background. The hospital where you were born in, the year, the day, the time, what you weighed at birth, who your parents are, all these are recorded and kept securely for as long as possible for future reference. Growing up, you get enrolled in school, from your earliest days in school, first-seventh grade, junior high, senior high, then even the colleges you apply to and those you got accepted into, all this is recorded and filed away also for future reference.
Your background not only refers to your where and when you were born or your education, but it will cover some major high points in your life also. Like where you have worked overtime, even been convicted of a crime, not convicted of a crime? These will all be part of your background that tells who and what you have been up to as an individual in society. Most background checks are carried out by potential employers to verify the information you might have supplied to them or to investigate further the kind of individual or potential employee you would turn out to be. The information gotten from a background check is dependent on the kind of check that is carried out. Will it be a total in-depth check or just a check looking for specific information? Let’s see the possible information contained in a background check or truth finder as some may call it.
1 Employment History
This is one certain information that will be shown in a background check. It reveals the different organizations or companies or businesses an individual has worked over time; it will also show the various positions that such individual has held in these different jobs plus how long each job lasted. An employment history won’t most likely show if you were fired so be upfront about this if asked.
2 Education
So, from like when we are four years old, we start going to school, and this period of schooling marks a huge part of our lives. From the moment we are enrolled in school, this record is kept and will show up whenever a background check is conducted on us. It will follow till when we go to college and what colleges we attend, courses and majors studied or even if you have student loans outstanding.
3 Criminal Records
If you are ever arrested or even named as a suspect in a crime, this information will be available when a background check is conducted. It shows your history of any altercations with the law, any open cases in which you are named, and any jail time served if ever been convicted of a crime. Criminal records are most times public records also and can be obtained by most residents of a locale.
4 Credit History
This falls underneath your financial history. It will show the different major credit purchases that you have. It will also show if an individual is in debt. This information is important to most employers as some potential employees will be in sensitive positions that could make them vulnerable to certain crimes.
5 Motor Vehicle and License Record
Issued by the DMV, the department of motor vehicles, this record will show the type, make and model of the car you drive, the tags. It will also show where your license was issued, your face on is on the license also plus where you resided when the license was issued. If you have been involved in a motor vehicle accident, this record would most likely bring it up when a background check is conducted.
6 References
Worked in many places? Have a college professor who was impressed with your work? References are a way of inspiring confidence in our abilities to other people who might want to work with us, by recommendations from people who have interacted with us both on our career and educational journey. They come up in a background check as a way of getting to know us more.
7 Legal working status/Immigration
This applies to individuals who have moved from one country to another. When employers want to recruit a potential employee, this is a requirement they do not overlook when the employee is a foreigner. The legal working status is a mandatory requirement that must be checked due to different foreigners who reside illegally in a country.
8 Litigation records
Employers are pretty interested in these records as it shows if a potential employee has filed any discrimination suit after he or she was let go. This helps them be well informed about a potential employee’s leanings.
9 Social security number
This is given right from birth and is a part of you all the days of your life till you die. This is an important bit of information as it can lead to the discovery of identity theft. Most social security records help in background checks to know if an individual is who they say they are or if they are hiding from the law.
10 Possible Military Records
Ever served Uncle Sam? Well, this record will show, and it is important to ascertain if there is a discharge of duty and why.
The information included in a background check can be any of these depending on the purpose of the inspection, who is conducting the inspection and just how detailed the check should be. Are these checks free? Well, some records are public and are accessible to anyone with the click of some buttons, but for protecting individual’s privacy, most background check information has to be paid for by whoever wants the check carried out. Even in situations where payment is made, not all data will be made available to you but if you are a potential employer which can be honestly verified to exist, then depending on the nature and purpose of the background check, most information on record will be accessible to you.
