Giant Blog

Background screening - back to basics

Written by Holly Spiers | Feb 4, 2023 9:05:00 AM

What is pre-employment screening?

The recruitment process of new employees can be a challenge in today’s work environment. For any business, it is important to recruit candidates that have the required qualification and integrity to do the job, but it is not always possible to accept candidates at their face value. Pre-employment screening refers to a process where the employer verifies the candidate’s details to make informed hiring decisions. Pre-employment screening helps the employer identify candidates that fulfil the predetermined job qualifications and verify their details.

Pre-employment screening - a valuable component of the hiring process

Conducting pre-employment screening is a very important part of your recruitment process. Screening new employees help you eliminate the risk of bad hires. With proper screening, you can build a team of individuals who can align with your business needs and goals. Proper screening can give you the peace of mind that the people you bring into the company are competent to do the job.

"Giant Screening has not only helped us in reduce our time to hire, of course, it helped us to save cost as well, because no longer do we have to use the old snail mail, raw mail to send documents between us and potential sort of candidates""

What is pre-employment screening?

The recruitment process of new employees can be a challenge in today’s work environment. For any business, it is important to recruit candidates that have the required qualification and integrity to do the job, but it is not always possible to accept candidates at their face value. Pre-employment screening refers to a process where the employer verifies the candidate’s details to make informed hiring decisions. Pre-employment screening helps the employer identify candidates that fulfil the predetermined job qualifications and verify their details.

Pre-employment screening - a valuable component of the hiring process

Conducting pre-employment screening is a very important part of your recruitment process. Screening new employees help you eliminate the risk of bad hires. With proper screening, you can build a team of individuals who can align with your business needs and goals. Proper screening can give you the peace of mind that the people you bring into the company are competent to do the job.

What type of background checks are there?

Background checks are mostly conducted during the pre-employment process for job candidates. These checks are used to verify key details about the potential employee. The main purpose of these checks is to reveal any questionable detail about the candidate in process of the job such as past convictions, substance abuse, etc. These checks can also include employment references and education verification. A survey conducted by Monster Jobs in 2021 revealed that 66% of candidates exaggerate skills and competencies on their CVs. Using adequate screening measures can help identify whether the candidate attended the listed school or has experience working at the company mentioned on their CV.

Based on the nature of the job, using pre-employment screening measures an employer can also check a candidate’s credit background. These checks can help highlight any history of bankruptcy or default.

Benefits of pre-employment screening?

Most of the candidates provide inaccurate information on their resumes or during the interview process. Background checks can help discover the true abilities of the candidate and make the best hiring decision.

There are several value-adds for investing in background checks, we have a listed a few for you below:

  1. workplace safety: with the help of background checks you can be sure about the hiring decisions. You can safeguard your business and current employees. Proper screening can give you a sense of security and promote workplace safety.
  2. bad hires: A bad hire can result in loss of resources and time. It can cost the employer around ₤15000 per annum. Today most companies have a desire to save costs and improve employee retention, so it is imperative you make the right decision. With proper screening, you can minimise the risk of bad hires.
  3. achieve compliance: According to research, companies believe achieving compliance is the second most important business challenge, with 44% of the companies responding that adequate background screening helped to improve compliance. Satisfactory screening of new and existing employees can ensure businesses stay compliant with industry standards and regulatory requirements.

Third-party background checks

If you aim to run successful and reliable background checks on your candidates, you need third-party involvement. Opting for outsourcing will enable companies to be responsive and flexible in terms of their recruitment strategy. Outsourcing will also lead to cost savings and companies can benefit from the expertise of a third party making their recruitment process more efficient.

When it comes to employee screening, you need a fast and flexible solution, so you don’t lose talent, therefore companies outsource to Giant. As one of the industry’s leading companies, we provide specialist screening services for organisations of all sizes, globally. At Giant, we are here to deliver you our fully managed screening solution made to fit your company’s needs.