An executive background check is your company’s first line of defense when it comes to screening prospective employees. This is why it is so important to understand exactly what you are doing and ask the right questions.
What is a Traditional Background Check?
A background check helps determine employee suitability for employment. It helps decide if a prospective candidate’s character is suited for a specific company and also validates prospective employee competencies, knowledge, and skill.
A background check goes further to collect legal information that is considered part of the hiring process. It flags indiscretions in a candidate’s life, including severe misconduct, identity fraud, and arrests.
What is an Executive Background Check?
An executive background check provides an accurate, in-depth understanding and analysis of a high-level position candidate that a normal background check for an average employee wouldn’t. It goes further to learn about the complete picture of an executive candidate.
Education verification, criminal records, and professional references might be under a big microscope when conducting a more thorough background check for a high level candidate. Employers want to get a better sense of all the candidates unique professional histories first in order to avoid a PR disaster.
High-level job positions are costlier and riskier and so they demand a thorough extensive background check when filling these executive level positions.
Additional Information on Executive Background Checks
Background checks at the executive level include all legal available checks in addition to all information verification from a standard background check and also:
- Professional credential checks
- Social media and internet checks
- Sanctions and watch-lists
- Professional reference checks
- Federal, state, and county civil records checks
- Political checks
- Media checks both local and globally
What a Background Check Before Employment Means
If a company is going to invest its time, money, and resources in hiring a new person, a background check before they hire is extremely beneficial. An employer doesn’t want to be caught off-guard when hiring a new employee, especially when the job position advertised is for a senior level. Senior-level job positions require an executive background check to scrutinize applicants in intricate detail.
Because it is better not to make the hire than to find out later you hired the wrong person for the job. It would be costly to terminate an already ongoing employment contract.
Executive Background Check in More Detail
An employer can simply verify basic information, which is through a standard background check. However, for executive job hiring, a more thorough background screening is needed, including:
- Legal and ethical transgressions
- Credit history
- Performance issues and problems
- Motor vehicle records
- Criminal history
- Employee hire worthiness
- Educational degrees and dates
- Dates of employment
- Job title
- Why did the employee resign or be fired?
- Cause of termination of employment
Some sources where the information is obtained may limit what they can disclose. This would be for fear of a lawsuit being filed against the source. In other cases, an inquiry for a full disclosure of information may be denied due to an internal privacy policy agreement. Such a policy limits what information can be shared, including job titles, dates of employment, cause of termination, and employee hire worthiness.
Preparation for An Executive Background Check
Looking into a prospective candidate’s history is often part of the preparation of an executive background check. However, first you should confirm whether or not your state allows you to conduct pre-offer background checks.
An employer looks into social media profiles for information that may pinpoint red flags. An employee should be honest and discuss with a potential employer if he or she knows something that may be compromising in the past. It is part of an employee’s right to address past grievances while also ensuring how he or she would fulfill current job responsibilities.
Other batches of information can be gathered from open web research and public records databases.
Choose Barada Associates for Executive Background Checks
Overall, executive background checks are important in verifying key resume facts, preventing risks associated with senior-level hires, and protecting the employer’s brand and reputation. When you work with Barada Associates, you can feel the difference in professionalism. If you have any questions or concerns regarding executive background checks, contact us today!