One of the most overlooked checks in the wonderful world of pre-employment screening is the Social Security trace. A Social Security trace will disclose the name or names of whoever has a particular Social Security number. How does that help in the employment process? Well, suppose a candidate for employment was convicted of a felony in another state and then moved someplace else and had his name legally changed in an attempt to cover up the conviction in case an employer does a criminal national data base search. By legally having his name changed, the previous conviction wouldn’t show up under the new name, but it would show up in a Social Security trace!
A Social Security trace is going to provide all the names that Social Security number has been associated with, as well as the geographic locations of where that particular Social Security number has been used. It’s also a great way to identify locations in which to conduct criminal court checks – regardless of the name used – and regardless of whether a name has been changed or not.
No matter what name a candidate is currently using, a Social Security trace will reveal any other names the candidate may have used in the past. It’s definitely a check worth doing!