At Barada Associates, employment verification is one of our core activities. To help our customers and friends understand the process, and to provide insight into how employment verification should be handled, Director of Client Services Mardella Huskins developed this overview.
Step One: Conduct Upfront Research—Be Prepared
- Researchers should confirm before calling that the firm they are contacting is an appropriate choice and that the applicant was an actual hire at the company and not a temporary employee or a contractor. The researcher should speak with someone in the Human Resources department or the Payroll department, if that is not possible.
- Researchers should be prepared to identify the candidate to the respondent, including the name under which the individual worked and his or her Social Security number or Employee ID number.
Step Two: Ask Probing Questions
- The researcher should not provide any information unless the previous employer states they can only verify, not provide, information.
- To draw more information from the respondent, the researcher should ask open-ended questions, not yes/no questions.
- The researcher should ask for everything they want. The worst that can happen is he or she will be told that the information is not available.
Step Three: Confirm “Unable to Confirm” Responses—Follow-up Properly
- If an automated system cannot locate the employee, the researcher should call the company and ask for assistance or an explanation.
- If a Human Resources department has no record of the individual, the researcher should confirm how far back records go and whether they include contract and temporary employees.
- If the reference company still cannot locate the applicant, the researcher should request additional information from the applicant, such as the applicant’s supervisor and a Form W-2 and/or a pay stub.
To learn more about employment verifications or any of our procedures, we invite you to give us a call at (765) 932-5917.