Your business is only as strong as its employees and if you don’t have the right team behind you, your chances of success are very slim. That’s why it’s so important that you hire the right people at the right time. However, an employee’s application and even their interview do not always give you the full picture, which is why you need to conduct background checks before you bring a new employee on board.

But a lot of employers don’t really know what they should be looking for. This is how to conduct a thorough background check on employees so you can be sure that you are making the right decision.

Criminal Record Check

The criminal record check is the most important part of a background check because somebody that has been convicted of a crime in the past is not the kind of person that you want working for you. For example, if somebody has been charged with a DUI, that suggests that they are incredibly reckless. Anybody that has been charged with a violent crime may be a potential danger to you and your other employees, so it’s important that you know about their criminal past. In some cases, if somebody has committed a minor offense in the past but you still think that they are a good candidate, you may still consider hiring them. That’s perfectly fine, but you should address this issue with them beforehand.

Social Security Validation

Social security validation is important because it can tell you whether this person has ever lived or worked under a different name. In some cases, people may change their name in order to escape previous convictions. If you do not carry out social security validation, there is a chance that you could be hiring an unreliable, or even a dangerous employee without ever realizing it.

References From Previous Employers

It’s important that you find out how effective an employee is and whether their style of working will fit with the company. This is where references from previous employers come in, and it is important that you always contact their boss from their previous job. They will be able to tell you whether there are likely to be any problems from this employee in the workplace or not.

Credit Checks

It is becoming a lot more common for employers to do credit checks on people before hiring them because they can tell you a lot about a person. If a person has a lot of unpaid debts and their credit score is very poor, that suggests that they are not a particularly organized or reliable person. A bad credit score does not mean that you should discount a candidate right away because they may be suffering from debts that they built up when they were a lot younger. If you still like the candidate, you can ask them about their credit score and get their side of the story.

As long as you perform all of these important checks before hiring a new employee, you can always be sure that you are making the right decision.