Blog
by Thomas Wright, Satisfaction Executive
SELECTiON.COM®
The Labor Department reported recently that the U.S. jobless rate fell to 4.1% in October, a 17-year low.
According to CNN’s Patrick Gillespie (@CNNMoney), “That’s why some experts think the U.S. economy is at, or getting close to, something called ‘full employment,’ which means employers can’t find many more available and qualified workers for open jobs.”1
With unemployment numbers that low, many companies are worried about how they’re going to fill those important positions with quality, reliable employees.
That is what makes it more important than ever for proper background checks to be a part of your screening process.
A thorough background check can make the difference between hiring an applicant who merely looks good on paper, and one whose qualifications are truly legitimate.
Criminal background checks are an important part of the process, but oftentimes it’s an education verification along with a prior-employment verification that can best weed out the less-qualified applicants from the candidate pool.
CareerBuilder recently announced that three out of every four HR managers (75%) surveyed have caught a lie on a resume.2
The most common fib seems to be embellishing skills or capabilities; 62% of respondents say they’ve come across this, and 54% say they’ve caught applicants taking liberties when describing the scope of their responsibilities.3
A quarter have seen people who claim to be employed by companies they never really worked for.
By checking an applicant’s actual employment history against the enhanced version, such falsifications can be easily spotted, but despite the obvious benefits many potential employers just don’t have the time or resources to perform such verifications.
Good news, SELECTiON.COM® can help!
Prior-employment and education verifications are performed by our most senior staff members with an average turnaround time of two to three days.
Prior-employment verification is available for previous positions held, starting and ending dates of employment, eligibility for rehire and other relevant information about the applicant’s performance.
Education verification documents an applicant’s start dates, end dates, major fields of study and degrees earned, areas that are often the most enhanced on resumes today, with an average turnaround time of one to three days.
Combine either or both with a criminal history report and a Social Security Number trace, and you have a great start to hiring the best employee for your company.
Here at SELECTiON.COM® we are a nationwide provider of background screening services. Our plethora of products and reports can help you find the best hires, even with the lowest unemployment rate in 17 years. Contact us today to see how we can make a difference.
SOURCES:
1 Gillespie, Patrick (2017, June 2). America’s job market is bit like the porridge in Goldilocks. You don’t want it to get too hot or too cold. It needs to be just right. CNN Money. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/02/news/economy/jobs-full-employment/index.html
2 CareerBuilder. (2015). Employers Reveal Biggest Resume Blunders in Annual CareerBuilder Survey [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?ed=12%2F31%2F2015&id=pr909&sd=8%2F13%2F2015
3 CareerBuilder. (2017). 75% of HR Managers Have Caught a Lie on a Resume, According to a New CareerBuilder Survey [Press release]. Retrieved from http://press.careerbuilder.com/2017-09-14-75-of-HR-Managers-Have-Caught-a-Lie-on-a-Resume-According-to-a-New-CareerBuilder-Survey
Blog, Employee Spotlight
Jennifer Clark has been a valued member of our Operations team since 2014. Here’s a little more about her.
Favorite part of working at SELECTiON.COM®
I have really enjoyed working for SELECTiON.COM®. I love working at SELECTiON.COM® because of the great employees, having a gym right here at work and the fact that we are a faith based company.
Favorite Hobby
Making Jewelry
Favorite Quote
“You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take” – Wayne Gretzky
Favorite Food
Penn Chips and Queso
Favorite Sports Team
Notre Dame Football, Cincinnati Reds Baseball, UC Bearcats Basketball
Fun Fact
I am a girlie girl but I love to go camping, 4-Wheeling and shooting bow and arrows.
Blog
Companies are not all created equal, and for that matter, neither is customer service.
However, when it comes to the customers themselves, most will agree on one thing: customer service is the top reason that they continue doing business with any company after the initial sale.
On a level playing field, customers return to businesses that make them feel valued.
In most cases, that begins with the very first phone call.
Think about it.
The last time you called a business concerning a purchase that you made or were considering, how did that call go? Did a computerized answering system make you feel as though finding answers to your questions was not going to be easy? Were you transferred, put on hold, asked to call back, or given bad information?
Did you verbally sigh at any point during the conversation, or call attempt?
Sales and customer service calls should always be answered by a person. At worst, an automated phone system should provide the caller with the most direct route for reaching someone who can assist in addressing the customer’s needs.
At SELECTiON.COM® we make each call a priority. We recognize how important it is to listen carefully, to not only more fully understand the needs of our clients, but to demonstrate for our customers our overwhelming desire to help.
Our customer service team consistently averages 94% or better in client satisfaction ratings.
Our team of highly qualified and knowledgeable associates is available from 8am to 8pm, Monday through Friday, via phone or online chat. Trained to listen carefully, our staff makes each call or chat a priority.
“I highly recommend SELECTiON.COM®! As a small recruiting company, I want to ensure I thoroughly understand what a background check can and cannot do. I have asked multiple questions over the years to ensure a complete understanding. The folks have gone out of their way to answer questions. In the rare instance they didn’t know the answer, they conferenced in their in-house attorney. Now that is excellent customer service! I use SELECTiON.COM® because of their great service.”
– Renee Fulton, President, Talis Group Inc.
Our approach to handling inbound calls is designed to provide service that exceeds our customer’s expectations. That’s a big part of the reason why we have many customers who have been with SELECTiON.COM® since day one, going on nearly 27 years.
How can we help you to become a raving fan?
Blog
by Wayne J. Jung
Wasp Barcode Technologies recently released their annual State of Small Business Report and not surprisingly more than half of the 1,100 small businesses surveyed indicated that hiring new employees was the top challenge facing them in 2017.
Less than a third of those same respondents also listed hiring new employees as a strategy for growing revenue during the same period.
The high cost of sourcing and acquiring new employees certainly plays a role, as does training, motivation and retention. Just like an employee tends to avoid certain tasks that they don’t enjoy, so too do many employers.
Just like in sports, it’s never a good idea for a business to avoid upgrading the lineup with talented professionals, and that’s especially true in a competitive marketplace.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, September’s 4.2% unemployment rate represented the lowest number on record in more than ten years. And while that is good news for jobseekers, it’s bad news for employers.
A low unemployment rate means that while there is more competition for good jobs, companies are fighting against others for top-tier professionals.
It is especially tough for small businesses who cannot afford to outsource their recruitment efforts, because the time and expense to attract the right people can be prohibitive.
And we haven’t even begun to talk about the costs associated with hiring the wrong person for the job!
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the cost of a bad hire can be as high as 30% of the employee’s first-year income. That can be a substantial hit for any company, made even more impactful when the same mistakes are repeated over and over.
If recruiting, interviewing, training and retaining that new employee is stressful, we can only imagine how hard it is to justify time and expense in the applicant vetting process.
That’s why at SELECTiON.COM® we go to great lengths to not only uncomplicate, but to provide a cost-effective solution to your hiring methodology.
With systems that greatly reduce time, eliminate manual paper filing, improve efficiency and are easy to use, SELECTiON.COM® offers customers of all sizes and in all industries a solution to their applicant vetting process.
Best of all, our solutions are priced to fit any budget and can be customized to your specific needs.
It really is as simple as you select the candidate and we’ll verify their background. That’s why we like to say, “Your SELECTiON®, Verified!”
At SELECTiON.COM® our proprietary Search America™ report is the largest National Criminal Database in the United States, with One Billion records from over 1,500 sources. It’s a multi-jurisdictional search of criminal record databases and Government Watch lists that includes correction records and Sex Offender registries from all 50 states. With this compiled database, we can help to keep your costs low and your coverage level high while providing a quality report.
Contact us today to see how SELECTiON.COM® can take your employment background check process to the next level.
NOTE: The contents of this article are not legal advice for your particular situation. You should neither act nor rely upon anything stated in this article without first consulting your own legal counsel.
Blog, Resources
Knowing the background of your applicant can be your greatest indicator of their ability to do their job. Unfortunately, criminals aren’t going to just give you their records or tell you where they committed their crimes. In fact, there are a few tricks that criminals employ to actively HIDE that information from you.
SOME OF THE TRICKS:
- Commit crimes after passing the background check.
- Give a False Name
- Move Around From State To State.
If you’re a client of SELECTiON.COM®, you’re in good hands. We’ve been in the background screening industry for over 25 years and offer all of the necessary tools to deal with the many different ways criminals try to hide records.
SELECTiON.COM® SOLUTIONS
Quarterly Watch®
SELECTiON.COM® owns the nation’s largest criminal database (Search America® Report) searching over 1 BILLION records. Once your applicant’s information is entered into our system, we will run our Quarterly Watch® product which includes Sex Offender Registry, Government Watch lists and Correction Records throughout the U.S. This way, you will be alerted as soon as possible with any additional records.
SSN Trace and Validation
First the SSN is ran through the SSA and then the SSN is traced which gives residence and identity history associated with the given SSN. If the name given by the applicant does not match the SSN Report, this can be a red flag to the client.
Criminal County Research
Fingerprinting and State Reports might be missing other criminal records. Depending on the offense, not all county records are reported to the state level. Furthermore, some records, such as public intoxication, disorderly conduct and misdemeanor drug offenses could be missed because the crime is a ticket offense that doesn’t require fingerprinting.
County research is the most accurate and up-to-date source of criminal history. Crimes are tried on a county level. SELECTiON.COM® researches the counties based of the SSN Trace Report, not where the applicant has told you they live.
Contact SELECTiON.COM® today to see how we can keep your workplace safe.
Blog
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