Nine Hiring Hot Topics

Credit Union Magazine
February 18, 2009 | COMMENTS

Hiring professionals should keep these nine hiring hot topics in mind during the upcoming year, according to employeescreenIQ, a Cleveland-based employee screening company, as reported in Credit Union Magazine:

1. Background checks

Considering the state of the economy, the job market is destined to become even more competitive, which in turn could lead some individuals to stretch the truth to secure employment. New employees will be expected to fulfill a wide range of responsibilities, so it's imperative the items listed on their resumes truly reflect the experience they claim.

Resume "fluffing" isn't the only area employers need to focus on: Conviction rates among job applicants also are rising. Hiring professionals must be sure their employment screening firms conduct thorough, detailed background checks. There's a 56% discrepancy rate between what's reported on a resume and what's found when conducting employment and education verifications, according to employeescreenIQ. The company also has found a significant increase in criminal hit rates during the past year.

2. Social networks

The social network revolution has changed many communication channels. But should it affect how companies screen job applicants?

Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn contain a wealth of personal information—both good and bad—that allow hiring professionals to view home pages to gain additional information about job candidates.

3. Outside contractors

One of the most important reasons for background checks is to make sure an employer's workers, customers, and contractors are safe from harmful actions.

But when a contractor is on-site at an employer's business, which party is responsible for screening the contractor's work force? And how can all parties involved be sure the screening provider hired is using best practices? With staffing managers using more outside sources to fill positions, this is sure to be a hot topic this year.

4. Background screening for current employees

Background screening is a great method to analyze prospective employees. But why stop there? Recurring background checks on current employees are becoming common. Continuous employee screening can help employers stay abreast of a person's personal activities that can affect the individual's employment standing.

5. County, national criminal searches

A national criminal database search shouldn't be the sole method used when performing a criminal background check but a complement to a countywide criminal search.

National criminal databases are aggregated by individual companies and are limited to only resources that are willing to share such information. There's no governmental mandate to participate and no control over what information gets in or how often it's reported or updated.

Hiring professionals must confer with their screening company to make sure the provider conducts county records searches as its primary information source. This, along with researching a national criminal database as a secondary source, will provide the information needed for accurate employment screening.

6. States' focus on privacy procedures for public records

In the age of identity theft, states are taking measures to protect their citizens' personal information. This seems like a good concept, but these protection measures can affect how quickly and how much information employers can obtain.

What happens if these measures block the release of important hiring information which, if known, could have avoided a workplace transgression?

7. International screening

Many multinational companies aren't focusing their screening efforts only on employees they're bringing into their home countries but also applicants who are trying to obtain positions at overseas facilities.

Navigating through each country's laws and regulations can be a long, difficult process. So they should use a screening provider that can evaluate and interpret the countless international laws and regulations.

8. Adjudication modules

Some hiring managers use adjudication modules—grids or charts that dictate specific reactions to convictions for identified crimes—to assist them in the hiring process. The modules are perceived as a helpful tool to use during the employment review process.

A pitfall for developing an accurate adjudication module is that different jurisdictions define crimes differently. These inconsistencies result in a flawed system and possible U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission infractions.

9. Education

Human resources, risk management, and security professionals have many responsibilities associated with their positions. Even though hiring and selecting a background-screening provider is a small portion of their overall duties, it's still important to keep current on the industry and the integral role it plays in mitigating an organization's liabilities.

This story first appeared at www.creditunionmagazine.com and is reprinted with permission.