If you are looking for a job, you can expect that any potential employers are going to want a background check performed on you. Different potential employers will want to know different things about you. There are several reasons employers use background checks for pre-employment screening.

Employers need to be careful about who they hire since negligent hiring lawsuits are happening more often. If an employee's actions hurt another individual, the employer may be liable. Therefore, the employer will want to check your past for any red flags that might tell them you are a risk to their company. Hiring the wrong person can drain a company financially and harm the career of the hiring manager.

Recent happenings have increased the need for thorough pre-employment screening.

Almost every state has a law in place that anyone who works with children will need to undergo a background check. This has come about because of the countless cases of child abuse and child abduction. Employers must make sure children are safe.

The events of September 11, 2001 have increased the need of thorough screening and identity verification. New applicants and long-time employees are checked following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The professional and private lives of corporate employees, officers and directors are examined now more than ever since the collapse of Enron.

Resume fraud is on the rise. There have been numerous news reports on employees supplying false or inflated information in an effort to obtain a job they may not even be qualified for. Human resource professionals are aware that some resumes contain false information. Performing a background check on a potential employee can give them insight into whether a person is honest and trustworthy.

Criminal background checks are required in most states for certain jobs. For instance, background checks are required by law in almost every state when the job involves small children and the medical profession. Anyone working with the elderly will most likely will be subject to a background check.

The internet contains numerous databases containing millions of records of personal data. As the cost for these services drops, employers are finding that it makes more sense to perform background checks.

You may feel that you don't have anything to hide, and therefore, are not concerned. However, running a background check on yourself can reveal undesirable information. A detailed check might contain information that is irrelevant, isn't what it appears to be or just outright wrong. Some information may even be illegal to use when being considered for a job. Therefore, you may want to order your own background check so that you know what it contains and you will be prepared to face your potential employers. If it contains negative information, you may be able to explain what had happened.

A background check can consist of information from a wide variety of sources and usually includes public records maintained by local, state, and federal governments. Various levels of government keep track of such things as criminal records, driving history, vehicle registrations, workers' compensation history, military service records, property ownership, and court cases in which you may have been a party. If you have been incarcerated, whether in county jail, state prison, or a federal penitentiary, that information will probably be discovered as part of the background check process. Local government records also include the academic history of most Americans, since most of us attend public schools.

It would be a mistake, however, to assume that a personal background check is limited to information assembled by the government. Private companies and individuals can also be involved. Credit bureaus, for example, are private corporations that specialize in tracking how you meet your financial obligations. In the United States, three such companies maintain statistics about how much you owe and whether you pay your bills on time; these records also indicate bankruptcies and reveal whether you have been evicted. Unlike other kinds of records, however, your credit history typically only provides information about the past seven years. Information older than that, except for bankruptcies, which stay on your record for ten years, is discarded.

A thorough pre-employment background check for a security clearance may also include a close look into your personal life. Through such techniques as interviewing your neighbors and checking your personal and character references, employers hope to identify those individuals who are more likely to be hard-working and trustworthy. Background checks in the digital age may also include internet searches using your name or address, and sometimes encompass specific efforts to locate information about you on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

Since background checks have become so commonplace, it has become increasingly more practical to run a background check on yourself. Having a background check in hand can be useful in a number of different situations. When searching for a job, the applicant who can provide this information will have an advantage, appearing to be a forward-thinking, responsible individual. Purchased background checks can also be shown to loan officers when you are trying to secure a new mortgage or refinance your home. Finally, prospective renters will be more likely to be offered a lease when they have a background check in hand to show to a landlord.

Background checks are useful in many instances, such as when deciding whether to rent to an individual, or employ him, or in any other way to enter into a contract with him. A background check typically provides you with information on the person’s past residences, employment and whether he or she has a criminal record. Even if a background check does not show a conviction, when its information is different than what the person related to you, it is always a cause for concern. You likely do not want to rent your second house to an individual when the background check on him revealed that his last two employers were different from what you were told, for instance.

Lately, background checks have been found to be useful on an entirely new class: yourself and your business!

Because the economy is so poor, competition for work is very intense and consequently employers are more cautious in contracting with businesses. Due to that, it is a major plus if you can give the potential employer, regardless of occupation, a background check on you and your business showing no prior problems.

Another reason that getting a background check on your business is called for is that at times innocent errors will appear on it, just as they do on credit reports, bank statements and in the telephone book. You need to carefully read the background check you receive and take whatever action is needed to correct any serious errors on it.

Adding a clean background report to a bid is often the difference between getting the work and not getting it. Because background reports are easy to obtain and cost so little, all contractors, regardless of what field they are in, would be wise to obtain them when bidding on a job. Not only will the background report ensure the potential employer of your worth, it will also provide needed confidence that there is no reason to worry about workplace safety. Are you painter, carpet cleaner, computer technician, appliance installer, redecorator, roofer, house or office cleaner, to name just a few areas of practice? If so, take this simple step to enhancing your chances of getting work and obtain a contractor background check today.

Did you know that pre-screening your new applicants for a job is not mandatory, except in certain occupations? It may not be mandatory but it is the smart thing to do. In today’s vulnerable business world, screening should be an automatic process from entry level positions all the way up to the CEO. This is true for small businesses as well as large corporations.

You want the best possible candidate. Not only do you want them to possess all the skills to fulfill your job requirements, but you want them to have a stellar background and be of good character. The cost of the hiring process, from recruiting, to hiring, training and terminating one employee can run around $10,000!

By not completing background checks, your company is left vulnerable to all types of potential loss, from negligent hire lawsuits, where someone in your company harms another person, to the possibility of internal loss of company revenue or even identity theft by breeches of employee or client information.

With the complexity of both state and federal laws, many companies are turning to professional background screening companies. It is quick, easy and efficient. By having a third party company, who will follow Fair Credit Reporting Act guidelines, you are assuring yourself and the applicants that everyone applying for the position will be given the same set of questions and the same background checks.

It is not uncommon for a company to have an applicant cover the cost of a background check. There are reputable screening companies out there with “no cost” background screening solutions for small businesses. There is one in particular that offers an applicant some nice extras to go along with their background check. The company is my background check.com. They will set the applicant up with their own account, where they are able to monitor the information gathered on them. If there are discrepancies, they can use dispute resolution services to correct the problem. The applicant is able to monitor their information and see who is making inquiries on their account. They are also able to share this account information with others, for example, to lease an apartment, and apply for a loan or assistance in getting them into school. There is the added bonus of getting a free 90 day trial membership to identity fraud protection services. These reports are FCRA compliant and are on a secure network. Information cannot be altered by an applicant.

Most applicants don’t mind paying for their own background check because they know that a company, who is requiring one, wants to provide them with a safe, secure, stress free work environment in which to perform their job.