What is a Client?
The Client is the one who needs and orders a background check. It is often HR within a business, or a recruitment partner / staffing agency that does this on behalf of HR. The Client initiates the process and owns the results.
What is a Candidate?
The candidate is the person being evaluated for employment, and is the one that will be screened. As the person most capable of providing accurate information, the candidate is the most important person in the process.
What is a Source?
A source is the author and lawful owner of the information, but it can also be an external 3rd party that accesses and manages such information on behalf of the owner.
A university may be the source when checking education, a company may be the source when checking employment, and an online service can be the source when making inquiries in automated databases / archives.
What is a Caseworker / Screener?
A Caseworker / Screener is the one responsible for realizing the background check. A screener performs the searches in automated databases and contacts all relevant sources, and is the one who has the overview of you and your documentation.
This of course is a person who Meditor has screened before hiring, and who is competent to do a thorough and proper job and available to answer any questions you may have.
A background check is cloud-based
Recruitment occurs globally, and companies hire candidates from all over the world. That is also why background screening companies hire screeners of different nationalities.
If Meditor is the one that screens your candidate, the Screener might as well sit in Singapore, Lithuania or Spain, even if the candidate is Norwegian and who will work in Norway. Where we conduct our screening from is not important, since communication happens online. Databases may be abroad, as can schools and former employers, and the correspondence is via e-mail and online systems.
What is expected of you as a Client?
1. Inform the candidate clearly in advance. Read more here (link internally to inform the candidate) If the contract is outsourced to a professional 3rd party, it is important to inform WHO will actually be conducting the background check.
2. A background check is something you do for the candidate’s sake as well, and the start of a possible collaboration requires good communication and mutual trust. However, the candidate should not get to dictate the process. A background check is a tool as naturally as any other, and should be used in a professional manner in the best interest of the business.
3. Know what you want to check. The business often has clarified this internally beforehand, and made some combinations or “packages” to be used. If in doubt, ask the person who is responsible for background checks internally. Learn more about opportunities here (link to services)
4. Include all necessary documents when you order. If you have already received CV, certificates and other documentation then you should submit this along with your order. The candidate has already given this to the Company, and will find it unnecessary doing it again. This saves both you and the candidate time.
5. Do not include documents that are irrelevant to what you are checking, because it makes it hard for the screener to know what documentation needs to be checked. You can risk that unnecessary information is verified. Candidate information should be treated with respect, and all unnecessary transmission / storage should be avoided.
6. If you get questions from a candidate or a screener you should respond as quickly as you can. Orders are often placed “on hold” if the Client has been inaccurate or has provided inadequate information. If you’re unable to respond within a reasonable time, you should still confirm receipt and estimate when you expect to respond.
The inquiry is confidential
An inquiry should be treated confidentially. You have no right to know where the candidate has applied for a job or for anyone considering hiring the candidate. Avoid forwarding internally, unless you know who can answer. Notify the sender immediately if you find that you or your business is not the right recipient.
Who uses the information?
The information you want to verify should be used to provide a better basis for your choice. Remember that the results are never better than the information you or the candidate provide. Results end up in a final report, either as a physical document or in an online system. This report may be used as a supplement to tests, interviews and other evaluation criteria, allowing you to make better decisions.
The information is distributed, but in a limited scope. A screener uses the documentation you have provided to check the information in databases or forwards it to external sources. The sources use this to compare with their own records / databases.
If the background check is outsourced, only you as a Client save the results, since a background check company has no interest in the applicant or the results after the process is completed.
Create internal instructions
The business should create an internal directive that regulates how the background check shall be planned and implemented. Read more here.
