Guides on choosing, evaluating, and working with background screening providers, from the All Screeners team.
Tagged “first-time-hiring” · Clear filter
A step-by-step order of operations for a company that's never run background checks before: write the policy, pick a provider, build your forms, train your team, and set up adverse action before you need it.
Choosing a ProviderNo, not always. ATS integration saves real time once you're hiring in volume, but if you make a handful of hires a year, ordering checks by hand is usually less trouble.
Choosing a ProviderGoogling a candidate, running a free records site, and calling references yourself feels free. It isn't. Here's the FCRA trap that catches small businesses doing it themselves, and the protected-class info a real screening company filters out.
ComplianceYes, in most cases, through a genuinely conditional offer. Here's what makes an offer conditional instead of conditional in name only, and why you still can't fire someone on the spot if the report comes back bad.
ComplianceA standard background check usually isn't enough for a school. Most states require a separate fingerprint-based check run through a state agency, and it often covers coaches and volunteers too, not just teachers on payroll.
ComplianceAdverse action is a two-step notice process, not a one-and-done rejection email. Here's the pre-adverse notice, the waiting period, and the final notice, with a real template for both letters you can use today.
ComplianceFCRA doesn't let anyone pull a background check for any reason they like. There's a specific, legally defined list of permissible purposes, and employment is one of them, but only when the disclosure, authorization, and actual purpose all line up.
ComplianceNo federal law bans running a background check before you make an offer, but most employers wait anyway. Here's the federal-level reasoning behind offer-then-screen, and why it holds up even where no state law requires it.
ComplianceNo, not if a third-party company is running the report. FCRA requires a standalone written disclosure and the candidate's signed authorization before you pull anything. Calling a reference yourself is a different, narrower rule.
ComplianceA copy-and-fill background check policy template covering purpose and scope, who gets checked by role, consent, adverse action, record retention, and who owns it, from someone who ran this process for 30 years.
Choosing a ProviderA first-timer's walkthrough of running a background check the right way: write the policy first, get consent right, pick a provider that acts like a partner, and know exactly what to do if a report comes back with something on it.
Report TypesEmployment verification usually confirms dates, title, and rehire eligibility, nothing more. Here's why so many verification calls come back thin, and what to do about it.
ComplianceYes, you can screen a candidate who lives outside the U.S. But it doesn't work like a domestic check. FCRA still covers the U.S. side, and what you can actually verify depends entirely on their country.
ComplianceFederal law doesn't ban asking about salary history. A growing list of states and cities do, and it's specifically that question, not "what are you looking for," that's off-limits. Here's the difference and what to ask instead.
ComplianceSeven mistakes I saw over and over from first-time employers running background checks, from the disclosure form buried in an application to picking a provider on price alone, and exactly how to fix each one.