Can You Run An Employment Background Check On Yourself

Looking for a new job can be a daunting prospect. The fear of the unknown, the fear of being unemployed, the insecurity of being out of work, these feelings can easily creep into your mind as you’re trying to find something suitable.

After browsing through volumes of job opportunities and applying for those which appeal to you, it’s often a case of waiting to hear back and continuing with applications in the meantime. In today’s competitive job markets, getting to the first interview stage is an achievement in itself.

Hearing back from a prospective employer is very uplifting, something which can alleviate some of the stress associated with the job search. At this stage, you’d be sensible to start researching the company, potential interview questions, tips, and advice on how to successfully navigate your interview.

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Something that’s often overlooked is the employment background check, which is often executed using a platform like Background Check Source. Employers are increasingly using background checks to find out more about someone before hiring them. Though you can’t exactly prepare for a background check, nothing is stopping you from running a background check on yourself.

This involves browsing from the perspective of your employer. Doing so will remind you of important details about yourself while allowing you to ensure the information presented is accurate. Running a background check on yourself will align with your interview preparation since you can use information about your background to get ready for potential questions.

So, in actuality, how realistic is it to run a background check on yourself? Can this even be achieved on an individual basis? Let’s delve a little deeper into this:

Running A Background Check On Yourself

There are many different checks you can use. A great starting point is to use basic methods which are easily accessible, including the following:

• Online Databases
• Social Media
• References
• Credit Report
• Use a Professional Service

Online Databases

Public records contain a lot of valuable information, like whether you have a criminal record or not. Searching public databases is fairly straight forward since you can simply browse all online national databases and public records. This includes the global terrorism database, the FBI fingerprint database, the state and federal criminal database and more.

You can also extend your search to county and state records. Once you’ve uncovered your information, browse to determine whether what’s presented is accurate. If anything is incorrect your can prepare a dispute.

Social Media

It’s important to determine whether the information on your social media profiles is an accurate representation of yourself, especially when you have a public profile. If you’ve used profanity or expressed a controversial opinion, it might be worth removing it in case this negatively influences your prospective employer’s perspective of you.

A great place to start is by Googling your name and evaluating the profiles that show up. Ensure your social media profiles look professional and have appropriate comments while removing anything that seems dodgy.

References

Review important details like work history, education, and employment references. If you can’t remember the exact dates of important events, you should nail these down prior to the interview. You can review your work references by executing the following steps:

• Call your work references and ask them about your history. Confirm essential details like start and end dates, your position, duties, date of promotion and more.
• Contact your academic establishment and ask them to verify completion dates and grades.
• If anything is wrong, ask the relevant parties to rectify things accordingly.

Credit Report

These are usually run for financial jobs, where employers are interested in working out how financially responsible you are. Credit reports are easy to access, so running one on yourself is a doddle:

• Order a copy of your credit report from one of the three nationwide credit reporting companies.
• This requires filling in your name, date of birth, home address, and social security number. You might have to verify some personal information too.
• If anything seems amiss, get in touch with the requisite company and find out more.

Use A Professional

A professional service can help uncover advanced information. Using one will reduce the time taken to conduct individual searches, meaning you can focus more of your attention on preparing for the interview itself.

By using a screening company, you’ll see exactly what your employer does, a luxury that will ensure you’re one step ahead of the game.

If you are interested in even more business-related articles information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.

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