Getting proof of employment of a candidate or verifying his past job experience or employment history is one of the crucial background checks that employers in almost every organization conducts.
It is crucial because it may be one of the most popular areas where a candidate may falsify records about his past job. Also, it is vital as such background checks help employers to know, whether the applicant fits perfectly to the job or not.
If you are therefore unsure about the employment information provided by a candidate or it is a ‘must to follow’ process in your organization, then you may adopt some ways to proceed with this procedure.
14 Best Ways to Get Proof of Employment:
To get the exact proof of employment, the employer should conduct a detailed background check regarding employee history, salary verification, work verification etc.
1. Create a checklist of information that you require:
If you intend to hire an external agency to get the job done or you want to carry on with the procedure on your own, the foremost thing essential is to jot down all the information that you need to prove for a specific candidate.
You may want to gather data for start and end date of your candidate’s past jobs, duties and titles of such jobs. If, in case an employee has been terminated, then surely you must get the reason for the same and ensure that whether he is eligible for rehiring or not.
2. Decide for the past duration for which the employment check has to be done:
Usually employers plan to verify the candidate for the past employment or for specific time duration or certain number of years. The style in which you define this, not only depends on your company’s particular requirements but also on the previous employment history of the candidate.
For instance, if an applicant is interested to work for you, who was an employee of a single organization for past 8 years, then even conducting a employment check of around 5 years is going to provide you with details of only a single job.
3. Check for employment gaps:
There are some employees who have employment gaps in their job history. You must check for the reasons of employment gaps, especially if they range within a span of 5 years. In such cases, genuine reasons, like giving birth, transfer of location or a gap due to health troubles must not be a point of worry. But, for instance, if the employee has taken break for two years, then a check of 5 years is going to provide you relevant information for 3 years.
4. Select a verification service:
Once all your needs have been assessed, you may now select a verification service that can help you gain suitable information most effectively and affordably.
There are various verification services that offer access to varying information and databases, but each service company may provide different options from which you may select the one that best meets your company’s requirements.
Also, the price or fee charged by such companies may vary, depending on the service they are offering and your requirement.
5. Get approval from the candidate for the verification process:
Most of the organizations need a signed consent paper before it completes the overall search. Even as per the law of some states, it is essential to take an approval from the candidate to carry on with her or his employment history check-up process.
The other way is that you can sign up with your verification solutions and provide a code to employees to check your employment history. With such option, your hiring procedure will become smoother and quicker and will also boost your employee’s confidence in your organization.
6. Conduct a meeting with the candidate:
Offer the candidate an opportunity to explain any difficulties between the verification process you have received and the data supplied by him.
Typically, such a meeting is conducted to provide the candidate an opportunity to resolve any information present in the report if they state that isn’t correct.
There are possibilities that sometimes the discrepancies may result out of misunderstanding. For instance, an employer may be hired by an agency on part-time basis and then shifted to full-time permanent job. So he may update his overall term of employment on the full-time basis.
7. Get a background check for information you require:
Depending on your company’s requirements and the duties that you want the employee to fulfil, you may get an employment check done. For this you need to analyse the various aspects of a candidate’s background apart from his employment and verification.
The depth and scope of your background check must reflect the nature of the position for which the application has been submitted. For instance, if a job requires more of financial responsibilities, then you must check the candidate’s background based on his financial skills.
8. Hire services of a background check company that fulfil your requirements:
There are numerous companies that offer background check services. The best one for you is the one that optimally meets your requirements. Such a company must provide you with all the information without wasting your money and time or pulling information about the employee candidates that is not essential for you to analyse the applicant’s visibility with your organization.
9. Follow up with the applicant for information obtained in the background check:
If there are questions raised in the employment check, then you must verify the same with the potential employee and try to resolve them, if in case the applicant seems suitable to you.
In most of the situations, the issues occur due to misunderstanding. It is therefore better to clear all such issues with the candidate before moving on with the hiring procedure. Also, it may also be supportive in checking the overall story behind what must have happened with the employee or what has led to a specific result.
If the hiring decision of the company is solely based on such decision, then you may also provide the employee with details regarding the same along with a copy of background check report regarding employment verification received by you.
10. Requesting detailed information and documents from the candidate:
Most of the organizations ask the employee to provide them with complete details of proof of their past employment.
The recruiting manager may also ask the employee to provide them with their tax or social security documents as such papers also contain the proof of employment.
If the applicant does not have such necessary details, then they may order a transcript for the specific duration you require for proof of employment.
11. Compare the information on the papers to the applicant’s application or resume:
Once the interested candidate has submitted the documentation you needed, you can see if it matches with the information collected by you.
If there is any document pertaining to the experience or past work of the employee that may appear false, then you may confirm the same from the past organization of the candidate.
In such situation, you are required to call the temporary agency or any other service agency to verify the application status.
12. Contact directly with the past employers:
If you are looking for a direct method to avail proof of employment for a candidate, then you may contact the employer.
Rather than the contact details mentioned by the employer in his resume or application, you may search for the official address or official contact number and then carry on with the employment verification process.
If there is any senior authority above you, then you may have to mail to the senior human resource manager or same in order to ask permission for the verification process.
13. Check for the references:
You may opt to not act too strict to the employer, and hence, may check about an applicant’s past employment from the references mentioned by him.
If the employee has provided details of his previous manager in the organization, then you contact him or her directly and ask about the employee’s performance records, work ethics and other essential information.
If there are no references mentioned in the application provided by the candidate, then you may ask for the same during the very first round of interview.
14. Check through social networking sites:
There are various social sites, few of them are specifically designed to enhance the professional networks of professionals belonging to various fields.
You may check for the candidate’s profile on such networking sites to know details and accuracy of information provided by him in the application form.
If you find any information misleading or a mismatch then you must avoid hiring the employee or ask questions about it from him, before making the final decision.
Getting proof of employment for an employee is essential and can provide a company with valuable background details about its work habits, integrity and attitude. With increasing competitiveness in the market, it has become necessary to conduct a background verification of employment for the candidate to hire the best fit for a vacant position.
