Background check
Companies conducting a background check during the pre-screening employment process
on prospective candidates looking to enter the security field is as crucial as an interview. How a
security company goes about its background check makes all the difference in the world. There
are a plethora of internet sites that claim to deliver a complete gamut of results for a fraction of
the cost of a private investigations firm, but often these sites fail to include a full spectrum of
details, resulting in outdated or inaccurate information. Private investigators perform two
different checks: criminal investigation and background check. Background check sites only
compile data from public records, are inconclusive in many ways and require verification by a
human. Private investigators obtain their information from multiple sources: non-public
databases, public records, often supplement their check with pertinent information from social
media platforms and utilize their expertise from thorough training.
Though the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) conducts a thorough
background check with the DOJ and FBI before issuing a California guard card to vet those with
immoral misdemeanors and felony convictions, it is still critical to perform an additional
background check to verify employment history, educational background, credit score, and
sometimes even an applicant’s driving record. These are all invaluable pieces of information in
concluding someone’s character, i.e., if an applicant has opened multiple lines of unpaid credit,
has lied about their educational accomplishments, or has been terminated from multiple
employers for substandard workmanship or criminal accusations: these are all signs of a
questionable moral compass.
Not only can employee negligence, conduct and irresponsibility stain a company’s
reputation, but high turnover rates also cost security companies in the US billions of dollars from
having to constantly train and retrain, having to open up and close direct deposit accounts, the
multitude of W2 tax forms, and the copious amount of wasted paperwork from termination
packets, training manuals and policy handbooks–not to mention the wasted energy and time
spent by managers and supervisors will cause an unnecessary hemorrhage of funds. Another
unforeseen cost for security companies is employee theft, which, according to Security
Magazine¹, costs American businesses an annual average of $50 billion dollars. The propensity
to repeat an offense such as theft is highly likely. So, though companies may be repelled by the
differences in price from PI firms in contrast to fly-by-night online sites, an accurate and full
scope background check will help mitigate the perpetual cycle of frivolously dumping funds into
a vacuous money pit that exists when security companies are not careful of who they bring on
board, and help to prevent their company’s reputation from being ruined. Background checks
conducted by reputable private investigators is one of the best ways to weed out the bad seeds
from the hiring process. If welcoming random strangers to sleep in the same room sounds like a
bad idea, so should blind hiring due to an inadequate background check.
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