Do you Research Potential Hires on the Web?

[KristineS]

The thread where I was talking about poor grammar and practically illiterate forum posts got me thinking about this, so I decided to ask the question.

I know not all of us here have employees, but I still think it is an interesting question. If you did have to hire someone, would you research them on the web? If you did research them, how much bearing would what you found have on your final decision? Would it count as much as a personal interview?

Personally, the last time I had to hire someone, I did do research on the web. Part of this was because I was hiring a graphic designer and lots of designers have online portfolios. So I was more looking for examples of artwork then to get a general feel for the candidates personality. What I found did have some bearing on who got an interview and who got hired. It didn't carry as much weight as the in person interviews, but it did carry some weight.

What about the rest of you? Would you do research and how much would what you found matter?

[cbscreative]

Even if it's not for hiring in the traditional sense, it does matter. Yes, I do a lot of online research, but I also know I'm not alone.

I know for a fact that many of my clients have researched me on the Internet before I got "hired" and I appreciate that they did that. It helps build confidence (as long as you have nothing to hide). I've found clients who do more due diligence are better clients. The fact that they screen you in advance is a good thing.

I think it goes well beyond just spelling and grammar, it's a question of standards, and those who allow themselves a lower standard will suffer for it.

[billbenson]

What do you use for databases to find this stuff?

The reason I ask is a friend has the opposite problem. His brother took a corvette for a test drive 20 years ago, was speeding, ran from the police, totaled the car and said he was my friend. My friend went to court and showed the police officer he wasn't the one in the chase and accident. Charges were dropped for him and changed to his brother, however to this day he is in databases as having been arrested for auto theft and a bunch of other charges. A couple of years ago he found out he had warrants in other states related to this.

He would like to find out what charges are still out there. What databases would help him find that info. He is still getting turned down for jobs because of this.

He would also like to know if he can still file civil charger against his brother related to this if anybody knows.

[vangogh]

Bill I don't know that I'd be looking for specific databases, but rather general searches on the person's name to see what they've said and done online. You might find them at forums and other social sites easily enough.

I'd also guess it's a little late to file civil charges for something 20 years old, though take that thought with the idea that I'm hardly a lawyer.

I don't hire at the moment, but assuming I did I think I would spend a little time searching online about potential candidates. I wouldn't choose not to hire someone because they did something stupid one night in college. Who among us hasn't. I wouldn't automatically not hire someone because I found them using poor grammar either. I'd have to weigh the context of how much poor grammar and how often I found it. Everyone of us here leaves typos in posts for example. It's the nature of a forum. We're typing very fast and not really going back over every post to correct things. The same is going to be true in many places online. I wouldn't hold it against someone for using abbreviations on Twitter even if it were grammatically incorrect.

I'd be searching online more for a sense of who the person is and whether or not I thought they could help my business and be a good fit.

[billbenson]

There are databases that do criminal background checks. I don't know how good they are though. You are always hearing news stories about someone who committed a crime in some state and the police in another know nothing about it.

In the case of the 20 years passing for my friend, I wonder if that is the case in what is affectively identity theft, particularly for civil cases. If he could show that he recently lost a job because of the actions of his brother 20 years ago, I wonder if he has a case. Its an unusual situation. Obviously a very dysfunctional family as well.

[KristineS]

I just generally Google the person's name. I don't go as far as signing up for the databases that do background checks and stuff. Bigger companies might do that though.

[Steve B]

I did a lot of the "official" background checks in my HR Manager role. These searches were pretty inexpensive and a good investement for what you found out.

The information you get from them is getting better and better. Most states now require the data to be input in a cosistent manner and it is all based on SS#. Believe it or not, the police records from a lot of small communities didn't use SS#'s for a long time, so if your name was "John Smith" you had to rely on the HR guy to carefully look at the records to make sure all the bad stuff the other John Smith's did wasn't applied to you.

I haven't done too much research on the few folks I've hired since starting my own business. I probably should.

[huggytree]

i had myself background checked a while back so i could work for an insurance company....luckily i passed.....my union health insurance randomly drug tests also.

so i advertise myself as background checked and drug tested

if and when i hire employees i will background check and drug test...the background check was like $50-$100 or something like that.

i also check everyone i deal with on the WI court system...it takes 2 minutes and shows all lawsuits, driving voilations, divorces.....i had 1 potential builder who had 3 pages of lawsuits....i also had a guy who wanted to join my networking group who had 2 pages..i found out that Ford has just taken his van...

background checking your employees and customers is VERY important....if a employee or customer isnt paying his child support that shows what kind of person he is...you need to know!

[Steve B]

I don't know how much value anyone would place on the fact that you did a background check on yourself. That's just sounds kind of funny and probably wouldn't impress anyone. The drug test through the union on the other hand has a bit more credibility - but they're still relying on you to be telling them the truth about your own drug test results.

Be careful about doing drug testing of your prospective employees. There are some very strict laws on doing so and they vary by state.

[billbenson]

Huggy, do you subscribe to a service for the backgound checks. If so, what service and how much does it cost?