Background Investigation vs. Background Check

SeekingSitters performs a Background Investigation on every Contract Professional Sitter that is referred to the members of the service. A background investigation is much more thorough and accurate than a "Background Check." Read below to further understand the differences of SeekingSitters sitter screening process in contrast to other companies that simply provide an online "Background Check."

What standards can you expect in a “Background Check?” Is what is termed “Background Check” truly an “investigation” of a subject’s personal history? You will be surprised to know some facts about this misunderstood service that has become essential in providing personal character profiling on today’s job applicants.

When you read or hear that a company performs a “Background Check” on their contractors, employees or volunteer personnel , the consumer immediately feels a bit safer, a bit more at ease. But what you don’t know is that the information sold as a thorough background check can be grossly inadequate and inaccurate to the point of being outdated, missing, or just plain wrong! We come to trust the words “background checked” and assume that all background screening is performed professionally and thoroughly, perhaps in the manner of law enforcement agents – NOT SO!

Online information has helped investigators in a tremendous way over the past 20 years through the development of the internet, but this readily available information is only the preface of a true professional background investigation – the “hot off the press” data retrieval only scratches the surface of the individual’s lifelong behavior and does nothing to dig for the dirt! The availability of electronic information to the general public for the purpose of performing background checks has greatly raised the risks to employers for failure to perform due diligence in employment screening. Therefore, “Buyer Beware” when it comes to choosing a qualified, professional background investigator!

It is important for a consumer to understand that a company claiming to run a “background check” on someone could merely be retrieving online data and passing it on to you without any further verification of the information – this is not a background investigation! Such “background check” data retrieval providers merely scratch the surface of a person’s character profile history.

There have been cases of job applicants that have omitted criminal information on an application knowing that a standard "background check" will not identify this information due to incorrect filings or name misspellings. If the company you are utilizing is performing a true background investigation, this information will be found as a hand-on investigator will verify name accuracy as well as other detailed information.

In order to ensure that background information on a person is accurate and up to date, a professional background investigator must not only search all sources of public records readily available from information vendors, but also from the investigator’s own personal research and contact with the actual sources. Professional background investigators must know how to traverse through the maze of records repositories nationally and worldwide, and know exactly who-what-where their sources are in order to get the desired information on a subject.

There are tragic cases every day that example the lack of thorough background screening practices and it is not unusual in this era of online public records databases that background checks can be obtained anywhere for any price; therefore, the professionalism of a background screening company must be scrutinized. There is no such thing as “instant” results on a true background investigation, but it is true that “instant turnaround” or “same day results” are sold as background checks; a thorough personal character screening may take several days, or even several weeks, by a professional background investigation company, but it is well worth the wait when you can be assured that true due diligence has been performed on the subject.

What you can do to make sure you are getting the best background information possible from your background check supplier is to ask questions: How long have they been doing background screening? What specifically is their method of background investigation? Is a credit history analysis part of the background investigation? Is each assignment a personally operated hands-on project? Do their investigators have specific training in the areas of law or paralegal work, or are they trained research professionals? Do their investigators hold any credentials that are relevant to performing background investigations? Is your applicant’s investigation reviewed for accuracy and due diligence before it is sent to you? Are their investigators qualified to give personal character profile opinions if asked to do so? How often are the company’s sources of information updated?

After you have evaluated these questions accurately you can be assured that you are gathering the most accurate and up to date information on your job candidate and come to trust your background screening provider.

Joanne Whitney has been a licensed private investigator for over 30 years and founded Hide and Seek USA Corp, performing over 1,000 investigations nationwide for attorneys and corporations. Adrienne Kallweit is a licensed private investigator for over 10 years and founder of SeekingSitters, a national babysitting referral service that began in 2004. Through the extensive background investigation screening process developed by Hide and Seek, Adrienne and her husband David founded the on-demand babysitting referral service where every member and sitter are screened prior to acceptance into SeekingSitters, providing the safest babysitting service available. To find out more about background investigations, visit www.seekingsitters.com or www.hideandseekusa.com.