A bad hire will cost you $17,000 on average. The costs of onboarding and training, lost productivity, disruptions to workflow, and employee turnover all add up quickly. These costs aren’t just about wages and salaries, but the time and effort it takes your team to make things right after an employee who didn’t work out.
This number increases with higher-level roles, so it is essential to vet candidates in the first place. While skipping parts of the employee screening process can be tempting, we can almost guarantee you’ll eventually regret doing so.
One small but crucial step in the hiring process is verifying candidate credentials to ensure that the information provided is accurate and reliable. Implementing best practices for verifying candidate credentials in employment screening will help you make informed decisions and mitigate the risks of hiring unqualified or dishonest individuals.
In this post, we’ll share some of the best practices employers can follow to ensure a thorough and effective credential verification process.
Conduct a Comprehensive Background Check
Employers should get a complete background check on potential candidates, including verifying their education, employment history, and professional licenses or certifications. This can be done by contacting educational institutions, previous employers, and relevant licensing authorities to confirm the information provided by the candidate.
You can also use an automated solutions like Vitay to increase efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Vitay offers a web and mobile platform, automated follow-ups, and mass candidate uploads. This makes running background checks on multiple individuals much faster and more convenient.
Use Reliable Sources for Verification
When verifying candidate credentials, it is essential to use reliable sources. Contacting educational institutions, employers, or licensing authorities directly is the best approach to obtaining accurate and up-to-date information. Doing so takes a little extra time, but adds another layer of protection when having the right credentials is essential to the job.
Verify Education Credentials
Depending on the field, education credentials are often a critical factor in assessing a candidate’s qualifications. Take the time to verify the candidate’s educational degrees, diplomas, and certificates by contacting the academic institutions directly. This can help confirm the authenticity of the credentials and ensure that the candidate possesses the required knowledge and skills.
Verify Employment History
The best way to predict an employee’s future performance is to understand what they did in the past. Employers should contact previous employers to verify dates of employment, job titles, and responsibilities. It is also essential to check for any discrepancies or gaps in employment history that may raise red flags. Legally, there’s only so much a former employer can tell you, but watch for subtle clues regarding their experience with an employee. Brief answers of only the dates worked and position title might be a message.
Check Professional Licenses and Certifications
For positions that require specific licenses or certifications, it is crucial to verify that the candidate possesses the necessary credentials. There are often legal implications for not doing so. It’s a good idea to contact the relevant licensing authorities or certification bodies to confirm the validity of the licenses or certifications claimed by the candidate. This is the best way to ensure the candidate is qualified and compliant with industry standards.
Conduct Reference Checks
This step is one of the most important, and the best way to get a feel for how an employee might add value to your organization. Reference checks provide key insights into a candidate’s character, work ethic, and performance. Employers should contact the candidate’s references, such as former supervisors or colleagues, to gather feedback and validate the candidate’s qualifications. This feedback will help you to assess the candidate’s suitability for the role and identify any potential concerns.
Maintain Confidentiality and Compliance
Employers must handle candidate credential verification with confidentiality and comply with relevant privacy laws and regulations. Personal information obtained during the verification process should be securely stored and only shared with authorized individuals involved in hiring decision-making. Employers should also inform candidates about the verification process and obtain their consent before initiating background checks.
Document and Retain Verification Records
It’s helpful to maintain accurate and organized records of the candidate credential verification process. You may want to document the steps taken, the sources contacted, and the outcomes of the verification process. These records can serve as evidence of due diligence and compliance with hiring standards and guide future hiring committees.
Stay On Top Of Industry Trends
Employment screening practices and regulations evolve. Employers should stay updated with industry trends, changes in laws, and best practices related to candidate credential verification. This can help ensure the verification process remains effective, compliant, and aligned with current standards. For example, the latest in reference-checking is automated software that can save time and result in more honest feedback. Look into technologies that can simplify and streamline your hiring process.
Background Checks, Simplified
Conducting thorough background checks is an important part of credential verification and an area where you don’t want to cut corners.
Vitay is a powerful software solution offering automated reference-checking, talent feedback, pre-screening, and background-check capabilities. It makes conducting background and reference checks super simple. You can request reference checks in just 60 seconds, and collect multiple references in the time it would normally take to complete one traditional reference check. You can also conduct criminal records checks, employment and education verification on Vitay.
Book a demo to see how it works!
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