You've checked the customer - what about the employee?
Checking and profiling potential employees has grown from an almost-standing start in the early 1990s to become a major business service, largely thanks to the fact that computers and Internet access make the task very much easier.
Several companies, notably Cheam, Surrey-based Eurocom CI, trading as Bad Apple Services, and Leeds-based Call Credit, use the Internet as means of offering a low-cost CV and employee vetting service.
The appropriately-named Bad Apple Services guarantees to offer a 24-hour service to verify a potential employee's ID and address verification check.
The second stage of checking, which can take up to three weeks, but typically only a week, goes into detail checking all other facts such as educational achievements, work history and - if required - drivers licence and/or criminal records. Delivery of reports is, of course, via a secure electronic connection.
Bad Apple Services takes its role pretty seriously, and is a member of several human resources organisations and trade associations. That, and a proven track record, makes the company something of a leader in its online field.
But the firm isn't alone, as Leeds-based Callcredit has expanded its credit checking and profiling services to cover potential employees with a service called - appropriately enough - CallCV.
According to Callcredit, the facility allows employers to verify the employee is who they say they are, and that they're telling the truth about their career and educational background.
Where appropriate, such as where the employee is handling cash, credit cards and cheques, CallCV also provides details of the employee's credit records.
Do prospective employees really tell porkies on their CVs?
Definitely - as far back as 2003, when Internet take-up was in its infancy in the UK, TRAG (the Risk Advisory Group) revealed that 65 per cent of job applicants were telling lies on their CV in order to secure a job - a rise of 16 per cent on 2002 figures.
TRAG says that women in their early 30s were the biggest culprits, with 77 per cent of resumes containing some kind of untruths. And even among the statistically most honest group, men in their early 20s, half of all CVs featured misleading information.
The rise and rise of the Internet makes it relatively easy for a job applicant to source information to make their CV porkies look genuine, but CallCredit's CallCV service - which is relatively unique in the marketplace - is also a way for employers to do the necessary.
As with all of these types of service, however, it is essential that the employer obtains the permission of the person being checked before they start the check.
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By Steve Gold, News Editor
