The Importance of Verifying Employment History Before Hiring

March 18 2020 - Your company is only as good as your worst employee. Any good manager knows this fact. That's why it becomes very important to put trust into the people that you and your HR team hire.

Do you always look over and verify a new hire's resume before giving them the position? Failing to do so could put you in a very treacherous position. Verifying employment history should be a step that any and all serious businesses take on before bringing a new face onto the team.

Why is this step so essential to a properly functioning enterprise? Read on and we'll walk you through everything you need to know.

Importance Of Verification

Yes, it will require a little extra time and work from your Human Resources department if you hope to verify the employment history of all potential new hires. That being said, it can cost you a lot more time and money in the long run if you don't perform this important step.

Yes, if you fail to properly check-out a new hire, you could end up having someone on your team who truly isn't qualified for the position. That in and of itself could cost you time, money, clients, and your reputation.

You also might be putting yourself and your business at risk for a lawsuit, especially if your job listing indicates requirements that the hired individual does not meet.

If this hired candidate ends up injuring another employee, for example, due to their lack of training? The injured employee does have the grounds to sue you for failure to verify. These types of incidents are far more common than we like to believe.

Benefits Of Verification

You might find that requesting verification of employment for an individual actually gets you a lot of positive information as well. You'll be able to feel more secure in your hiring, but you might even find the person is more qualified than you initially believed.

You might find that they are actually quite qualified for other positions in the company that they hadn't even applied for. It's easy to find sets of skills you weren't expecting when looking into people's past work in this way.

What Does Verification Reveal?

What kind of information should you be after when you're looking for employment verification? At the very least you want to confirm that the individual did indeed work for the businesses or individuals that they've listed, and with the title that they've indicated.

In addition, it can very helpful to verify how long they were with each position, as well as the credentials or licensure they garnered through the work.

It can be just as helpful to look into the details of the position they worked and see what kinds of skills they likely developed.

Importance Of Employment History Verification

If you currently aren't checking into the employment history of your new hires, that might be something that you might want to change. The above information can lay out why and what information you might need.

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