The State of Background Screenings: Key Trends and Insights You Need to Know

Pre-employment background screenings are an ever-evolving practice, largely due to the fact that U.S. legislation is constantly changing around what employers are allowed to screen for before hiring a candidate (see: ban-the-box and clean slate laws). 

With more and more compliance hoops to jump through each year, conducting background checks is becoming increasingly complex for employers in most states across the country, but in spite of this, more employers are conducting background checks than ever before.  

In fact, according to the most recent survey by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners, 96% of employers conduct background screenings before hiring a candidate today. And employers that do background checks run more in-depth, comprehensive background screenings than ever before. 

That’s because employers are waking up to the reality that a large part of business risk comes from the inside—from employees. 

The Case for More Comprehensive Background Screenings

Did you know that 75% of employees have stolen from their company at least once? 

Employees account for 90% of all significant theft losses, and businesses lose $50 billion each year as a result of employee theft, which can come in the form of taking physical company property, stealing company time, stealing company data, creating fake vendor invoices, and more. 

Bad hires pose a threat to company property (including the intellectual kind) and workplace safety, brand reputation, and financial well-being—since the cost of turnover is so high these days. 

In fact, the average cost of a bad hire is at least 30 percent of the individual’s first-year expected earnings (i.e. $15,000 for a $50,000/year employee). 

Employers have quickly realized that comprehensive pre-employment background checks are the best way to defend against this kind of internal risk and its associated costs—especially in this hybrid work world where it’s harder than ever to evaluate candidates.

According to a recent report, 38% of companies perform background checks to help minimize the risk of future criminal activity, 27% to fulfill regulatory compliance, 17% to ensure the applicants have the right skills for the job, and 6% to protect their brand reputation.

Snapshot of Modern-Day Background Screenings 

Today, the most common background screenings that employers run during a background check include the following: 

• Criminal background: 82%
• Confirm employment: 62%
• Confirm identity: 60%
• Confirm education: 50%
• Check for illegal drug use: 44%
• Check licensing: 38%
• Credit check: 29%

While some companies attempt to run these searches on their own, most turn to a reputable background check service to do it for them. 

A background check service that offers comprehensive background checks will have access to the most up-to-date and comprehensive court records from all relevant federal, state, and local jurisdictions and will typically provide the following tools, services, and data: 

• Social Security number trace
• National criminal file search 
• Sex offender criminal search
• County criminal/other public records search 
• Statewide criminal/public records search 
• Federal criminal/public records search
• Driving records and motor vehicle records search
• Employment verification 
• Education verification 
• Credit report
• Professional license verification 
• Drug screening
• International screening services 

The reach of these searches varies based on the type of search and state laws. For example, criminal background checks typically cover seven years of criminal and court records but can go back further depending on the compliance laws in that state. On the other hand, professional license verifications, employment history, and educational history can all be viewed across the candidate’s entire lifetime. 

How Candidates Are Lying These Days 

Much of the reason modern background checks have grown in scope and depth is because of how candidates lie on their applications.  

More than half of Americans, or 42.6 million, admit to having lied on their resume at least once. When it comes to resume lying across industries, those working in manufacturing are most likely to lie (72%), followed by healthcare (62%), and arts and creative positions (63%). 

Interestingly, the most popular way to stretch the truth or falsify application details is to lie about employment dates. That’s why most employers seek employment verification in their comprehensive background check process—to gauge a candidate’s trustworthiness, integrity, and reliability.

Other popular ways for candidates to lie include claiming mastery of a skill in which they are not a master (60%), altering titles (41%), and claiming a degree from a more prestigious university (39%). 

Emerging Trend: Continuous Background Screenings 

Employment background screenings are not just growing in scope and depth, but also in frequency. Companies have figured out that continuous background screening–employee screening that continues post-hire at a regular cadence–can help them continually manage employee risk by flagging real-time internal threats and safety concerns. 

Brands like Lyft and Uber recently went public with their plans to conduct ongoing background screening for their gig workers, looking for regular updates on drivers’ records, including new criminal violations and license suspensions. 

Even the U.S. Government’s Office of Personnel Management has proposed a new rule under which all federal employees would be subject to ongoing screening. 

Today, around 21% of employers conduct continuous screening as part of a comprehensive background check program—and that number is growing.

Emerging Trend: Social Media Screening 

Another way that background checks are becoming more comprehensive is by including more non-traditional kinds of data, like data on social media accounts. 

Now, more and more employers are conducting pre-employment social media screening, searching job applicants’ profiles and activities on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and elsewhere, with the goal of learning more about the applicant’s background, demeanor, and views. 

Some red flags that may come up during a social media screening include: 

• Unlawful activity (drugs, underage drinking, etc.)
• Racist or sexist comments
• Violent or aggressive behavior (including trolling or stalking)
• Sexually explicit material
• Confidential information

Today, seven in 10 employers use social networking sites to research job candidates during the hiring process, and nearly half of employers check up on current employees on social media (as a means of continuous background screening). 

A recent CareerBuilder survey found that of employers who found content on a social networking site that caused them not to hire a job candidate, these were the primary reasons: 

• Job candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs, videos, or information: 40 percent
• Job candidate posted information about them drinking or using drugs: 36 percent
• Job candidate had discriminatory comments related to race, gender, religion, etc.: 31 percent
• Job candidate was linked to criminal behavior: 30 percent
• Job candidate lied about qualifications: 27 percent
• Job candidate had poor communication skills: 27 percent
• Job candidate bad-mouthed their previous company or fellow employee: 25 percent
• Job candidate’s screen name was unprofessional: 22 percent
• Job candidate shared confidential information from previous employers: 20 percent
• Job candidate lied about an absence: 16 percent
• Job candidate posted too frequently: 12 percent

On the other hand, those that found content that led them to hire a candidate said it was because they saw:

• Job candidate’s background information supported their professional qualifications for the job: 37 percent
• Job candidate was creative: 34 percent
• Job candidate conveyed a professional image: 33 percent
• Job candidate was well-rounded and showed a wide range of interests: 31 percent
• Got a good feel for the job candidate’s personality, could see a good fit within the company culture: 31 percent
• Job candidate had great communications skills: 28 percent
• Job candidate received awards and accolades: 26 percent
• Other people posted great references about the job candidate: 23 percent
• Job candidate had interacted with the company’s social media accounts: 22 percent
• Job candidate posted compelling video or other content: 21 percent
• Job candidate had a large number of followers or subscribers: 18 percent 

Social media monitoring is a new kind of pre-employment screening, and its effectiveness in spotting employee threats and managing employee risk has yet to be proven, but in a world where internal risk is high and candidates are lying to get in the door—it can’t hurt. That’s why more and more employers are incorporating social media screening as part of a larger, comprehensive background screening program.