How Is Employment Verification Done?

Did you know that upwards of 78% of people lie on their resumes? 

Interestingly, the most popular way to stretch the truth or falsify application details is to lie about employment dates. That’s why most employers include employment verification as a critical step in their pre-employment background check process (to gauge a candidate’s trustworthiness, integrity, and reliability). And having that information could be the difference between making a (costly) bad hire or making a hire that pushes the business forward. 

But what information does employment verification actually provide? And how do employers collect that information? 

Information Gathered During Employment Verification 

The range of data collected during employment verification varies from organization to organization. For instance, some companies focus solely on confirming the accuracy of the information provided by a candidate on their resume, like the names of their previous employers, job titles held, and exact dates of employment. This data not only gives employers insight into the credibility of the candidate, but also into their “fitness” for the job (since job titles are a pretty good indicator of a candidate’s level, skills, and abilities as it pertains to the role).  

However, other companies choose to expand verification to include more qualitative, contextual information from previous employers. Usually, companies will conduct this kind of verification during a reference check. 

Conducting employment verification during a reference check helps employers confirm previous experience, job titles held, and exact dates of employment while also learning about the candidate from the first-person perspective of their previous manager or colleague—ultimately helping them glean a deeper understanding of the candidate’s skills and how they’ll fit into the team.  

How Employers Conduct Employment Verification 

Some hiring managers choose to verify employment history themselves—reaching out directly (typically via phone) to current or previous employers to request official verification. Others use professional background screening services to conduct reliable verification that includes all the context employers need to make informed, quality hiring decisions in less time. 

For example, we provide best-in-class employment verification via reference checks during the background screening process. When available, references are checked through electronic verification resources; we will call an applicant’s previous employer or supervisor when this is not possible. Our expert team gets consistently faster, more in-depth results than an in-house resource through this method. 

Additionally, we work with clients to develop legally approved scripts for use during the calls—to ensure that all the necessary context is collected. 

If the information gathered during a reference check/employment verification matches the data provided on the applicant’s resume and reflects positively on their character, employers can feel good about moving the candidate to the next round.