Should You Go With Your “Gut Feeling” or Get a Background Check?

While some employers like to go by their “gut feeling”, it can be quite useful to get a background check to back up that gut feeling. There are certain cases when your gut or your intuition might work for you but there are other cases when it might not work so well. No one can claim that their gut feeling has worked out 100% of the time. So getting a background check is an important step which will help you back up your gut feeling with evidence.

What If the Candidate Has a Criminal Record?

A background check can be helpful in many circumstances. When you’re hiring someone for a certain position, it would help you to know if they’ve ever broken the law before. And if they have, then it can also help you to know what the circumstances were. For example, if you run an accounting firm, then obviously you want to know if someone has embezzled money before.

What If the Record Has Been Expunged?

Most of the time, a candidate might be upfront about their background. However, there might be times when they don’t tell you the entire truth because they’re afraid of losing the job. Once you find out the candidate’s background, it’s up to you to decide whether you want to hire them for the job. But, remember that in certain cases, a person can have their record expunged which means that even if they do have a criminal record, it may not show up in their background check. It will only be visible to people in law enforcement.

Exaggerating Education and Experience

Even if a person doesn’t have a criminal record, they might be exaggerating certain things on their resume, such as their education or the amount of time they spent at a certain job. Most people don’t like to leave holes in their resume. So if they didn’t work for a certain period of time, they may fudge the dates to make it look like there were no breaks. Once again, doing a background check can help you to know the facts of the matter.

“Gut Feelings” vs. Background Checks

Remember that you don’t have to completely change your mind about a candidate because of the results of a background check. Just because someone lies a little bit on their resume doesn’t mean that they won’t do a good job when you hire them. But if the background check reveals something more serious, like a criminal record, then it’s good to take this into consideration before presenting an offer of employment.