Many Pre-Employment Screening Vendors Fail to Deliver on These Key Elements
If you're new to background checks—or you simply don't know what you don't know—you might think you should work with the biggest background check provider.
But here's the problem with that thinking: Biggest doesn't necessarily mean best. The reality is that even the big guys often lack key elements that can make a huge difference in improving your overall recruitment, hiring, and onboarding process.
To illustrate what we mean, we're going to discuss five surprising things that you probably didn't even realize you needed in a background check vendor.
Think things like . . .
✔ Easy methods for contacting the background check vendor
✔ Whether you have a dedicated account manager
✔ Where the customer service team is located
✔ The size of the vendor's drug-testing network
✔ How the vendor treats your job applicants
Let's get to it!
1. How do you contact the background check vendor?
If the vendor gives you a toll-free phone number or generic info@ email address, you never know who'll be monitoring those calls or emails. Most likely, it won't be anyone who knows you or your business. Instead, they'll see you as simply one more customer in a long list of customers. You'll need to explain who you are and what you need EVERY TIME.
And what happens if you have an urgent question? If there's only one number or email for everybody, you'll receive a response in the order in which the request was received. That's not helpful when you have a high-priority issue.
⮚ WHAT YOU NEED: Look for vendors who provide a direct line and email address to a real person—someone who knows you and your business. This brings us to our next point.
2. Are you assigned your own customer success manager?
During the sales process for a background check vendor, you'll likely have your own dedicated sales rep. This person will show you a demo and keep in regular contact throughout the sales process because they're eager for the sale.
But what happens after you sign on the dotted line?
Too often, especially with big background check providers, the responsiveness goes away. You end up on a customer service merry-go-round where you're calling a 1-800 number every time you have a question instead of talking to someone who knows who you are.
⮚ WHAT YOU NEED: You need (and deserve) your own dedicated account manager. (Yes, even if you're a small business.) Having an account manager provides many benefits. First, you'll have a direct line to them, and you won't have to explain yourself every time you call. Plus, the really good managers (like we have at Good Egg!) will anticipate your needs, alert you about relevant changes in employment law, and truly serve as an extension of your HR department.
3. Where is the background check vendor's customer service located? How about the verifications team?
Customer service reps—for you and for your candidates—need to be readily available during your workday. Some background check vendors will offshore their customer service team to save money. But this doesn't help you or your candidates.
The same thing applies to the verifications team. With verifications, the team needs to contact your candidate's former employers and educational institutions—plus references. Again, you want an alert verifications team that's working during normal business hours (not a team in a far-flung place working in the middle of their night).
⮚ WHAT YOU NEED: Ideally, your vendor's customer service and verifications teams should be U.S.-based and available during your regular business hours—whether you're on the west coast, east coast, or somewhere in between.
4. How large is the vendor's drug-testing network?
So here's a conundrum: Larger background check providers might skimp on customer service, but they'll usually have a good-sized drug-testing network, making it convenient for applicants to easily schedule their drug tests.
Smaller background check providers, on the other hand, might deliver better customer service, but they often have a smaller network of reliable drug-testing centers to choose from.
⮚ WHAT YOU NEED: Don't settle! Choose a provider that can deliver great customer service and an extensive drug-testing network. Yes, it is possible to get both from one vendor, especially now that you know what to look for. (Hint: Good Egg delivers exceptional customer service and is part of the largest drug-testing network in the U.S. with over 10,000 locations.)
5. What happens if job applicants need help?
It's not enough for the background check provider to be available to you. The provider should also be available to your job candidates. This means that there should be an obvious and convenient way for applicants to contact the background check company—and that someone from the company is actually there to respond.
Remember, job candidates will view the background check provider as an extension of your company. (Whether that's fair or not!) And a poor candidate experience due to issues with screening can have far-reaching consequences.
Consider some of these stats:
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60% of candidates have had a poor candidate experience [Source: Career Arc]
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72% of those candidates shared that experience online or with someone directly [Source: Career Arc]
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59% would tell others not to apply to the company [Source: Software Advice]
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42% would go so far as not to buy the company's products or services [Source: Software Advice]
⮚ WHAT YOU NEED: Your background provider should strive to deliver an excellent candidate experience. Candidates should have a direct (and easy) way to contact someone from the background check company when they need help. Ideally, the background check company's website should have a clearly labeled Candidate Help Center that's accessible on every page of the site. And within any apps, forms, or texts, there should be a way for the candidate to reach a real person.
Good Egg has all the things.
We're in that enviable position where we're big enough to handle volume, but not so big that we've had to skimp on customer service or candidate experience. There's a reason why we're rated 4.8 stars on Trustpilot. Request a demo and experience the Good Egg difference firsthand.
