Service Goes Beyond Interview
InfoLink, others offer applicant screening
By Michael Rappaport, Daily Bulletin Staff Writer
There was a time in this country when applying for a job meant dressing up,
speaking intelligently, shaking hands firmly and maintaining eye contact.
The person doing the hiring could judge someone's prospects on the spot, and if
they couldn't, calls to the applicant's references would usually settle things.
At least that's the way the story goes.
If those days ever really existed, they're disappearing fast. Folks put on their
only decent clothes, hide their piercings or tattoos and enhance their resumes
-- sometimes actually lying -- when they're competing for jobs.
That's why companies such as
InfoLink Screening Services exist.
InfoLink, which is based in Chatsworth, provides employment background checks
for several thousand client firms around the country, looking into things like
educational claims, fudged job histories and even criminal records.
"This industry has grown substantially in recent years," said Barry Nadell,
president of the company, which is in its 11th year. "But an incredible amount
of companies have never done background checks because they think it's too
expensive or will take too much time."
Especially with recent court rulings determining that companies can be liable
for "negligent hiring," knowing whether your potential hire
is on parole, on a government watch list or even really who he says he is can be crucial.
"There have been so many major embarrassments lately," said Jack Kyser, chief
staff economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. "I
really think it behooves a company to know who they're hiring."
Especially, Kyser says, in these days of people handling sensitive information,
working with children or having access to information that might result in fraud or identity theft.
"One thing is certain," he said. "If you don't investigate someone and then he
turns out bad, you have opened yourself up to a lot of problems."
Nadell said his company compiled statistics on hits it received while doing
investigations, and some of the numbers were fairly surprising.
For example, more than 36 percent of applicants since July 2005 had
discrepancies between what they said and what was true about their employment record.
"Some of that can be simple mistakes," he said. "Like saying you made $17 an
hour when you actually made $16.50. Those aren't a big deal, but if you say you
made $17 when you actually made $12, that's worse."
One statistic that has been fairly consistent since 2003 is the number of
applicants who omitted mention of criminal records. Better than 8 percent
showed up on criminal searches when they didn't mention any offenses.
"It's very important for us to be accurate," Nadell said. "Wherever possible, we
give people the benefit of the doubt because we don't want to submit incorrect
information."
Shirley Patrick of York Employment Services does a great deal of screening. She
says the resume is only a small part of the overall picture.
"Of course people embellish their resumes and we ask for verification on
important things," she said. "But employers right now are looking for what we
call `soft skills' -- whether people are motivated, whether they show up on
time, whether they can multi-task.
"Those are what are really important right now."
Some companies extend the interview process instead, feeling it gives them a
better sense of the person. Owner/operator Bryce Donaldson of the Upland
Chick-Fil-A said he puts all potential hires through three or four separate employees.
"The only times I have had any problems at all were when I hired people without
following my procedures," he said.
Of course, interviews can rarely weed out the really bad ones, the sociopathic
types who excel at hiding their true personality.
That's where companies like InfoLink come in.
"It's really easy to get a good deal of information," Nadell said. "The thing
you have to be sure about is the accuracy. But the cost of a bad employee - an
abusive hire - can be enormous to a company.
"That's why we do what we do."
On the Web:
www.infolinkscreening.com
www.greathire.com
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