How to Find Mugshots

How to Find Mugshots

May 22, 2020

The most memorable part of any arrest record is the mugshot: the photograph of the offender soon after being booked. You can find mugshots online by checking one of many websites. You may also want other arrest record information, which you can find online or by visiting the courthouse.


Method1
Finding Mugshots Online

1
Search the FindMugshots website. Go to the website here: http://www.findmugshots.com/. Enter the first and last name, as well as the state. Click “Search.”You can also browse if you don’t have a name. Go to https://www.findmugshots.com/states, click on the state you want to search, and then select the county or city.
After selecting the county or city, you can browse by first letter of the last name.


2
Browse on the PrisonHandbook website. Visit here: http://prisonhandbook.com/mugshot-search/. At the website, choose your state. You will be taken to a list of jails.Select a jail and read how to view mugshots. There might be a link to the jail’s website, where you can search for mugshots. The links will be at the bottom of the page under “Links and Resources,” so scroll all the way down the page.
Not all jails let you view mugshots online.



3
Visit your state’s department of corrections website. Every state in the U.S. should have a website, and you can use the inmate locator to find information about the prisoner. Some states will also publish mugshots.[1]Type “your state” and “department of corrections” into your favorite web browser.
You can find links to state department of corrections websites here: https://www.usa.gov/corrections.
At the website, look for a link that says “Prisoner Search,” “Offender Search,” “Prisoner Locator” or something similar. You can usually search by prisoner number or name.



4
Search your state’s sex offender registry. In the U.S., every state has a sex offender registry, which you can find by searching on Google. A sex offender registry is a good resource because it will contain mugshots even in states that don’t normally provide mugshots.[2]You can search using basic information, such as the offender’s name. If you want to see all of the offenders in your area, there should be an option to search by location as well.
The person must have been convicted of a sex offense for their information to appear in the registry. Accordingly, the number of mugshots might be limited.


5
Check your local sheriff and police department websites. Some law enforcement agencies host mugshots online, which you can view for free. Not many do, however, so this shouldn’t be your first place to check. You’ll need to know the county where the person was booked.[3]



6
Use an app. You can download some apps to your smartphone and search for mugshots. One popular app is JailBase. You can search millions of arrest records for free. The app does not have records for all counties in the U.S., but it is adding to its list daily.[4]



Method2
Searching for Arrest Records

1
Stop into the police station. Your local police station should have arrest records for the city. Stop in during normal business hours to request a report.[5] You may need to fill out a form and pay a processing fee.Arrest records are public records, so they should be generally available. However, the true availability depends on your location. In some places, only a lawyer can get the records, whereas other records might have identifying information removed.[6]


2
Visit the county courthouse. Smaller counties usually don’t have an online database you can search. Instead, you need to visit the courthouse. Go to the courthouse for the county where the person was arrested.[7]If the courthouse is far away, call and ask how you can find arrest records. The clerk should explain the process.


3
Search a state or county website. Some states have arrest records online for free. Check the websites for both the county courthouse and the local police department. Enter as much information as you have about the person, including their name and date of birth.[8]


4
Check the Federal Bureau of Prisons website. In the U.S., people convicted of federal crimes will be held in federal prison. You can search for inmates through the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.[9]This website doesn’t have arrest records available. However, it will tell you whether a person was ever in federal prison and when they were released. The website has information as far back as 1982.


5
Pay for a background check. Many online websites collect arrest records. You can search by the person’s name and the state where you think they were arrested.Be warned that most online sites will charge you. Often, they don’t advertise this fact on their home page. Instead, they run their report and then tell you how much you have to pay to access it.
Some websites might offer the information for free, but you’ll have to dig to find them. By far, most websites requirement payment.

How to Find Mugshots

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Best Criminal Records Services In Maryland

Best Criminal Records Services In Maryland

What defines a Criminal Record in Maryland?

A criminal record is an official document that documents a person’s criminal history. It contains information assembled from various departments as well as district courts, circuit courts and correctional facilities across the state. Criminal records in Maryland are classified as public records. This means members of the public have a broad to inspect or access records, in compliance with the Maryland Public Information Act. Criminal records may be obtained through a number of courts, police departments, and the official Maryland State Records Online Database.

What Information is Provided in a Criminal Record?

Criminal records vary between individuals. Some of the information that may be provided in a record includes the:

Subject’s date of Birth

Subject’s full name

Photograph or Mugshot

Details of past arrests

Fingerprints

Physical descriptors such as hair color, eye color, tattoos a1nd more

Any pending charges

What is an Arrest Record?

Arrest records in Maryland contain an official summary of people’s arrest history. It details whether a person has been apprehended, questioned, taken into custody or placed in detention. It also provides information on any charges or indictments for a felony, misdemeanor or any other offense.

What is an Arrest Warrant?

An arrest warrant is an official document that authorizes law enforcement officials to apprehend and put the named person(s) in custody. It is signed and issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the local and state jurisdictions. In Maryland, the police can arrest a person for committing a crime even without a warrant. In most cases, this occurs when the person commits the crime in an officer’s presence.

What is a Misdemeanor?

Misdemeanors are non-indictable offenses that are generally not as serious as a felony. Unlike most states, the state of Maryland does not classify its misdemeanor crimes into separate classes. Instead, penalties are given based on the statute governing the offense. Maryland misdemeanors may have fines up to $5,000 and carry sentences as high as ten years imprisonment. Some of the common misdemeanor crimes in Maryland include:

Stalking

Harassment

Assault in the second degree

Reckless Driving

Petty theft (of property or service valued less than $1,000)

Driving under the influence

What is a Felony?

A felony offense in Maryland is a criminal conviction with a minimum sentence of more than 1 year. It is served in a county jail or state prison. A felony in Maryland is a serious crime that is punishable by death or a term of one year or more in prison. Maryland does not classify felony crimes into different classes. The Maryland criminal statutes offer the possible penalties for each individual felony with penalties. Examples of felonies in Maryland include:

Robbery

Fraud

Drug possession with intent to distribute

Kidnapping

Distributing a controlled substance

Murder

Sexual Assault

Armed robbery or larceny-theft over $1,000

Arson, burglary and other crimes against property

Assault in the first degree

Rape

What is a Sex Offender Listing?

A sex offender listing contains a compilation of public information on persons convicted of committing a sex crime. It allows law enforcement officers to track convicted offenders. Like most states, the state of Maryland categorizes sex crimes into first-, second-, third- and fourth-degree sexual offenses. The length of time required for registration is based on the degree of a sex crime. In addition, judges are given discretion as to whether they need registration for crimes besides the charges listed under the sex offender registration law.

How to Find Sex Offender Records in Maryland

Residents of Maryland can obtain information by searching through the online database managed by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.  Searches can be filtered by address, county, zip code, name and proximity to a higher institution of learning.

What is Megan's Law?

Megan's Law is the term for state laws that create and keep up a sex offender registry, which provides information on registered sex offenders to the public. The first Megan's Law appeared after the rape and murder of 7-year-old New Jersey resident Megan Kanka by a sex offender who lived in the girl's own neighborhood. Soon after passage of this first Megan's Law, the federal government implemented a requirement that all states set up sex offender registries and offer the public with information about those registered. The Maryland Sex Offender Registry is one of many important tools that families can use to protect themselves, their children, and those they care for from people with criminal sexual behaviors.

What is a Serious Traffic Violation?

Serious traffic violations in Maryland are traffic infractions that incur steeper penalties than misdemeanor infractions. Serious traffic violations tend to include offenses that involve damage to property, serious bodily injury, death or disregard of public safety. Unlike some minor traffic violations which are payable offenses, serious traffic violations in Maryland are categorized as must-appear offenses. Individuals convicted of these offenses risk having their license suspended or revoked, depending on their driving history and severity of the violation.  Examples of serious traffic violations in Maryland include:

Automobile Manslaughter

Evading the police

Multiple DUIs

DUI that leads to a fatality

Leaving the scene of an accident

Driving while suspended

What is a Conviction Record?

A conviction record details the outcome of a criminal court case, if a person pleads guilty, is found guilty or pleaded no contest. The charges listed on the record may be categorized as a misdemeanor, felony, or any other offense. Convictions do not include a final judgment deleted by a pardon, set aside, reversed or otherwise rendered inoperative.

What are Jail and Inmate Records?

Jail and inmate records are official documents of information about a person’s current and sometimes past inmate status. A person who is in jail or considered an inmate is someone deprived of his/her civil liberties while on trial for a crime, or a person serving a sentence after being convicted of a crime. The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services maintains an inmate database that contains core information like the inmate’s name, incarceration date, expected release date, convicted offense and sometimes photos.

What are Parole Records?

Parole records in Maryland are an official document that includes information about the release of a prisoner who agreed to certain conditions before completion of their maximum sentence. While the prisoner is on supervised parole, the parole commission will require that the individual pays a monthly supervision fee. This fee cannot be less than $30 unless the board agrees to accept a lower fee after determining the inability of the prisoner to pay. The board may also impose any conditions of parole it deems necessary to ensure the best interests of the prisoner and the citizens of Maryland are served.

What are Maryland Probation Records?

Probation records are official documents that show when a person receives probation as an alternative to prison. Probation allows people convicted of a crime in Maryland to serve their sentences out of custody, as long as they follow probation conditions imposed by the judge and probation officer.

Probation is issued in proportion to the crime, so the length and nature of probation differ (sometimes drastically) from case to case. Probation typically falls into three categories: minimally supervised, supervised and intensive. An intensive is a form of very strict probation that emphasizes punishment and control of the offender within the community.

What are Maryland Juvenile Criminal Records?

A juvenile criminal record is an official record of information about criminal activity committed by children or adolescents who are not yet of legal adult age. Juveniles are not considered convicted of a crime like an adult but instead, are found “adjudicated delinquent”. These criminal records are often mistakenly thought to be erased or expunged once a person becomes of legal adult age, but in fact, the record remains unless the person petitions to have it expunged. If a person was found adjudicated delinquent to a criminal offense, they do not have to respond “yes” if asked whether they have ever been convicted of a crime, unless the question specifically asks if they were ever adjudicated delinquent as well.

Maryland History and Accuracy of Criminal Records

The accuracy of criminal records data largely depends on the recordkeeping and technological capabilities of the jurisdiction where the record was assembled and later digitized. Maryland's criminal records archives usually tend to go back as far as the early 1970s—which is when different institutions began to compile criminal and arrest data into an organized, centralized database, much like we use today. Accuracy was more commonly affected by human error in the past. However, in the 1990s the quality and accuracy of recordkeeping improved exponentially due to the advent of the computer. As a result, the information provided on StateRecords.org will vary from person to person.

The amount of criminal records information presented on StateRecords.org varies from person to person. This is because different sources often have non-standardized state level protocols, storage classifications, requirements, organization and digitization processes for data collection.

Best Criminal Records Services In Maryland

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A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO A PRE EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND CHECK IN 2020 ONLINE SITE

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO A PRE EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND CHECK IN 2020 ONLINE SITE

Manual for A PRE EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND CHECK 

Imagine a scenario where you missed a pivotal detail and wound up recruiting a horrible worker. 

For managers, a pre work record verification is the most significant approach to ensure you're getting a decent worker. In any case, it's feasible for you to miss significant subtleties during this procedure. 

That is the place we come in. Continue perusing for our bit by bit manual for leading these individual verifications for the entirety of your workers. 

What to Do Before the Pre Employment Background Check 

There are a couple of things you should mind before you do a solitary check. These things guarantee that your organization is in full consistence with different laws and guidelines. 

In the first place, talk with your HR division about what you can and can't check. Furthermore, have them examine the lawful repercussions for how you utilize any data that you find in a check. 

Second, ensure you have a steady historical verification for each screening. This ensures you are reasonable for every imminent representative and that all your screenings is as exhaustive as could be expected under the circumstances. 

At last, if your check includes the credit of a worker, inquire about the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This demonstration decides both what your identity is permitted to check and how you are permitted to utilize their data once you have it. 

Since you have that arranged, read on to find each progression you should take for the individual verification process! 

The Criminal Record Check 

Ostensibly, one of the most significant strides out of sight check is the criminal record check. Be that as it may, there are a couple of rules you need to apply at the same time. 

For example, you are positively permitted to get some information about a candidate's criminal foundation and to explore it yourself. Yet, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act of 1974 spots certain cutoff points on what you can do with this data. 

To be extra intensive, your business may lead a unique finger impression personal investigation on a planned worker. This is an extremely extraordinary approach to be careful, and the simple nearness of the unique mark check may fill in as an impediment for individuals with foundations you would consider a piece excessively obscure. 

Web-based social networking Background 

A progressively present day method of checking an imminent representative's experience is by examining their history via web-based networking media. While doing as such, you should concentrate on possibly implicating conduct. 

For example, individuals bragging about savage or illicit conduct via web-based networking media would clearly make for awful recruits. They could wind up making your organization look awful or even use organization assets to accomplish something unlawful. 

There may be pieces of information about standoffish conduct also. Occupation applicants with a past filled with supremacist or potentially chauvinist posts via web-based networking media may not function admirably with a various arrangement of individual workers. Also, it's reasonable they would make those representatives awkward. 

Be that as it may, you should be cautious when leading web-based social networking screening. On the off chance that the competitor discovers this is an essential purpose for them not finding a new line of work, they might have the option to guarantee separation, particularly if their post insinuated them being a piece of a secured class. 

Thinking pessimistically, such an up-and-comer could prosecute you and be granted remuneration. This is the reason internet based life screening ought to be one device in your tool compartment, however not alone. 

Credit Check 

A credit check is probably the most established technique for leading a pre work record verification. Furthermore, the data that it gives can be helpful to you and your organization. 

To begin with, you ought to set up if a credit check is required for this job. Ordinarily, a check is just essential if the candidate will be answerable for any part of organization accounts. 

It's additionally significant this is viewed as one of the more meddlesome methods of social affair information on a candidate. This is the reason numerous organizations possibly utilize this if there isn't an elective method of getting the data they require. 

In any case, a credit check is the most ideal approach to perceive how well an occupation competitor can deal with their own cash. This remaining parts probably the best gauge for how well they will have the option to oversee another person's cash. 

Accreditations Check 

Another extraordinary method to check a candidate's experience is to inspect their training and certifications. This lets you confirm the data they have given and furthermore check whether this individual is the best fit for work. 

At times, candidates might be intentionally submitting extortion by distorting their instruction and qualifications. In such cases, a look at causes you weed somebody who may be an exceptionally hazardous recruit. 

In different cases, the candidate may basically have instruction from a "confirmation plant." They may not be intentionally submitting extortion, yet you should in any case be careful about recruiting somebody with unsatisfactory training, particularly for significant positions. 

Reference Checks 

Normally, the last component of a pre work individual verification is to check the candidate's references. This permits you to have singular discussions with those individuals who may vouch for a candidate's quality. 

It is significant that you abstain from asking the references any unfair inquiries. Also, on the off chance that you are reaching references gave by the candidate, you may decide to think about what they state while taking other factors into consideration. 

At last, reference checks are perhaps the best apparatus for personal investigations. They permit you to converse with past administrators and associates and get an increasingly three-dimensional perspective on an imminent recruit. 

Joined with different checks, this ought to permit you to settle on your choice in regards to whether to enlist the up-and-comer or not! 

The Bottom Line 

On the off chance that you are understanding this, at that point you care about making the best working environment that you can. What's more, that implies having the best workers to team up with. 

You ensured they were the best when you directed their pre business individual verification. Presently, you have to make a point to keep your picked representatives fulfilled from everyday. 

USA Today Classifieds are an extraordinary expert on beginning and keeping up a quality business. To perceive how we can help improve your working environment, look at our virtuoso approaches to improve worker fulfillment. 

A STEP-BY-STEP 

Manual for A PRE EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND CHECK 

Labels: A STEP-BY-STEP 

Manual for A PRE EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND CHECK

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO A PRE EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND CHECK IN 2020 ONLINE SITE

Tags: A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO A PRE EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND CHECK IN 2020 ONLINE SITE

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO A PRE EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND CHECK

A STEP-BY-STEP
GUIDE TO A PRE EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND CHECK

What if you missed a crucial detail and ended up hiring a terrible employee.
For employers, a pre employment background check is the most important way to make sure you’re gettiLLPng a good employee. However, it’s possible for you to miss important details during this process.
That’s where we come in. Keep reading for our step-by-step guide to conducting these background checks for all of your employees.

What to Do Before the Pre Employment Background Check

There are a few things you should check on before you do a single check. These things ensure that your company is in full compliance with various laws and regulations.
First, consult with your human resources department about what you can and cannot check. And have them research the legal ramifications for how you use any information that you find in a check.
Second, make sure you have a consistent background check for every screening. This makes sure you are fair to all prospective employees and that your every screening is as thorough as possible.
Finally, if your check involves the credit of an employee, research the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This act determines both who you are allowed to check and how you are allowed to use their information once you have it.
Now that you’ve got that sorted, read on to discover every step you should take for the background check process!

The Criminal Record Check

Arguably, one of the most important steps in the background check is the criminal record check. However, there are a few rules you have to apply while doing so.
For instance, you are certainly allowed to ask about an applicant’s criminal background and to research it yourself. But the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act of 1974 places certain limits on what you can do with this information.
To be extra thorough, your business may conduct a fingerprint background check on a prospective employee. This is a really great way to be thorough, and the mere presence of the fingerprint check may serve as a deterrent for people with backgrounds you would consider a bit too shady.

Social Media Background

A more modern way of checking a prospective employee’s background is by researching their history on social media. When doing so, you should focus on potentially incriminating behavior.
For instance, people boasting about violent or illegal behavior on social media would obviously make for bad hires. They could end up making your company look bad or even use company resources to do something illegal.
There may also be clues about antisocial behavior as well. Job candidates with a history of racist and/or sexist posts on social media may not work well with a diverse set of fellow employees. And it’s very likely they would make those employees uncomfortable.
However, you must be careful when conducting social media screening. If the candidate finds out this is a primary reason behind them not getting a job, they may be able to claim discrimination, especially if their post alluded to them being part of a protected class.
Worst case, such a candidate could take you to court and be awarded compensation. This is why social media screening should be one tool in your toolbox, but not the only one.

Credit Check

A credit check is one of the oldest methods of conducting a pre employment background check. And the information that it provides can be very useful to you and your company.
First, you should establish if a credit check is required for this role. Typically, a check is only necessary if the applicant will be responsible for any aspect of company finances.
It’s also important that this is considered one of the more intrusive ways of gathering info on an applicant. This is why many businesses only use this if there is not an alternative way of getting the information they require.
Nonetheless, a credit check is the best way to see how well a job candidate is able to manage their own money. This remains one of the best barometers for how well they will be able to manage someone else’s money.

Credentials Check

Another great way to check an applicant’s background is to examine their education and credentials. This lets you verify the information they have provided and also verify whether this person is the best fit for a job.
In some cases, applicants may be deliberately committing fraud by falsifying their education and credentials. In such cases, a check helps you weed out someone who might be a very dangerous hire.
In other cases, the applicant may simply have an education from a “diploma mill.” They may not be deliberately committing fraud, but you should still be wary of hiring someone with a substandard education, especially for important positions.

Reference Checks

Typically, the final element of a pre employment background check is to check the applicant’s references. This allows you to have individual conversations with those people who might vouch for an applicant’s quality.
It is important that you avoid asking the references any discriminatory questions. And if you are contacting references provided by the applicant, you may choose to take what they say with a grain of salt.
Ultimately, reference checks are one of the best tools for background checks. They allow you to talk with previous supervisors and coworkers and get a more three-dimensional view of a prospective hire.
Combined with the other checks, this should allow you to make your decision regarding whether to hire the candidate or not!

The Bottom Line

If you are reading this, then you care about creating the best workplace that you possibly can. And that means having the best employees to collaborate with.
You made sure they were the best when you conducted their pre employment background check. Now, you need to make sure to keep your chosen employees satisfied from day to day.
USA Today Classifieds are a great authority on starting and maintaining a quality business. To see how we can help improve your workplace, check out our genius ways to improve employee satisfaction.

A STEP-BY-STEP
GUIDE TO A PRE EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND CHECK

Tags: A STEP-BY-STEP

GUIDE TO A PRE EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND CHECK

A STEP-BY-STEP

GUIDE TO A 

PRE EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND CHECK

Pre-Employment Background Check: What Does It Show?

Pre-Employment Background Check: What Does It Show?

May 22, 2020

What is an employment background check?


An employment background check is a screening process for potential, new and/or existing employees. Employee background checks are not one-size fits all. Background checks for employment vary from company to company and the process can even look different within a company based on the position itself.
Some employment background checks are performed in-house, meaning employees at the company oversee the process. Other background checks for employment use the help of a third-party to research the employee or candidate. The actual screening process can involve a number of tools and resources to help the employer find relevant information about the employee or candidate.
In the past, background checks for employment typically focused on confirming the facts presented by the applicant. Nowadays, the process is expanding to include more information and help confirm that the candidate will truly be a great addition to the company’s culture.
Some of the most common reasons that employers conduct employment background checks include:

Safety: When it comes to creating a successful business, one of the most basic things that employers have to keep an eye on is safety. The safety of the customer, employees and other vulnerable populations. On a practical level, if an employer creates an environment that is unsafe for any of those groups listed above, then the employer will likely be held liable and could face all sorts of consequences for that. In addition to avoiding liability claims, employers are compelled to provide a safe environment so that their employees can focus on their work, clients and customers have a positive experience and vulnerable populations have an ally. Building trust is a foundational component of becoming a successful business, and employers cannot build trust with their consumer or their employees if safety is not a top concern. Therefore, an employee background check is viewed as part of the process to prevent any threats to that sense of safety.

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Legal compliance: Employment background checks are routinely performed because legally the employer must. For example, government positions and jobs that deal directly with children or minors typically require an extensive employment background check. The employer cannot opt out of conducting or procuring a background check in cases like this.
Liability issues: Similar to safety, liability is a common reason that an employer will conduct a pre-employment background check. An employer will perform a job background check so that they aren’t blindly hiring someone who is an obvious liability. And if the employer finds something that could make this employee a liability, they can at least discuss this with their team or even ask the employee about it directly.
Company fit: A pre-employment background check also lets the employer get a sense of whether or not this candidate will be a good company fit. The employer can use the background check as a way to see if the employee’s values align with those of the company. Performing a job background check gives employers some insights into how a new employee will get along with co-workers and managers, and how the employee will likely adapt to this new work environment.
Again, what it is that employers are looking for when they perform these searches can vary based on the company or the position. In addition to the content listed above, employers performing an online screening are typically searching for red flags that suggest the candidate or employee may not be a good fit, as well as positive reinforcing factors. The majority of employers (72%) make sure that every single potential employee undergoes a job background check prior to hiring.
According to a study from Careerbuilder, here are even more specific things that employers look for, and the percentage of employers that use employment background checks to get this information:

Criminal background: 82%

Confirm employment: 62%

Confirm identity: 60%

Confirm education: 50%

Check for illegal drug use: 44%

Check licensing: 38%

And it doesn’t stop there either. Below are red flags that employers look for to decide whether or not to hire or fire a candidate or employee:
Common red flags include:

Derogatory Language

Sexually explicit materials

References to drug use

References to alcohol

Inflammatory talk about politics, religion, and race

Bullying

Violence

Disparaging comments about your current job, coworkers, customers, etc.

Luckily, employers are also actively looking for positive reinforcing factors to confirm what they already know/hope to be true about you:
Some positive reinforcing factors include:

Demonstrated interest in your field

Demonstrated contribution to your industry

Work portfolio

Hobbies outside of work

Evidence of accomplishments/awards

Evidence  that you shared the truth about your  past professional experiences

Examples that show what makes you unique

When do employers perform an employee background check?

Many people think that they’re only undergoing employment background checks when they are applying for jobs. While a pre-employment background check is a standard part of the online screening process – it’s not the only time that employers will perform a job background check. Many companies continue background checks even after they’ve hired an employee. The frequency and extent of the background check for a current employee will likely vary based on the company’s policies and based on the nature of the employee’s position.
These kinds of background checks are often conducted:

Annually

Every 5 years

As a part of regular reviews

As part of the promotion process

What information is out there?

While pre-employment background checks are a standard part of the professional vetting process, it’s important to be aware of what it is your potential (or current) employer is likely to find. Remember, these screenings often combine government records as well as information from social media. When employers perform background checks, they’ll often enlist the help of third-parties for part or all of the process. And there are tons of options to choose from, many of which are fully automated and essentially function as databases that aggregate information and produce profiles for individuals based on this.
This combination of social media, yellow pages, public records and more show up on sites like:

Spokeo.com

Radaris

Intelius

PeopleFinders.com

And many more

Remember, in addition to the databases that gather information and create hubs of accurate information about you online, you will also be dealing with information about people who share your name online.
That means that employer background checks may turn up information about you that is inaccurate. If you don’t have a strong personal brand online, then a background check for job might disqualify you just because of a mistaken identity. As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what happened to BrandYourself’s co-founder, Pete Kistler.
To learn more about the pre-employment background check and to fully answer the question, “What does a background check show for employment?”, read this article from the Society for Human Resource Management.

How to prepare for an employee background check

Whether you’re still in school, applying for jobs, or comfortable in your current job, you need to be prepared for an employment background check before it happens. You are subject to formal employment background checks as well as informal scans at any point as a professional. That’s why we suggest you take the following steps:
Scan: Find out what is currently out there about you online by doing a Google search for your name. Look through the first 10 pages of results to identify any search results that could damage your reputation. Make sure that you repeat this for any variations on your name or other keywords that people may use when looking you up online. Sign up for BrandYourself’s free DIY online reputation management software and our software will flag this automatically for you.
Clean up: Once you know what it is you’re dealing with, it’s time to get to work. Start with the low-hanging fruit. That is to say, start by removing any content that you control that could be a red flag to current or future employers. Once you’ve taken care of everything that you control, start addressing other types of negative content. We wrote a whole guide on dealing with negative search results.
Build and optimize your personal brand: Once you’ve taken all the steps you can to get rid of content that an employer might look at as a red flag, it’s time to create a brand that showcases who you are, what you’re great at and what makes you different from competitors. Your personal brand should show people why they want to work with you.
BrandYourself’s DIY software is built with your background check for employment in mind. So if you haven’t yet, sign up for free and our software will automatically scan your current web presence and show you the next steps you need to take to improve it.

What to do when you aren’t looking for a job or getting an employment background check

It’s easy to focus on how you look online when job-hunting, but you should focus on your brand when you don’t “need” to. First of all, there’s a good chance that you’re being looked up by clients, customers, partners, co-workers – and even your employer when you are employed and not actively seeking a new job. And why not help your future job-seeking self out when there’s less pressure?
The easiest way to prepare for an unexpected employment background check or an informal online screening is to:

Regularly scan and monitor your online presence

Deal with any negative search results as soon as possible

Consistently build your personal brand by being active on social media and keeping your website up to date and connecting with others

Take advantage of positive growth opportunities presented to you through your online brand

By consistently taking the steps needed to improve your personal brand, you not only help yourself in the future when you’re looking for the next job, but you open doors to opportunities that you might not have gotten otherwise. As you work towards building a strong personal brand today you’re creating a hub that shows others who you are and what you do. You also create the opportunity to demonstrate your industry knowledge and share your valuable experiences with others.
By intentionally developing your personal brand, you also make it easier for others to get in touch with you. Not only does this increase your chances for opportunities like speaking gigs, conferences, interviews, partnerships, etc – but it shows your current (and next) employer that you are truly engaged in your industry and someone worth investing in.
And remember, a pre-employment background check is only one kind of online screening.
You will undergo online screenings during just about any application or vetting process, such as:

School/training programs

Scholarship

Internships

Grants

Applying for loans/mortgages

Renting/Buying Property

Admission to service groups, etc

Meeting someone new

Networking events

Dates

New Friends

Interest Groups

Clients

Colleagues

Employees

Customers

Partners

Patrons

And much more

But don’t let any of this scare you. This just shows you why you need to work on your personal brand whether you’re actively undergoing employment background checks, or are subject to the informal background check. Screenings or a constant part of life today whether you realize it or not, so let that fact work in your favor by building a strong personal brand.

How BrandYourself can help

At BrandYourself, we believe that everyone is entitled to the tools and knowledge needed to successfully manage their personal brand online. That’s why we’ve spent years developing cutting-edge software and world-class managed services and a commitment to transparency. Taking control of how you look online is a necessity if you’re applying for a job, but it’s also critical even if you aren’t. Whether you use our free DIY online reputation management software or work with our Managed Services, BrandYourself can help you build a reputation online that you’re proud of.
There’s no need to worry about your next employment background check or casual Google search from your next date.

Pre-Employment Background Check: What Does It Show?

Pre-Employment Background Check: What Does It Show?

Tags: Pre-Employment Background Check What Does It Show