What Does a Background Check Entail?

The phrase 'background check' can be a little ambiguous considering its application at the moment. In the past, many people associated this phrase with investigators looking into a company or looking into the past of someone being considered for a high-level position.

A lot has changed since then, and now private investigators are being asked to carry out background checks by different entities including private citizens. In reality, there may be a few people that you currently interact with that you should have asked an investigator to perform a background check on.

In order for a private investigator to carry out a background check, they will need certain information about the person or entity that they are looking into. At the very least, they'll need:

• The person or entity's name
• Place of employment
• Current address
• The purpose for which the background check is being carried out

A few ways in which investigators carry out background checks include:

• Searching online: Academic records for many schools can be found online. Investigators tasked with finding out personal information can also check social media sites.
• Contacting former employers: This method is mostly relevant if the person in question is being considered for a new job.
• Contacting neighbors and landlords: This is an important step when you're considering a new roommate or tenant
• Contacting former spouses and/or family members: This can be an important step before you commit to a long-term romantic relationship etc.

Background checks can take anywhere from a few hours to several months. Some background checks are relatively straightforward. This is because there are specific sources that can provide the exact information the investigator needs. For example, finding out if someone has a criminal record can be relatively straightforward.

However, certain background checks will require more work. For example, investigators may take months to go through thousands of documents when performing due diligence before a merger.

Most professional private investigators will only reveal information that is pertinent to the purpose of the background check. Quite often, investigators will come across a lot of information that has no bearing on the purpose of the check. They may also stumble across information that they're not supposed to be able to get their hands on.

Disclosing information that isn't pertinent will give you too much information that is of no use, and giving you information that you're not supposed to have or use can have legal consequences. For example, if the subject of an investigation has a spent criminal record and the private investigator finds out that they were convicted at some point, legal action can be taken against you if you disqualify a candidate based on this information.