Overlooking This Security Practice Could Be Costing You

As an employer, your background check process is an investment in the safety of your workplace and the quality of your workforce. You want to be sure that you’re getting candidates who are trustworthy and capable of meeting the expectations that you set. So, it is imperative that your background check process is as thorough as it can be. While verifying that your prospective hires don’t have adverse criminal histories, you could be missing out on critical insight into your hires if you’re not incorporating an SSN trace into your background checks. If you’re investing in making your workplace safer and more efficient, having this simple safeguard in place is a great way to get started. 

What is an SSN Trace?

Typical criminal background checks rely on the honor system. You can only search criminal records based on the name and date of birth that you are provided on an application. An SSN trace eliminates a key vulnerability in the traditional process. It does this by searching the entire history associated with a given social security number. Running an SSN trace paints a more complete picture of your applicant. In the event that an applicant has aliases or has undergone name changes, the SSN trace will alert you to them. Discovering that an applicant has aliases may reveal a criminal history that you would’ve been otherwise unaware of. 

Additionally, SSN traces can uncover instances of fraud. They can even make you aware of gaps in the work histories of your applicants. An SSN trace may reveal that the applicant is not who they claim to be, or even reveal that their work history is not quite what they presented it to be. 

What an SSN Trace Can Do for You 

Incorporating An SSN Trace into your current background check system makes your workplace more secure, your hiring more efficient, and your business more profitable. Having a more complete picture of your applicant’s history mitigates the risk of hiring people who are untrustworthy or dangerous. Additionally, hiring is already a time-consuming process. Turnover and retraining are expensive, and the last thing you want to do is invest in an employee who turned out to be a bad fit for your organization. Having the necessary safeguards in place saves tons of time and money in the long term. With an SSN trace, you’ll have more resources to identify and prevent problems before they arise.