Everything You Need to Know About the Employment Verification Process

Employment Verification refers to the process of verifying the employment history of an employee with his ex-employers. You will come across professionals who understand the importance of the same and at the same time many of them who do not even know that any such process prevails in the industry.

Looking into a candidate’s past work history can reveal insight into their job stability and loyalty to an employer.

It’s an important process of onboarding as there are several cases found where the employee has provided fake information like incorrect tenure in previous employer, wrong salary details or even invalid job titles to get a better opportunity. With the verification process in place, every employer is now able to track the correct records of a new joiner which ultimately help them getting right and trustworthy resource pool in the organization as it’s believed that you may enhance the competency of an individual by training him/her but Integrity cannot be imparted, it comes from within, so if you are hiring a person who lacks integrity, maybe you are putting your organization in danger.

With this write-up, I would like to highlight some key elements that every professional must keep in mind during their work-life which may negatively impact their employment verification in the future.

5 essential things you need to consider for a hassle-free Employee Verification process

1. Always provide correct information to the new employer

The information that you provide to the new employer plays a very critical role in your employment verification. Always keep in mind that every particular information provided by you could be used in your employment verification so always mention the correct info about your total experience, job role, job title, last drawn salary, reasons for leaving, reporting manager as well as contact details of the previous employer SPOC. Any incorrect information submitted to an organization may lead you to the problem.

Do not let your Integrity be questioned by providing any incorrect information as no employer would like to hire a candidate who lacks Integrity.

There could be a case where you have taken a break in your career for valid reasons. In such cases, it’s always better, to tell the truth rather than giving incorrect information or fake documents as it may lead you to lose another good opportunity. Similarly, even if your salary in the previous organization is less, mention it correctly and give solid reasons why your expectations are high by justifying your skillset rather than giving wrong details.

“Justify your gaps or low salary or lower job title by your competence rather than by fake information”

2. Adhere to the policies

Policies are made to ensure the same level of understanding among all but, while working in a company, it may happen that you are not following the policies and may not ensure your availability, maybe taking leaves too often, may not be adhering to the required process, etc. All this may not matter to you in your current job and you may take things casually but once you join a new company that is process-oriented, you may get in trouble because of the feedback (not so positive) they will receive via the employment verification process.

No company would like to hire a person who is not having a basic quality of adherence as “the biggest asset for any company is its Human Resources and if they are only not adhering to the policies how would they expect an employee-friendly culture. After all, a culture is built on the basis of Trust on the people working together striving to achieve a common goal”.

3. Readout all the terms and conditions of employment carefully

It is very common that at the time of joining, people do not read through the documents provided to them carefully and they simply keep signing every document kept in their joining kit, but this is not a good habit. You must carefully read through every single document which you sign.

If you have any queries, do get clarity from the SPOC available there and ensure that you have a copy of all those documents for your future reference as well.

You must know all the terms and conditions of your employment and adhere to them. Nowadays, companies give a lot of importance to Diversity and Inclusion, Harassment, Code of Conduct, IT Security, etc. and your unawareness or casual behavior may lead you to a problematic situation.

“It’s one of the best ways to maintain transparency in a company, so respect it and ensure that you are well aware of all terms of employment.”

4. Maintain a good rapport with everyone

Your misbehavior or misconduct at one company may impact your future as it may reflect in your employment verification even after many years. So always ensure that you have a good rapport with everyone.

The way you talk to others – your seniors, juniors as well as peers reflects the kind of person you are. No company would like to hire a person who is known for his/her misconduct. A person who is polite, a good listener, talk to others nicely, is always admired by everyone, so always maintain such attributes and avoid getting into any conflict.

No matter how technically sound you are, if you cannot behave well, you cannot grow. Your conduct/behavior plays a very critical element of your growth within your current organization as well as in your future employment, so always ensure to maintain a good rapport with everyone and practice gentle behavior.

5. Do not breach the employment contract

Every organization asks its new joiners to sign an employment contract which basically covers clauses around Non-disclosure, non-compete, separation clauses, and a few more terms and conditions to protect the interest of the organization.

As a matured person, you must read through the contract terms carefully and understand the importance of the same. Make sure you have a clear understanding of your new job role. And if you realize it is anytime breaching your current employment contract, then look out for other opportunities.

While you take a decision to move out of the organization, always keep those terms and conditions in mind, as they are very critical and one should never breach such clause.

Most prevailing types of Verification

Every company may have a different type of verification based on the kind of business they are working in and accordingly, a candidate may expect the following types of verifications before or after joining a new organization:

1. Employment Verification

This is one of the most common types of verification which almost every company follows. In this verification, an employer primarily checks the employment history of a candidate which includes:

• Total tenure in previous organizations
• Last drawn salary
• Job Title in the previous organizations
• Eligibility of rehire
• Reason for change

2. Professional Reference Check

Some organizations do practice this kind of verification where they take the professional references and try to identify the strength and weaknesses of a candidate so that the right candidate is selected for the available role.

This is usually done before the joining of a candidate.

3. Education Verification

Some employers give preference to the education verification as some roles are very specific to the kind of educational background as well. So, they may ask you to provide original copies of all your educational documents like mark sheets of 10th, 12th, graduation or post-graduation. For freshers, it’s one of the most important verification elements as many companies hire candidates based on a percentage cut-off and students may provide forged documents.

4. Criminal Verification

Some employers who are dealing in security or data-related products/services, prefer to get criminal verification done as well. This covers a check on any past record of any criminal activity or allegation, so police verification is done in all your past residential address (permanent or temporary). This is usually done by a third-party agency. So, an employer may ask you to provide all your past resident addresses for such a verification process.

5. Address Verification

Some employers do get the address verification check done to ensure that the details provided by a candidate/ employee are correct. These details are also used in criminal verification.

If your new employer is seeking any of the above-mentioned personal information, always provide correct and updated information to ensure a positive and effective verification process in return.