What, exactly, can an employment history record do for you as a private investigator?  In the course of performing your job as a private eye, you will come across a huge variety of records, both public and personal.  Many of these records, such as an employment record, will tell you things about a person you are conducting an investigation about.  But what exactly are you expected to do when using employment history records?

Usage of employment history records for background checks
Employment history records are frequently used as a reference during an investigation or a background check.  Often, this is in relation to a job application, when a client employer would like to screen a potential employee’s personal and professional past.

This is to determine how well suited or qualified the applicant is or if all the qualifications and information provided in his/her resume were truthfully stated.  Many employers would rather avoid problematic hirees, especially those who have a criminal past and those who might have lied or overstated their education, training or other qualifications.

Make a thorough research regarding someone’s employment history
Actually, employers are not legally required to make reference checks about their possible hires.  They simply turn to private investigators to conduct these checks for them in order to validate whatever information is offered by a job applicant.

Employers are also advised to have employment history records checked in order to avoid any liabilities that result from negligent hiring.  As a private investigator, it is your job to ensure that you perform a complete research regarding a person’s employment history records.  Missing a critical piece of information could cost your client a lot.

Know state restrictions regarding employment history records
Not every information you obtain out of someone’s employment history record can be considered as useful by your client.  There are certain states in the U.S. that forbid employers from using certain facts about their client as pre-employment qualifications.  These include age, race, national origin, ancestry, veteran status, physical disability or religion – information you can readily gather from an applicant’s employment records.

Find only relevant data
When checking a person’s employment history record, you should know beforehand the type of qualifications that are required from the applicant.  Focus on what the individual can give in terms of skills, training, knowledge, abilities, attitude and behavior at work based on his past and present performance.

Also, there is a wealth of information you can find on data that has not been provided on the individual’s employment history.  As a private investigator, you could, for example, check on any significant employment gap in the person’s work history – why did they not work for so long?  What were they doing during the interval?  What was the reason they quit in the first place?

When considering employment history records usage, a private investigator must always try to obtain data that will help their clients identify the most important information about a job applicant.  This in turn will help an employer make the right hiring decision.

image credits to sxc.hu

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