This phase of the referencing process is best begun after the credit, criminal, driving and social security numbers have been started. In all respects these queries are to determine the candidate’s willingness and ability to perform the duties and responsibilities you expect.

• Validates educational claims
• Requires a signed release and written substantiation
• Further corroborates names and aliases
• There Are Over 300 Non-Traditional Universities and Colleges

Degrees are usually verified by telephone, but more and more we have to put things in writing. If a college or university tells us on the telephone that someone does not have a degree, we always correspond with a letter to the registrar to validate the claim in writing.

By and large, the colleges and universities have the most accurate records in the U.S.

We have had experiences where candidates have gone to great lengths to invent a degree--even having a friend in the registrar's office to verbally confirm the claims.

If a candidate lies about having a degree, can you trust what else they claim to have done? Beware of lies and omissions on the application: it is just like stealing. An education verification ensures that there are no unpleasant surprises.

• Dates of employment
• Titles, duties, income
• Rehire/termination status
• Performance evaluation

The employment dates, preferably 7 years of employment (if available), are the most critical part of performing a background check. Coupled with the criminal history data, the employment dates are one of the few pieces of information that can determine whether or not someone has been incarcerated or not.

"Date of employment and title" are what many want to reduce employment checks to. It is important to verify/confirm the dates, because it is difficult to determine if the candidate has been in prison or not. Remember the F.B.I. check? Well, that is the only way to definitely tell. If the dates don't match, and the gaps are not reasonable, you had better watch out.

Successful, competent employees have employers and supervisors that will talk about their performance. What are we to believe about silence without digging into each situation? We feel that if someone wants to be employed they should be responsible for seeing to it that their respective supervisors can talk candidly about past performance. They must be assured by the former employee that they and their company will be held harmless for speaking the truth about the candidate's prior job performance.

If the circumstances of a person's release from a company are to remain unknown, it is the candidate's responsibility to clarify the matter. Companies that blindly hire candidates are setting themselves up for trouble.

• 30% altered date
• 22% made false claims
• 41% inflated salary claims
• 33% inflated title and responsibility
• 25% listed a phony former employer
• 34% untruthful termination reasons
• 27% falsified records

Source: XUKOR, compiled from over 15,000 applications and resumes combined