Guide to Background Checks for BPO Industry, How to Check a Candidate's History

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Financial Hiring Trends Report of 2023

A BPO is an industry term used to describe outsourced services that are delivered to business customers. The term “outsourcing” refers to the practice of moving certain tasks from in-house staff to external providers. The BPO industry as we know it today, was created by businesses who were trying to cut costs and reduce their dependence on in-house resources such as IT, finance, HR, marketing, etc.

pre employment screening for outsourcing companies
Pre employment screening for outsourcing companies

The BPO industry is a highly competitive one. Recruiters are the key to maintaining a healthy work culture in this industry. They are the ones who make sure that there is an adequate number of candidates who have the skills and experience required for the job. One of the major challenges that recruiters face in this industry is screening candidates particularly on the aspect of background checking. Background checks are a crucial part of the recruitment process. They help companies to make sure that they are only hiring only people who are qualified for the job.

In this article, we will discuss how to do background checks for candidates in the BPO industry and how to check their history.

Why Do Background Checks Matter in the BPO Industry?

Background checks are essential for hiring people in the BPO industry. They help companies to weed out potential candidates who may not be a good fit and ensure that they hire the right people. Background checks are important for all companies, especially for those that have international operations, and those of their clients with a reach of global sites similar to those of the BPO companies. Those that do not conduct background checks may miss out on key information about their potential employees, which could lead to legal issues down the road. As such, a lot of companies use background checks as part of a screening and hiring process.

background verification services for offshoring companies
Background verification services for offshoring companies

Checking a candidate’s history helps employers easily identify whether they have any gaps in their work history or not. It also helps them avoid hiring someone with an unprofessional past which could cause legal issues.

Background checks can also help companies identify potential threats that might be present in the workplace, such as harassment or discrimination. This is why it’s important for companies to conduct background checks on their employees and not just rely on their reputation or experience when hiring new staff members.

Background Check for Call Centers or Contact Centers Employees

Background checks for call center and contact center employees are becoming more and more important. With the recent increase of cyber-attacks, it is crucial to have a reliable system in place to prevent any potential threats to company security.

background verification services for outsourcing companies
Background verification services for outsourcing companies

Call centers or contact centers are categorized as BPO companies, they are the businesses where companies go when they need to outsource their customer service requirements. Most companies use these centers to help their customers with tasks such as placing orders, checking on status of an order, getting information about shipping, etc.

Background checks for call center employees typically include criminal background check, credit check and social media check. There are cases when they also include drug tests, and psychological evaluation.

How Does HR Do Background Checks on BPO Employees?

The HR department of a business process outsourcing company often needs to conduct background checks on their employees. This is because the company wants to ensure that they are hiring people who are qualified and not going to be a security risk. The first step in this process is usually an online form, which will ask for personal information about the candidate's work history, education, criminal record, etc. The next step would be for HR to contact the candidate with instructions for how long it should take them to complete the background check. After that point, if everything looks good, they will either be hired or informed that they are not qualified and will not be given the offer letter.

pre employment screening for offshoring companies
Pre employment screening for offshoring companies

Background checking is an important part of the hiring process for any company. It helps them to find out the potential risks and problems that might arise from the new employee joining their company.

HR can do background check in two ways:

1) Through directly contacting the potential candidate's previous employers;

2) Through using third-party background check services.

In a lot of cases, BPOs use third-party background check services to verify their applicants’ information before hiring them.

What is the Best Way to Perform a Background Check for the BPO Industry?

Background checking is a very important part of hiring and onboarding in the BPO industry. There are many factors that come into play when it comes to background checks and the best way to conduct them.

employment background checks for offshoring companies
Employment background checks for offshoring companies

Background checks are important for any company because they can prevent a lot of problems like fraud, theft, and other illegal activities. However, not all background checks are created equal. Some companies will do a thorough search while others will just skim the surface.

The best background checks for the BPO industry is one that goes beyond just screening the work history of a candidate and also includes personal information such as criminal records, credit history, and social media accounts. Background checks can be done through online databases or by contacting previous employers, former colleagues, or friends.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, there is no denying the fact that the BPO industry has been growing over the years. It is not surprising that with this growth, it will be more difficult to maintain a background check on potential employees. Therefore, it is up to the BPO companies to come up with solutions that will help mitigate this risk. The best and most efficient way is to outsource the checking to a third party company which has the expertise, enough resources and manpower to perform the screening especially for a large volume of candidates.

Veremark help enterprises hire specialist talent across more than 180 countries and provide customised employment background checks that are suited for enterprises across all industries, sectors, and scales. Veremark’s agile and custom background checking solution, including strong ATS, CRM, and HRIS integrations, plus the innovative and future-proofed Veremark Career Passport on the blockchain – helps both businesses hire and rehire effectively and candidates find and be hired quickly, matches and scales with the needs of very fast-moving and rapidly scaling and hiring tech businesses.

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FAQs

What background check do I need?

This depends on the industry and type of role you are recruiting for. To determine whether you need reference checks, identity checks, bankruptcy checks, civil background checks, credit checks for employment or any of the other background checks we offer, chat to our team of dedicated account managers.

Why should employers check the background of potential employees?

Many industries have compliance-related employment check requirements. And even if your industry doesn’t, remember that your staff have access to assets and data that must be protected. When you employ a new staff member you need to be certain that they have the best interests of your business at heart. Carrying out comprehensive background checking helps mitigate risk and ensures a safer hiring decision.

How long do background checks take?

Again, this depends on the type of checks you need. Simple identity checks can be carried out in as little as a few hours but a worldwide criminal background check for instance might take several weeks. A simple pre-employment check package takes around a week. Our account managers are specialists and can provide detailed information into which checks you need and how long they will take.

Can you do a background check online?

All Veremark checks are carried out online and digitally. This eliminates the need to collect, store and manage paper documents and information making the process faster, more efficient and ensures complete safety of candidate data and documents.

What are the benefits of a background check?

In a competitive marketplace, making the right hiring decisions is key to the success of your company. Employment background checks enables you to understand more about your candidates before making crucial decisions which can have either beneficial or catastrophic effects on your business.

What does a background check show?

Background checks not only provide useful insights into a candidate’s work history, skills and education, but they can also offer richer detail into someone’s personality and character traits. This gives you a huge advantage when considering who to hire. Background checking also ensures that candidates are legally allowed to carry out certain roles, failed criminal and credit checks could prevent them from working with vulnerable people or in a financial function.

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