A Guide to Social Media Checks

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What you’ll learn in this guide

Hiring someone isn't just about what’s on paper anymore. With social media becoming an extension of personal and professional identity, many employers are turning to social media checks as part of their screening process.

In this eBook, we unpack everything you need to know about social media vetting — what it involves, why it matters, and how to do it ethically and effectively.

You’ll learn:

What a social media check covers (and doesn’t)
Why companies are using them to reduce reputational and hiring risks
How to handle red flags fairly and lawfully
What a structured report looks like and how to interpret one
The compliance considerations you need to be aware of
How to introduce social media checks in your organisation

Whether you’re updating your background screening programme or just curious about what’s possible, this guide will help you make more informed, confident hiring decisions.

Fill out the form below to get your copy

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.