| A couple of decades ago, employment screening | | | | being sought for. There is no denying that |
| companies were virtually nonexistent. Searching | | | | technical competence is still an important |
| through the telephone directory (as we had no | | | | consideration in most employment situations |
| search engines to talk of then), you would almost | | | | today. But having established it, many employers |
| be certain not to find a category for employment | | | | are increasingly deciding to go a step further: to |
| screening companies. But all that has changed in a | | | | look into the prospective employees' backgrounds |
| span of a few years. Today, we have | | | | keenly. This background checking step is gaining a |
| employment screening companies of all sorts and | | | | lot of prominence nowadays, with many |
| virtually every major city has at least one; with | | | | employers increasingly opting for job candidates |
| quite a good number of them having moved their | | | | whose qualifications may not be particularly stellar, |
| operations online - thence defying geographical | | | | but whose backgrounds are impeccable. So we |
| limitations. The typical telephone directory today | | | | see the employment screening companies being |
| will tend to have a category for the said | | | | beneficiaries of this paradigm shift towards |
| companies; much as it is likely to have a category | | | | increased focus on prospective employee |
| for car hire companies. | | | | backgrounds. |
| Incidentally, when we talk about an employment | | | | Employment screening companies have also been |
| screening company, we are talking about an | | | | beneficiaries of another trend: the one towards |
| entity that is engaged in checking, on behalf of its | | | | outsourcing of non-core business functions. As it |
| clients, the backgrounds of its clients' prospective | | | | turns out, even as more and more companies are |
| employees. The background of prospective | | | | showing growing keenness in knowing more about |
| employees is something many companies are | | | | their prospective employee backgrounds, not |
| increasingly interested in reviewing, as they come | | | | many of them are willing to actually engage in the |
| face to face with major security and corporate | | | | work of screening the employees. That is a piece |
| espionage threats. It is therefore not very hard | | | | of work they view as a 'non core function.' So |
| to see why there has been such a huge rise in | | | | they promptly outsource it to a company that |
| the number of employment screening companies. | | | | has it is as a core function, and that company |
| For one, pre employment screening has come to | | | | naturally turns out to be one of the employment |
| be considered a very important part of the hiring | | | | screening companies. Repeat this for every |
| process for many companies. This was hardly the | | | | appointment made by most companies, and you |
| case just a few years ago. Then, most emphasis | | | | start seeing why there has been such a huge rise |
| was laid on assessing the prospective employees' | | | | in the number of companies offering employee |
| technical competence for the roles they were | | | | screening services. |