As of September 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 14 million people are unemployed. At this rate, an employer can easily receive hundreds of responses to a single job posting. While a large applicant pool certainly gives the employer a wide variety of choices, it also makes background checks an important tool to be able to choose the most qualified candidate.
Most job applicants are familiar with being asked to sign a waiver so that the prospective employer can run a credit report, which includes information about an employee’s credit-payment history and other credit habits from which the employer might draw conclusions about the applicant. A criminal background check, particularly for jobs where an employee will work with children, the elderly or people with disabilities, is also routine.
