Trusting the people around you is a sign of a positive attitude to life. However, trusting a virtual stranger is borderline naive and this can have very dangerous consequences. This is a problem many are faced with when hiring someone, whether we’re talking about companies or private citizens hiring a nanny or a cleaning lady. Or when you meet someone through a dating app. How can you make sure they are who they say they are? Can you check someone out for free?
The Internet as a checking tool
The easiest way to learn more about an individual is to ask Google. Google knows everything anyway and it might reveal valuable information about a person. Just by typing a person’s name you can find out whether they’ve ever made it to the news, in a positive or negative context, or if their name was mentioned in a court case.
If you don’t find anything relevant, don’t worry there are other means you can use.
What social media can tell you about a person
Most Human Resources employees already use social media to learn more about a job applicant or see if what they wrote in their CV checks out.
You’ll want to start with Facebook, since most people have an account there. You can see what their passions are, their political views or their hobbies. Also, it might be a good idea to have a look at people they’re friends with.
Companies use such tools to see if a certain person would be a valuable addition to their organisation or if their views align with company standards.
As a private person checking someone out, you want to know if this is someone you could be friends with. Hiring a nanny, for instance, is a very sensitive issue and you need to make sure you like this person who’s going to be taking care of your children. Someone who posts a lot about wild parties and likes to hang around in bars might not be the right person after all.
For companies looking to make a hire, LinkedIn is quite valuable as it allows you to check out an individual’s work experience and educational qualifications.
Instagram is also a great resource since people tend to post pictures guaranteed to earn them a lot of followers. Someone regularly posing in skimpy outfits might not fit your idea of a nanny.
The best thing is that all these checks are free. All you need is a bit of time and the patience to go through several social media accounts.
What about criminal background checks
The first thing to keep in mind is that national police checks can only be performed if the person consents to such a thing. Otherwise, it is illegal no matter why you might be interested in doing one. Secondly, as there are statutory fees associated with each criminal history request, you cannot just obtain a free police check certificate no matter what means you try.
On the other hand, these days you have plenty of options to perform a criminal background check on someone. Well, the guy you’ve just met on Tinder probably won’t agree to that, but if you want to hire someone they will understand why such a check is necessary.
To make it easier for everybody, you can use an online character check agency. Most of them are really simple to use, they’re very fast, you get the results in two days and they’re quite affordable.
Why take a chance on someone when a criminal background check is only a few clicks away?
