Recruiter Magazine looks at the growing demand for background check services

The increasing importance of a background check service to pre-employment screening and recruitment was the subject of an article in Recruiter magazine last week.

According to the industry publication, there is a significant need for employers to verify the backgrounds of job applicants as surveys indicate that some 15% of submitted CVs contain a falsehood or discrepancy. Whilst these misleading statements are often related to a candidates experience or education, in other cases the lies can be more serious, hiding criminal records or background information directly relevant to the position.

For example, although the number of cases where false CV information has been identified has dropped over the year, there has been a significant increase in the more serious fabrications. The proportion of cases where applicants have hidden criminal records has increased threefold, whilst one in 50 applicants to the financial services sector have concealed a negative credit record.

These deceptions are a problem for more reasons than how they undermine the recruitment process and employer trust.

According to CIFA, the UK's fraud prevention service, an increasing amount of fraudulent activity is the result of internal threats within organisations. Across the recruitment sector there has been a rise in background screening in an attempt to curtail the 14% leap in identity fraud seen over 2010 in comparison with 2009.

Whilst a background check service is no guarantee of employee goodwill and good conduct in the long term, says Recruiter, it can reveal when an applicant is clearly willing to deceive an employer and play an important role in minimising the risk of fraud, theft or other dangers.