February 17th, 2023 | Joy Henry, Head of Technology and Business Services, Sterling

How Background Checks Help in Hiring Strong Tech Candidates

Over the last few years, the way people work — and how companies operate — changed forever. Looking back, it’s amazing how quickly that more than 50 million U.S. “knowledge workers” began working remotely during the pandemic to practice social distancing. Now in 2023, this transition to a new digital workforce is widely expected to endure, even as 9 of 10 companies are requiring their employees to return to the office.

The technology industry was met with a unique set of circumstances when all at once, people across the world began relying on your technologies more than ever. Suddenly, work, school, doctors’ appointments, fitness classes, and social gatherings all “went remote.” During the pandemic, technology became so important that 93% of U.S. adults said a significant interruption to their internet or cellphone service would be an obstacle in their daily lives.

With job demand still spiking in specific industries such ascybersecurity, finding the right candidate for your business is more important now than ever. Background checks are an ideal way to help you vet candidates and prioritize trust and safety throughout your organization.

How can you incorporate background checks into your hiring process to hire the strongest candidate? Here are five components that will help you create a robust screening program responsive to your company’s values and needs.

#1: Tools for Making Informed Choices

Tech companies, owing to the skilled nature of their work, need to be confident that each hire can fulfill job requirements, is honest about their abilities, and has a strong knowledge base. Unfortunately, some candidates exaggerate their education, job titles, or prior experience. In fact, anything stated that relates to pre-employment can be potentially fabricated. These situations are especially concerning when recruiting for jobs requiring a specific knowledge base – a key component of tech jobs.

Robust background checks can help you verify that your new hire has the right education, skills, and experiences that they claim. To mitigate the risk of hiring the wrong person for the role, you can partner with a background screening provider who caters to specific industry needs, is compliance-focused, and can adapt to changing industry trends. Look for a screening provider with extensive tech industry expertise and can offer you customized background screening tools to suit your needs.

#2: Global Knowledge Backed by Compliance Expertise

Technology companies are often international in scope due to their clientele and due to remote work. From a legal and compliance standpoint, hiring, recruiting, and screening employees can become more complex, especially across regions and global jurisdictions. Background screening requirements vary domestically and internationally based on laws, rules, and regulations. International companies need to stay ahead of the curve by addressing the ever-changing landscape of rules and regulations that comes with hiring across the globe. That’s why technology companies are looking for the same seamless candidate experience regarding background checks, both domestically and across the world.

An experienced background screening partner can help you to remain compliance-focused in global markets. Look for a screening provider who can extend their services globally in the same efficient and diligent framework while addressing regulations at various levels of jurisdictions, including local, state, national, and global.

#3: Employees Embody Brand Values on Social Media

With so much personal information online, how can your organization use social media screening during the hiring process? Online profiles can provide insights into a person that work histories may not reveal. When hiring managers or internal company resources look at a candidate’s social media accounts, they can consciously or subconsciously discriminate based on what they see online. Additionally, there are compliance and legal requirements around preforming social media searches.

Partnering with a third-party to review a candidate’s social profiles can help to mitigate bias. Social Media Screening can help protect your business from hiring people who present problematic or discriminatory behavior regarding sex, race, disability, religious beliefs, and gender. With this type of screening, companies can preempt red flags and advance towards embodying their core values.

#4: A Strong Candidate Experience

In much the same way your business uses background checks to assess candidates, your candidates also form an impression of your company while they’re completing your background screening process. Following the interview process, background checks are an employee’s first interaction with your company and are your candidates’ initial introduction to a successful candidate experience .

Throughout the onboarding process, you can use a personalized approach to reflect a positive and efficient candidate experience that values your candidates’ time. In this way, background checks can be seamless, timely, and convenient. These interactions and efficiencies are indicative of a strong candidate experience and can leave new hires with a great impression of your company.

#5: Robust Background Checks Complement Technology Companies

Efficient, robust, and compliance-focused background checks can help you choose the strongest tech candidate and help create a safe and responsive workplace. In an industry which often entrusts proprietary equipment to contractors and remote workers, it’s critical to partner with a reliable background check provider. An experienced vendor can help your business to create a plan tailored to your needs, with the added ability to scale globally.

Our team is here to help optimize your candidate experience and hiring process. Click here to start a conversation and meet your business-critical needs.

Sterling is not a law firm. This publication is for informational purposes only and nothing contained in it should be construed as legal advice. We expressly disclaim any warranty or responsibility for damages arising out this information. We encourage you to consult with legal counsel regarding your specific needs. We do not undertake any duty to update previously posted materials.