What Causes a Red Flag on a Background Check: 9 Common Scenarios

Michelle Wilson - August 4, 2022

When you’re looking to hire someone, you’d like to find the best to run your company. Securing the best employees means your hiring methods need to be top-notch. A thorough and reliable employee screening can help you understand more of the people you’d like to hire, but it’s ultimately up to you to consider all the details and how it impacts your decision. Knowing the most common issues on a background check and how this might influence a candidate’s qualifications can help you hire the best individual for your company.

Multiple Periods of Unemployment

The occasional gap in employment history isn’t uncommon, as many potential employees will have some absence within the workforce. These periods may include a career change, illness, child-rearing, or caring for a loved one. The concern becomes when unemployment seems to be an ongoing pattern. If you see multiple gaps in employment, it might indicate an unreliable applicant, difficult to work with, and otherwise struggles to keep a job.

Multiple Short-Lived Jobs

This red flag is similar to having multiple periods of unemployment; someone with multiple short-lived jobs on a background check should cause concern. Although seasonal or temporary positions are wonderful, someone continuously moving from job to job likely won’t work well with your company. These short-lived jobs could signify they were terminated or forced to resign. Maybe they get easily unhappy or bored with their position and need to find new skills over time. You want to ensure that your company hires someone dependable, particularly someone more enduring. Unfortunately, the serial job seeker isn’t likely that person.

Inconsistency in Education or Experience

An applicant’s inconsistency is one of the most typical red flags on a background report. When a background check on a candidate and the employment details pull up different information than what the individual and resume told you, you must investigate the matter thoroughly. Your potential employee may make up facts about education, job experience, positions, and duties they had to make them appear more appealing to you and your company.

While many applicants are likely to embellish their resumes to make themselves sound fabulous, you should likely proceed with caution when exaggerations become outright fraudulent. Even when an applicant holds the right qualifications in other areas, individuals lying on their resume should throw a question into their character that demands serious consideration before moving forward.

Missing Relevant Previous Jobs

Although fabricated experience on a resume is detrimental, the opposite should also cause considerable concern. When a potential applicant leaves prior relevant experiences off their resume, it is likely a red flag. Occasionally, an applicant wants to put their best position forward, especially when job searching, but leaving off several applicable positions implies they’re trying to hide information. If you’re running a background check and find a potential employee leaving multiple positions on their resume, it’s cause for further review. Maybe the applicant has a valid explanation for the missing details. Start by opening the conversation to get a good idea of the past positions and what that looks like for your company if you hire this applicant.

Understanding the Criminal Record

The criminal history component is arguably the most critical position within a background check. Although some incidents might not keep you from offering a job to the candidate, it’s essential to know a prospective employee’s criminal history. If you fail to run a criminal background check on an employee and they subsequently commit a criminal act, your company could be held liable.

Keep in mind that an employer should remain open to the context of anything that might come up in the criminal history. For example, an arrest doesn’t equal a conviction, and minor incidents might be nothing more than the wrong place at the wrong time. A previous criminal history might not be an automatic red flag; if candidates try to hide or lie about their past, think twice about hiring them. Always look for a forthright candidate that takes the time to answer all questions honestly. This applicant is more trustworthy than someone trying to minimize their record.

Job-Related Convictions

Although minor convictions that happened years ago may not be a red flag, pay attention to the influence of previous criminal activity and the job at hand. Someone with a poor driving history probably shouldn’t hold a position operating a motor vehicle. Likewise, an applicant facing financial fraud isn’t going to work well at a financial institution. Understanding the influence a previous criminal has on the current company is far more essential than when it took place or how severe the sentence was.

Terrible Credit History

Although this isn’t necessary for many background checks, any position dealing with finances should always include a credit check. Although a candidate’s poor credit may have resulted from other major life events (like death, illness, or divorce), it’s always wise to investigate the credit worthiness of someone handling finances within your company. This red flag doesn’t significantly influence a job applicant, as many people can still perform their job well despite the bad credit.

Refusing a Background Check

In many situations, you’ll be able to uncover as much information from how someone handles potential red flags as what appears on the background screening. If the applicant answers all questions calmly and honestly about any criminal, financial, or employment history, it may indicate that they’re a dependable employee. Should someone lie or refuse to answer the information about background check findings (or worse, refuse a background screening altogether), they may be hiding more than you expected.

Bad References

An applicant’s references are an excellent way to learn more about an applicant, particularly regarding work ethic, character, and values. When speaking to previous employers, you may occasionally hear negative feedback too. It’s essential to remember that negative reviews may be nothing more than personal issues, misunderstandings, or other situations a candidate can’t control. Should the same negative opinions continue to come up, take this as a potential red flag.

Conclusion

One of the essential components of hiring someone is the background check and screening. By looking into someone’s character, work ethic, and job skills, you’ll help minimize potential problems down the road. After you’ve formed a complete picture of the candidate, you can determine whether they would match the skills and personality required to exceed within your company. Although not all red flags should remove a potential applicant from the employment pool, it simply suggests you may need to slow down and investigate things further before deciding to hire an individual long-term.