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Author:
Steve Valentino

With the recent corporate scandals of Enron and WorldCom, the popularity and necessity of executive background checks has greatly increased. In order to protect themselves from potential disasters later on, many companies are now requiring extensive investigation on prospective executives to verify their employment and educational history as well as information regarding any past wrongdoings.

As with any other type of pre-employment background investigations, employers need to have the appropriate disclosures available. According to Federal law and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, applicants must sign and date specific disclosures regarding the various types of background checks employers desire. It is important to respect the privacy of potential employees while maintaining the company's hiring standards.

Although executive-level background checks are becoming increasingly more popular, there may still be some hesitation as to how far to take them. Many high-level executives seem to think of their atmosphere as more of a society, or 'country-club' feel. They may not feel comfortable about performing checks on executives and in many cases, do not feel it is necessary. Human Resource managers in the executive level seem to also have some hesitations to conducting extensive background checks. Many of them feel as if their network of peers is enough to get the information they need and may neglect to further investigate a potential employee. The Wall Street Journal suggests that many top-level hiring managers may ignore the reference list provided by the would-be-executive to utilize their own connections in their past companies.

Whatever the reasoning behind conducting background checks, employers need to be aware of the Federal and State laws regarding such investigations. Most reputable investigation firms adhere strictly to these guidelines. Using one of the top firms can save headaches in the future while being sure that the information is fair, accurate and thorough. The employers themselves, however, can obtain some information. Educational references can be verified by contacting the academic institution, work and salary history can be obtained by contacting former employers, and character references can often be sought by contacting various people who know the prospective employee. Regardless of the method used, it is certainly in the company's best interest to know who is working for them. In the case of top-level management, an executive background check is necessary and vital to the ongoing success of the establishment.

About the author:

Background Checks Info provides detailed information about criminal, employment, online, executive, and personal background checks. Background Checks Info is affiliated with Original Content Web.

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A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Background Checks... What's the Best Background Check Software? There are several background check softwares available online. Most of them are available in a similar price range. However, what sets good background check software apart from the myriad others are features such as: • Ease of download and compatibility: The software should be easy to download and run instantly. Free and timely software updates should be installed automatically and the software should be compatible with the different Internet-related software and operating systems. • Online help: The vendor’s website should have detailed FAQ and Help sections that explain the manner in which the software is to be used; tips and tutorials are provided and customer queries are answered. • Ease of use: A good software should be easy to use, with query fields designed to return the most pertinent results for a given search. • Legal to use: The software should be completely legal for use in all manner advertised by the company. Its sources of information should be verifiable and information it dispenses should be obtained legally. There are other factors too that distinguish a good background check software; these include a well-updated database that draws from various resources. Also, the databases accessed have to be relevant to the type of background checks provided otherwise looking up a background is likely to turn into an exercise in futility. The background check software should facilitate checking of criminal records; looking up one’s own family history; locate listed as well as unlisted phone numbers; obtain information on birth, death, and social security numbers, find people by name, phone number; or email. Good background check software should make it worthwhile for employers who invest time and money in it and prefer it over agencies that offer a similar...