Screening Add-Ons: When Should I Get a Credential Verification? 1 Nov 2017
Share
Definition of Credential Verification: it is the process of verification from the original source of a specific credential (education, training, licensure). Its purpose is to determine the accuracy of the qualifications of an individual/potential employee.
From accountants to airline pilots, radiologists to real estate brokers, there are many professional positions that require specific licenses. Furthermore, these credentials are provided by numerous organizations, including industry watch groups and governmental entities.
If you’re hiring for one of these positions, you want to make sure that the candidate you hire not only has the license that indicates they have the skills to do the job, but also that the license is active. In addition, requirements can vary depending on the position, your location and the demands of the position. Therefore, start by knowing which licenses you require.
You can then set your applicant tracking system (ATS) to filter resumes by the specific credentials needed. This is the first but not only step in ensuring you’re hiring a qualified candidate. Once you find the best candidates and are nearing making a decision, you’ll want to run an employee background screening.
Getting a Credential Verification
Smart employers enhance their employee background screening with credential verification for positions that require licenses and certifications. In a perfect world you could take a candidate’s word that they have the necessary requirements. On the contrary, in reality there is too much room for error and too much at risk to not take this additional step.
A license could be expired. An oversight on a certification restriction could disqualify an applicant. A credential might not be applicable for the state where the employee wants to work. Indeed, you might discover disciplinary action has been taken, or worse, the candidate’s license was revoked. Without checking, the company hiring for the position is vulnerable to costly fines, penalties, and negligent hiring claims. Moreover, there is also the potential of tarnishing brand reputation.
There are hundreds of licenses and credentials that should be verified. Some of the most common include:
Accounting
American Academy of Professional Coders
American Board of Internal Medicine
Chiropractic or doctor’s license
FCC
Medical coding
Nursing
Pharmacy
Principals and school-related occupations
Professional engineers
Surgical technologists
Credential Verification Services
When you work with Trusted Employees for credential verification, you can feel confident about your employee background screening. The certification verification service includes:
License Type: Trusted Employees contacts the issuing board or authority and verifies the applicant’s application claims. You learn the kind of certification an applicant has and which board or institution issued the license or credential.
Issue and Expiration: You’ll learn when the applicant’s professional license was issued and if it’s expired.
Restrictions and Conditions: It’s not enough to just have a license. Additionally, you need to make sure the candidate you hire has no restrictions on that license that would impede their ability to do the work.
Disciplinary Measures: Issuing authorities take disciplinary action for a variety of reasons. Once Trusted Employees provides you this information, you can verify if the applicant is eligible for employment or not.
Learn more about Trusted Employees’ credential verification and take the steps needed to give yourself the confidence that you’re making the best hiring decisions possible. Our professionals will be happy to help be make the best decisions when it comes to hiring!
Robyn Kunz is the Chief Compliance Officer at Trusted Employees. She has worked in the background screening industry for over 15 years and holds Advanced Certification in the Fair Credit Reporting Act from the National Association of Professional Background.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
3rd Party Cookies
This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.
Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.
Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!