How to Find Past Employment Records
Carrying out a full check of a prospective employee is not only smart, it is the law. According to the Streetdirectory website, you have a legal obligation to carry out all steps necessary to avoid negligent hiring, or the employment of someone who is a potential threat to the well-being of the company, to customers, or to fellow employees. Indeed, the website suggests that if the new employee harms another worker, the worker your new employee harmed can hold you liable.
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Instructions
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Require a resume and cover letter. Do this before granting the employee an interview. This gives you an idea of who the employee says he is, in terms of work experience. It also offers clues to his ability to maintain a job as you examine his dates of employment.
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Make a copy of the resume the prospective employee sends you. As Allbusiness.com suggests, this copy will serve as documentation that you will use as the basis for your employment background check. According to the Allbusiness Web page, on the resume the prospective new hire will list former employers.
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Search for the places of employment your prospective employee has listed on the Internet. Allbusiness suggests that you use Intelius.com, a website that allows you to find a person's name, age, and other aliases the person has used. The website also allows you to find out where this person has lived and worked throughout his working life.
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Call the former employers that you were able to verify by Internet search. Ask certain questions of a person's former boss. You may ask how long the party's employment lasted and whether the company would rehire the person.
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Take detailed notes. Keep an accurate record of the conversations you have had with former employers. As Lawa.org points out, it is a wise idea to collect information such as the full name of the company, the contact person with whom you spoke, his exact title, and his working relationship to your prospective worker.
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Tips & Warnings
The laws of a given state may preclude a previous employer from divulging certain information about an employee's working past. Before calling a former employer, you may wish to familiarize yourself with the laws of your state -- or the state the prospective employee lived and worked in, if it is different from yours. Do this with a search on the Internet.
