A Clarification abt Pre-employment checks..?

What exactly do companies check for when they do this? I have heard companies doing background verification of candidates using third party agencies after they join. Is the same process, when done before making an offer, called pre-employment check..??

Does it also mean that companies will either do one of the two and not both?

Thanks a ton for the responses...But, are BOTH done or only one of the two? If a Company does pre-employment, do they do post-employment as well?

The depth of the check depends on the industry & position. Most likely, if they are paying a third party to perform the check, it will be done only once. They may check anything including arrest/conviction record, driving record, credit report, health insurance claims and private industry-based databases. They no doubt will verify any degrees on your application.

I think the current privacy rules require them to tell you what type of data they will be gathering and indicate an ending date. (I know its true under HIPPA if they are getting health information)

They can check your criminal, employment, driving, credit records. It is usually done before they make an offer of employment to you.

Pre-Employment screening often means drug test, credit check, and criminal history check.

companies are advised to

There are some vital rules you should keep in mind in relation to pre-employment checks, eg:

only carry out checks which are necessary
think carefully about the best point in the process to carry out the different checks
where possible only check the successful applicant
let applicants know what checks will be made and how they will be carried out
make sure that checks are carried out for a specific purpose
only use sources which will reveal relevant information
don't rely on information that may come from sources you do not trust
if a check reveals adverse information about an applicant, give them the chance to explain it
if a third party is to be involved in the process, eg a previous employer not listed as a referee, let the applicant know
for the rest ....
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/act...