
Common Mistakes Made on Background Checks
Avoid These Common Mistakes When Doing a Background Check
Background checks are a smart way to make important decisions like who to hire for home repairs or to take care of your elderly mother. A background check can provide preventative guardrails between your family and a potentially dangerous or costly situation. But for a background check to be worth the effort, you must make sure it’s done right. Protect yourself, your home, and your family by avoiding these mistakes when conducting a background check.
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Relying on the Contractor Website’s Background Check Claims
Sites that connect people to contractors or caregivers claim they have conducted background checks on their contractors. But in many instances, they don’t check against the contractor’s real name – they only check against the company name. And a contractor company can change at the flip of a hat. So do you really know who you’re hiring to enter your home? Do you know anything about their history on code enforcement, permits, and inspection records?
Relying on Online “Instant” Background Services
Online background check services can be a useful way to dig a little deeper than surface level into a person’s past. Most of the time, these background checking sites can’t access the records you’re looking for through a web-based search because there is no central repository. So again, what are they checking against? Moreso, These instant background checking sites do not always give you the most up to date information, or even the right person’s information. Be cautious with using these types of services as they are not always reliable.
Relying on Social Media As a Reference
Social media is useful to stay in touch with others and get a glimpse into a person’s life. Our lives have been enhanced where you can learn a lot of facts about a person that you may not have ever known on an application or initial meeting. We have gotten so comfortable having information about someone at our fingertips that we forget it does not always reflect the reality.

Some people treat their social media as a personal brand, others use it as a place to give life updates to their friends and followers. And others are just not active at all. Regardless, social media can be a useful tool for assessing how a person presents themselves to others, or knowing what’s on their mind, but it should not be the only way you assess a person’s character.
Not Conducting a Character Assessment
Fact-based information is highly valuable in shaping your opinions and decisions. That is why we conduct background checks on potential hires. But we’ve seen the stories of contractor home repairs gone wrong and terrible elderly caretakers and nannies. These stories continue to happen, not always because there was no background check or due diligence in fact checking their information, but because not all bad hires come with a rap sheet.

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You can have all the fact-based information about a person that makes them seem qualified for the position, but that does not mean they have good character. How do they describe their past employers or clients? Are they able to admit their faults? Do they make good financial decisions? Can they be trusted with money?
Not Considering a Background Investigation When It’s Needed
A background investigation takes a background check one step further by verifying information from multiple sources. For example, if you find that a pool repair business you’re considering to hire has changed names several times, that’s something worth looking deeper into. It’s common for contractors to change their company names, but uncovering if it’s for reasons that could be fraudulent.

[RELATED: Difference Between Background Checks and Background Investigations]
A background investigation gives you further information about the questions you may still have about someone. And this can become a lot of work when done thoroughly. To take that additional step in your background check, consider hiring a PI for a background investigation and verification.
Licensed in Georgia and South Carolina, our team of investigators at CGA Solutions can help uncover the information you need to make an informed decision on who to hire for contracting or caregiving services. For more information on how we can help, schedule a free consultation with a private investigator today.