Background Verification Specialist Career

What is a background verification specialist? Simply known as a background verifier, background verifiers conduct background verifications for companies by contacting references of people who are seeking employment. In other words, background verifiers check education, employment, and personal references of potential employees. Most companies check the background records of potential employees and current employees and often use the service of a background verification company.

As a background verification specialist you will contact schools, previous employers, and personal references and ask a series of questions supplied by the company you are working for. You will be required to gather specific information regarding the prospective employee or current employee. You need to be able to obtain accurate and complete information for each file you receive in order to assist the company with the background process. Companies will be looking for any sort of dishonesty or withholding of information on the part of the employee or person seeking employment with their company, so your information is crucial. Based on your background verification you will submit complete and thorough reports that will be sent to the company for evaluation purposes.

If you plan to operate a background verification business, you need a couple of things to get started. You need access to databases that provide background information on people including criminal and personal information. You will also need a business license, as some of these databases require business licenses to obtain background information. What you decide to charge is based on several things, including access to databases containing public or private records, your clients, and what others are charging for this service.

There are some companies that hire background verifiers and I will mention them below (in the Resources box). One company charges per hour but there are a couple of others that charge per completed file, which is more beneficial to you as far as income is concerned. You will make more money being paid per completed file. However, being paid per completed case is based on your motivation and ability to do the work and complete the files in a timely manner. As far as the companies that hire per completed file, you can make anywhere between $1-$3 per case or anywhere from $500-$2000 per month.

There is no special education or training needed. Research and communication skills are a plus but not necessary. Special qualities needed include: good communication, research, and Internet skills, self-motivation, honesty, and dependability. You will need high speed Internet and unlimited long distance.