BeenVerified puts job seekers in control of their background checks
Employers always seem to have an edge when it comes to finding out information about potential employees online. Whether you get the job or get rejected, you may never know what it was that nudged you either way. BeenVerified is now offering two services, one called InSight that is geared towards businesses and one called StandOut that is for job seekers.
BeenVerified asserts that its service keeps employees from fudging resume information, benefiting the employer, and also lets employees control the information that is found out about them. I’m not entirely sure I buy that claim, honestly.
The Internet is so transparent that unless you live a completely sheltered or offline life until the moment of your job search, some kind of information is out there, somewhere, about you. Not only that, companies like VeriSign, Monster, Knowx and Elance (as well as others) already offer skills and education verification, and often more.
Employment seekers may be able to control what employers see within the confines of the BeenVerified pay service, but if the employer is savvy that won’t be the only place they are looking. Sure, there are also identity protection services out there to help you keep your online reputation intact, but even those are hard pressed to keep up with the torrent of information that is out there online, much less information found offline.
BeenVerified calls the process of vetting potential employee information verifying. Once a potential employee has been verified, they keep that verification for life on the BeenVerified service. Assuming that BeenVerified becomes the human resources go-to source for employee verification, that works in the employee’s favor. Many other background check services require ongoing verification processes over the life of your account.
The jury is still out on this service for me. I can see the benefit to one stop shopping from both sides of the table, and the comfort of verified information might be nice for the potential employer. I just don’t know if it can remain comprehensive enough as the Internet and social media grow in scope, going mobile and increasing the accumulation and spread of personal information on and offline. Better just to keep those drunken spring break photos off MySpace and start teaching our kids that what they do really does last forever online.
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October 21st, 2008
We loved the post and I just wanted to touch base. We pride ourselves on being a technology company first and a background checking company second and will continually do everything in our power to keep refining our service and data sources. With that said you are absolutely correct when it comes to being able to find EVERYTHING about someone online, but you would be surprised as to what our system can locate with just an email address. This is exactly why we created the service for not only employers, but for job seekers alike. They need to realize how much information is out there about them, before they can begin to clean it up. I also don’t think employers care that you posted “drunken spring break photos” on your myspace, but they absolutely do care about the credibility that’s lost by that information being so readily accessible.