Employee Pre-Screening: What Should Employees Expect?

May 24, 2021
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Sheri gill
Posted in Business
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Much of the world watched in shock last year as Covid ravaged entire economies and entire nations. Millions upon millions of people lost their jobs in nations like the US and Canada, and hundreds of thousands of businesses defaulted or outright shuttered. 2021 is looking a lot more promising, though the issue now is that people cannot find a job that they feel is right for them. There are all sorts of positions unfilled, and the hiring industry is just a mess. Things are still in shambles in many respects. This is why a lot of people are turning to staffing agencies to help them get jobs. Regular people use them to find their ideal job, and companies use them to find better employees. It’s something that’s mutually beneficial.

Places like Alberta Manpower do an excellent job of ensuring that companies are matched with the best possible employees. This isn’t a process that’s simplistic. It’s not as if they’re just tossing names at companies who have positions to fill. There is a whole lot that goes into finding the right employees. So, what do potential employees go through in this process? We know that pre-screening takes place, but what does it cover? Here are a few things that these companies pre-screen for.

5 Things an Employee Can Expect from Pre-Screening

1: SIN Checks

The first thing that agencies will do is run a potential employee’s SIN number. This stands for Social Insurance Number, and every citizen is given one of these numbers. Now, of course, there’s really nothing to worry about here if you’re a citizen. If someone who’s not a citizen and doesn’t have a SIN tries to apply with one of these agencies, however, the background check is going to reveal this information. How law enforcement ends up handling it is a separate issue. The fact is that it will be found out.

2: Thorough Background Checks

These agencies are also going to run background checks, looking for criminal records, certain charges you may have faced, etc. It might seem invasive and something you’re not very thrilled about, but the fact is that the law sides with an employer’s right to know if their employee has a checkered past. All of this information is freely available anyway; it’s just that the agency takes the time to thoroughly dig through the things you hope everyone else has forgotten.

Business office executives are interviewing job applicants in the meeting room.

3: Reference Checks

Reference checks are another thing the agency will do. With a lot of employers dealing with applications, they might look to see if anyone has written down references on their application, but staffing agencies are going to actually check these references out. They want to know about your character so that they can align you with the best possible job. So, yes, they’re going to check those references.

4: Public Records Checks

There is also a lot of information contained within your public record that might be of interest to a staffing agency. If you’ve ever been evicted, what sort of accolades you may have received publicly, etc.; these are things that the agency will use to ensure that you’re matched well with an employer. Again, this is information that’s already freely available.

5: Past Employment Assessment

One of the things that matters the most to your new employer is how well you did under someone else’s employ. This means that these agencies are going to look back at your past work experience. If you have ever been fired or been thought of as someone who couldn’t take orders, these things are likely going to reflect negatively against you. Contrarily, if you have a shining work history, these are things that will certainly work in your favour and help you land a new job.

The fact of the matter here is that the vast majority of information about you is public, to begin with. If anyone ever wanted to look into your life, they can do this freely. What a staffing agency does is compiles all of this information in hopes of helping you land a job. They want you to work; in no way are they trying to keep you from employment.