This blog post goes out to anyone who’s been asked to run a Certn background check or look into our services and is wondering, “Is Certn legit?” The answer is, “Yes!” Certn background checks are an important pre-employment screening step. They’re so common because they help companies meet compliance requirements and make more informed decisions when choosing which candidate to hire — hopefully it’s you!
Here are answers to common questions about the Certn background check process to put your mind at ease. Let’s take a look!
What is Certn Background Check?
The old way, background checks are lengthy and exhausting. Without Certn, a candidate completing a pre-employment background check might have to show up in-person to a police station to verify their identity and pay to have their records mailed to them. The “best case scenario” for job seekers and recruiters involves a lot of confusing paperwork, trying to find a scanner, and endless email chains. Can you believe employers still ask candidates to do this in 2024?! Can you believe you’re still doing this in 2024?!
You know the story. We feel your pain. The old, manual background check process can at best take days, but usually ends up being closer to weeks by the time the information is received and the results are processed. This makes everyone frustrated. According to recruiters on LinkedIn, slow hiring processes often result in top candidates losing interest and accepting other offers. That’s a bummer all around.
With Certn, we offer fully digital results in as little as 15 minutes (depending on the check you’ve ordered). Our identity verification process is also online, which means you don’t have to travel or wait in line to verify their identity. These are just two examples of how we make things faster and easier, and why we have the world’s easiest background checks. In a nutshell, the Certn background check process = faster and easier.
If you’re an employer, you only pay for the checks you run, so there are no subscription or cancellation fees. Happy company, happy employees. Right? Certn is literally made to make your life easier without compromising compliance or safety during the hiring process. Talk about a win-win. We also offer personal background check services for Canadians through our MyCRC.ca product.
Work in HR? Certn offers the following background screening services:
- Criminal Record Checks
- Credit Checks
- Social Media Screening
- Identity Verification
- Employment and Education Verification
- Credential Verification
- Reference checks
Certn also offers international background checks. Our global product leadership will give you and your teams extra peace of mind as you embrace the future of work like remote work and dispersed teams, gig work, and high-volume hiring. After all, the future of work needs a better background check process.
Certn Background Check Process
Why have users named Certn a leader in background checks? When automation is used in the checking process, completed reports are returned faster. Tedious, manual processes are eliminated. Sounds good, right?
With Certn, HR managers can order the checks you need right from their applicant tracking system (ATS) or preferred hiring platform with one click. We integrate flexibly out-of-the-box. It’s that easy! Candidates can complete background checks just as easily — with a few clicks right from a mobile device.
Certn’s Applicant Portal
Certn’s online background checks and self-serve Applicant Portal significantly enhance the candidate experience by providing transparency, efficiency, and convenience throughout the screening process. On our portal, candidates have direct access to initiate and monitor their background checks, empowering them with visibility and control over the process. This self-serve portal enables candidates to securely submit necessary information, such as personal details and consent forms, at their convenience, eliminating the need for manual paperwork and streamlining the onboarding process.
We’ve found demystifying the background check process improves the overall experience and helps you speed up your hiring to retain top candidates.
Mobile-Enabled Background Checks
Over 80% of our users complete their checks from a smartphone and in a few minutes compared to hours with the old, paper-based method. For busy HR professionals, managing hiring, screening, and onboarding workflows all in one place means hiring faster and hiring easier. Our 24/7 support team is also very efficient and prompt to respond to any questions or issues you or your candidates may have along the way. Yes, we provide 24/7 support for both parties: our clients and their candidates. This means you don’t have to play customer support.
ATS Integration
As you can see in our Partner Marketplace, we’re integrated with leading ATS software and hiring platforms. If you work in HR, you don’t have to toggle between multiple windows to send background checks or view the results. We work where you work.
You can also bundle services and save them as industry- or role-specific “Packages” so you can send multiple requests to one candidate with one click. Easy, right?
Candidate Background Check Experience
With Certn, the candidate background screening process is as easy as 1, 2, selfie. Have you been asked to complete a Certn background check? Don’t worry, we’ve got you.
Our screening starts with identity verification to make the check is being run on the right person and to avoid errors that cause delays.
How Certn Identity Verification Works
- The candidate clicks the secure link they receive via email or SMS and consents to start the identity verification. The candidate’s government-issued ID is verified instantly.
- Data pre-fill populates relevant information from the ID into the fields for the second step, the background check part. (You, if you’re the candidate, may be asked to provide additional information to confirm your identity based on the check that’s being run.)
- It’s selfie time! The candidate takes a selfie because we use biometric authentication.
Screening results are available in as little as minutes, instead of days. This means the candidate can accept their final offer and start onboarding sooner.
What Does a Background Check Reveal?
If you’re thinking, “This is great, but I don’t work in HR. I’ve been asked to run a check and all I want to know is the nitty gritty on what shows up.” Keep reading!
In a job context, background checks are designed to confirm that you have the employment history, education, and professional references you claim to have. Criminal records checks can also confirm you have a criminal history that could affect your ability to perform the job. Different types of products and services make up the background screening programs we help our clients implement. What results are shown depends on what’s being run. Consult this link to learn more about what do background checks reveal.
What Shows Up in a Criminal Record Check?
The Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) is Canada’s centralized information sharing system maintained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). CPIC stores and provides access to information needed for all criminal record checks in Canada.
Certn partners with Canadian police agencies to access CPIC records and conduct criminal record checks using the name and date of birth of the person. These searches, also aptly called “named-based criminal record checks,” are designed to indicate of the existence of criminal convictions, for which a record suspension (formerly known as a “pardon”) hasn’t been granted. The reports we generate will also contain any disclosures of criminal history as provided by the person in their application.
Information that doesn’t show up your basic criminal record check includes:
- Outstanding entries (e.g., information on outstanding warrants)
- Convictions for which a record suspension/pardon has been granted
- Cases where the person was found guilty by reason of mental disorder
For more detailed criminal history, other criminal record checks might be more appropriate. If you live in Canada, here’s a full Criminal Record Checks Canada FAQs document.
How Can I Clear My Criminal Record?
If you’re in Canada, visit the Government of Canada’s “Applying for a record suspension” web page for more information on how to apply to the Parole Board of Canada to clear your record of offences that you feel are old, minor, and/or may prevent you from employment opportunities.
Can I Order a Vulnerable Sector Check Through Certn?
No. Third-party background screening providers aren’t authorized to conduct vulnerable sector checks in Canada. Contact your local police service instead. Though, here’s our take on the problem with vulnerable sector checks in Canada and what we recommend some of our clients to consider instead.
Does Social Media Come up on Background Checks?
No, public or private social media content doesn’t come up. A social media background check is a separate type of screening that requires the candidate to consent to having their public social media content analyzed. (FYI – All checks require consent.)
Social media screening works by using software to analyze posts, images, and videos from a candidate’s public profiles. The content is then compared against predefined risk classifications to help you make a more informed decision. Here are answers to your questions about a social media screening that we’ve compiled in the past.
Does a Background Check Show Past Pay History?
No. A recruiter or a prospective employer might ask about your previous compensation, but the information doesn’t show up in any way in a reference check or an employment verification. Additionally, keep in mind that in some states in the US, for example, there are salary history bans in place making it illegal for your employer to ask about past pay. Therefore, there’s another reason why it might never come up.
How Long Does Certn Background Check Take?
Depending on the region and the type of check requested, a candidate can complete a Certn background check in minutes, not hours or days. The results are also returned more quickly than the old, manual paper-based process. If you’re wondering what’s up, you can track the status of your check in our self-serve applicant portal.
Read more about how Certn clients have reduced their time-to-hire by up to 80% in our case studies.
Certn Police Check
Did you land here because you’re looking for a police check? If you want to run a Canadian police check on yourself, click here. MyCRC, a division of Certn, is authorized to run personal background checks and police checks.
How Much Does Certn Cost?
Certn offers pay-as-you-go services, so you only pay for the background checks you use. Depending on the service you need and which databases are checked, background screening can cost anywhere from $3 to $50 (checking international criminal databases is more expensive and pass-through fees may apply).
When you consider that hiring the wrong person can cost you up to 30% of their first-year earnings, even $50 is worth the peace of mind for most employers. If you’re being screened as part of a hiring process, the company requesting the information usually pays. If you’re running a personal background check on yourself out of curiosity or for your records, you pay.
Certn’s background screening experts can also advise property management companies and non-profit organizations how to run more affordable background checks.
Click here to request a demo and learn more.
Start Certn Background Screening
If you’re ready to start online screening the Certn way, create an account and get started for free or book a demo to talk to one of our experts. Our team will work with you to understand your needs and can recommend customized screening solutions to meet your unique business requirements.
