The Screening Question: Ask What Background Check Each Candidate Will Show You

Most families ask whether a candidate has a background check and stop at yes. A yes is not enough to compare. This guide gives you the questions that turn a yes into something you can write down and check.

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Step 1: Ask what was run and by whom

1. Ask which checks were run. Write the list: ____

2. Ask who ran each check. Listen for a named company or a named process. A reply that the check is internal, with no records you can see, is a reply you must write down as is.

Step 2: Ask what you will see

3. Ask whether you can see the written result, or only a statement that the result was clear. Write which one you were offered.

4. Ask for the name of the screening source so you can confirm the result yourself if you choose. Write the name: ____

Step 3: Ask about scope and findings

5. Ask which records the check covers and how far back it looks. Write the answer: ____

6. Ask what happens if a check returns a finding. Listen for three things: whether you are told, who decides, and whether the candidate is removed from the schedule while it is reviewed.

7. Ask whether a new check is run if the candidate changes agencies or the schedule changes. Write yes, no, or unclear.

Step 4: Compare on one line each

Write every candidate on one line, in the same order, with the answers to questions 1 through 7. A candidate with a blank line has not answered, and you should note that before you compare anything else.

Walk-away signs

Walk away if the candidate refuses to name the screening source, or says the check is clear but will not let you see any part of it. Walk away if the answers to the scope question change between calls.

This guide does not tell you what the law requires of an employer or a client family. For that, check the official state pages or ask an attorney. The published method for how this desk writes its guides is on How We Write the Sheets.