How to Run a Background Check on Yourself

Running a background check isn’t as scary as it sounds. In today’s day and age, it is standard procedure for a lot of companies looking to hire, or non-profit organizations accepting volunteers. The content of a background check also isn’t as terrifying as it may seem. It is typically simply a list of records about your life. The primary purpose of a background check is often to check for a criminal history.

Sites like lookupinmate.org can help companies obtain information like criminal records quickly. At the same time, obtaining a background check is often easier for a company to simply verify information on a resume, as it can contain multiple more records than a criminal check. When you are applying for work, a loan, or a volunteer position, you may want to run a background check on yourself so that there are no surprises along the way. Use this guide to run a quick and easy background check on yourself.

Benefits of Having a Background Check Done

There are many benefits to running your own background check. To start, you will know yourself a little bit better when you do. When you understand what the records mean, you’ll know what information about you is out there. You don’t even necessarily need to do anything with the information, but knowing what is there will help you tremendously. If any employer or anyone at all runs a check, you’ll know what information they have available to them.

Additionally, you can use a background check that you run on yourself to correct any information that may be out there already. Like a credit check, a background check may contain errors or not be up to date. By running your own background check, you get access to this information beforehand, and can correct the mistakes before they are spotted by someone else.

The contents of your background check will include your Social Security Number, criminal records, driving record, a credit history, your work authorization, and your employment and educational history. The kind of content in each of these categories will vary. A background check may also include a look at your social media profiles.

How to Run Your Own Background Check

A good first place to start to run your own background check is with your social media profiles. This is a free way to begin the process, while you are ordering records in other areas. Take an hour or so to go through each of your social media profiles to look for red flags, or content that you may not want a future employer to see. Remove everything, and make corrections to any errors that you see. You can also change privacy settings on many of your posts so that only people with access to your profile can see it. Use the privacy settings features in every social media outlet to tweak your social media profile to make it employer ready.

Your Social Security information will also be verified during the process of a background check. This will help someone to learn what names are registered to your SSN and also help to confirm your identity. Your employer will also learn of any new legal name changes, or previous names that you have held, which will make it easier for you to receive payroll if you have different names on different accounts in your life. It happens. There are a number of life circumstances for this, and a quick check will help to ensure you know what other people can see.

Your credit report is another buffet of information about you that may show up on a background check. Here, someone will learn what kind of accounts you manage and what your payment history is like.

Your driving record and criminal record check can be performed with the appropriate agencies. For your police check, getting a copy of your records from the local police will be the easiest way to perform this check. Here you will find any convictions, imprisonment history, probation history, warrants and pending cases, in most cases. However, these records will vary by municipality and state for privacy purposes, and may not be detailed.

There are different kinds of records checks here as well. Some are detailed and some are not. A vulnerable sector check for example will be very detailed and include convictions and imprisonments where applicable, as these are typically performed for people seeking work with vulnerable populations such as children or special needs. Your driving record can be obtained by ordering one through your local Department of Motor Vehicles. For both of these records, there is likely going to be a fee.

Run Your Background Check

When you need a background check, it is easier than you think. You can obtain the records on your own. Contact the three credit bureaus to obtain a copy of your credit report, and contact local police and the Department of Motor Vehicles for a driving record and criminal check. It can take some time for the records to arrive, but it will be worth the wait. You can also hire a company to do this work for you if you want to save some time. In the end, running your own background check gives you a lot of peace of mind when you are going through a stressful process like a loan application or a job application.