Best Background Check Service

June 10, 2013 11:11 AM

I'd like to find out exactly what information potential employers, etc. may find out about me if they run a background check. Can anyone recommend a good service (with a balance of thoroughness & cost) for me to do a check on myself?
posted by Saxon Kane to Technology (5 answers total)

I regularly run background checks on contestants for television shows - we have corporate relationships with our vendors, so our checks are about $600 for baseline, and then if we get expedited, it can add costs per location - for example, a candidate was just expedited for $1290 (in addition to baseline $600) because he had lived in multiple cities/states. For a less comprehensive search, TalentWise is typically $250pp, but that is with hefty corporate discounts. Every job is different in what they're looking for, and every check is different in their scope.
posted by banannafish at 11:15 AM on June 10, 2013

I'm assuming it is the criminal portion that you are concerned about yes? Just call up any county you have been a resident of and ask how to get a copy of criminal records. 99% of companies that run criminal background checks only check county level* + sex offender database (and you should know if you're on that). Assume anything the county gives you is what they are giving the background check companies. Some background check companies filter out the dropped charges but my current one doesn't so I can see stuff people were charged with but never convicted of. Of course, we can't take that into consideration in our decision, only the convictions.

*And most of them only run current county!
posted by magnetsphere at 12:41 PM on June 10, 2013

I have used Alison Taylor twice now to check what sort of references previous employers were giving for me and am very happy with their service. They also do background checks.
posted by Jacqueline at 2:21 PM on June 10, 2013 [2 favorites]

This post from Consumerist is a little old, but probably still a good starting point.
posted by ajr at 6:44 PM on June 10, 2013

Although this wouldn't be the same kind of service that employers use (this would be for personal use only) a site like Been Verified should give you the same kinds of results that an employer would see (criminal history). Its appealing because it does offer a free trial. This review might help you out, to know what you can expect from it: http://youtu.be/wqScPQamCYw
I also know that http://www.AnnualCreditReport.com is a good site to see your own address history, credit report and that kind of thing.
posted by superuser at 11:40 AM on July 4, 2013