At a previous company, Robert Drusendahl made a hiring decision that proved to be costly to his company. As a result, Drusendahl made it his focus that no other company would have to go into the hiring process blind.

This led to the creation of Drusendahl’s background check company, Pre-Check. The company provides an array of services related to hiring support, including searching thousands of court records from coast to coast to give hiring managers all of the data they need to make an informed hiring decision.

“We want to help you hire the best. And that’s not just our motto, it’s our mission,” Drusendahl says.

But why is the background check process so important? First of all, Drusendahl says there are up to between 30 million and 70 million former offenders in the United States today. That represents a large chunk of the available workforce. It’s contingent on companies to do their due diligence before making an offer to a candidate to ensure they are getting the best person for the job.

The importance of a background check

In fact, a recent survey of background screening professionals found that 96% believe background screening is important. Of that total, 87% said they perform background checks for the safety of their current employees. And background screening goes beyond just safety concerns. Drusendahl cites another recent poll of human resource managers that found that 54% of job applicants either lie on their resume or make significant omissions.

Over the 25 years Drusendahl has been doing work in background checks, he points out that the network of researchers he has put together have the resources necessary to quickly turn around a background check. For instance, a criminal background check performed by Pre-Check can be done in just two days and six hours.

What information is gathered during a background check?

The background check process is primarily done separately from the application process, Drusendahl explains. His company checks 14 critical aspects of a candidate’s background and will call a half a dozen times to ensure qualitative work, over and above the industry standard of three calls.

If a company is interested in having a credit check performed, again, that is done separately from the application. Because credit reports are private information, it requires a separate release that needs to be signed by the applicant.

What should a hiring manager do with the information?

Once the background check is complete, it’s time for the owner or hiring manager to decide whether to proceed with an offer of employment. Some industries, such as banking, have stringent rules that prohibit the hiring of employees who have been convicted of crimes such as theft. In other industries, the hiring manager might be able to make an offer to the applicant, depending on what information was found. Drusendahl stresses it is important for the person doing the hiring to determine whether what was found is going to have a bearing on that individual’s ability to do the job.

Hiring can be a complicated process. At the end of the day, it’s best to have an experienced partner at your side helping to guide you through the process. That’s where Pre-Check comes in. Learn more about the company and its services by visiting their website here. And if you have further questions about the company, its services, or just about the background check process in general, feel free to reach out to Robert Drusendahl via email at bob@pre-check.com. 

Unique services, growth and multi-state operations were key elements in the winning combination for BCG Systems at the 2015 OHTec Best of Tech Awards on April 16.

We sat down with Mark Goodson, president, recently to learn more about the company, their services and aspirations. Check out the podcast.

Attendees to BizConCLE were not shy in sharing what they were learning at the various educational workshops, plenary sessions, and keynotes on Twitter. Here’s what attendees were tweeting about on Day One of BizConCLE.

Attendees to BizConCLE were not shy in sharing what they were learning at the various educational workshops, plenary sessions, and keynotes on Twitter. Here’s what attendees were tweeting about on Day Two of BizConCLE.

Several hundred business executives and entrepreneurs descended on Cleveland Public Auditorium Oct. 13-14 for BizConCLE, the coming together of the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s Middle Market Forum and the Council of Smaller Enterprise’s Small Business Convention.

In addition to the educational workshops, plenary sessions and networking opportunities, BizConCLE attendees were treated to a trio of information-packed keynotes from nationally known speakers, who provided valuable business advice during the two-day convention.

Below are the highlights from the keynote addresses as well as one key takeaway from each:

Gary Schoeniger

The Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative

Schoeniger said entrepreneurs tend to languish because they haven’t been taught to think like entrepreneurs, which in the past has resulted in entrepreneurial activity being created by accident rather than design.

So, what does it take to think—and act—like an entrepreneur? Schoeniger offered the following:

• There is no entrepreneurial rulebook (and that’s not a bad thing.) Use this absence of authority to creatively grow your business.
• While some might view entrepreneurs as having a “gambler’s” mindset, this is not the case. You are not a gambler, you’re a detective. You need to find the people who will buy your product.
• Once you have found someone who wants to buy your product, you need to find more people who could be buyers. Start replicating your initial success. This is where you are going to need to bring in people who have business management skills.
• It’s natural at some point, with success, for arrogance to begin to creep in. Ignore disruptions at your own peril. At some point, you’re going to need to adapt your business model.

The takeaway: Entrepreneurship is not management. They are separate disciplines—but a successful business owner will know how and when to meld the two together.

Casey Gerald

MBAs Across America

Gerald’s message to the BizConCLE audience was simple: Everyone is an entrepreneur today. Everyone has the potential to be extraordinary—they just need a little wind at their back.

That wind is unlikely to come in the form of venture capital, 70% to 80% of which goes to just three U.S. cities. Instead, the kind of capital entrepreneurs should be looking for is social capital. That is, getting linked up with the right person who will provide the intellectual capital necessary to take the business to the next level.

Most entrepreneurs, Gerald continued, are only really good at two or three things. They are going to need to find others who can help fill in the gaps that remain in their business.

Perhaps most importantly, Gerald stressed that it is important for every entrepreneur to “find their why.” Purpose is the new bottom line. Why are you in business? What is your purpose? Figure that out, and you will be well on your way.

The takeaway: Similar to Schoeniger, it’s critical that business owners to understand what it is their business is trying to accomplish, what their own personal gaps are, and who they need to bring in to fill those gaps.

Mel Robbins

Creator of the “5-Second Rule”

So often in life, we find ourselves needing to change but are unable to do so, Robbins said. Change is difficult because we’re afraid of the uncertainty that comes along with it so you find yourself constantly battling your mind (which doesn’t want to change.)

But there’s a way to trick your mind into changing. And that trick is as easy as:

5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 … GO!

Robbins suggested that, when faced with the difficult task of motivating yourself to do something, start a countdown in your head, not unlike a rocket launch. When you hit zero, start moving. The thinking, she said, is that if you do not physically move on an action within five seconds, your brain will overpower your desire to move and the action will be killed. The countdown, however, leaves your brain with no other choice but to move. And so it will.

As soon as you start to feel nervous about something, you stop and think about it. This triggers a stress response in your brain, which then magnifies the problem you’re worried about and stops you from acting to resolve the issue. But the countdown works as a metacognition technique that breaks your brain’s bad behavior.

The takeaway: Faced with a difficult decision? Keep Nike’s slogan in mind: “Just do it.” As soon as you make your decision, the uncertainty you had felt before will begin to fade.