Ann: “Cutting Edge, this is Ann.”
Customer: “You know who I miss? Yogi Berra. I bet he would have had something to say about your background checks.”
Ann: “Yogi Berra?”
Customer: “You know—he was a great catcher, coach and manager, played mostly for the Yankees.”
Ann: “Well, yeah, I know who Yogi Berra is. But what would he have thought about background checks…”
Customer: “I feel a dream sequence coming on.”
WHEN YOU COME TO A FORK IN THE ROAD, TAKE IT
What did Yogi mean when he applied this philosophy to pre-employment background checks?
He meant you have options, and you should definitely make use of them. You can search criminal records, you can verify previous employment, you can call references, check driving records. If you take that fork in the road, be sure you take it for all the applicants within that category. You can’t just take that fork for a couple.
YOU CAN LEARN A LOT BY JUST PAYING ATTENTION
Here Yogi clearly meant you need to read the reports your background screening provider gives you, and the fine print.
I had a client a few years ago who called me about an applicant. “What’s this flag?” she asked. I was confused. I told her, “In the report, it gives the details about his criminal convictions.”
“What!?!” she said, clearly incredulous. “I HAVE TO READ THE REPORTS?”
Well, yes, I thought. That’s where I put the information.
We are always glad for an email or a phone call when you have questions but remember: You can learn a lot by paying attention.
IT AIN’T OVER TILL IT’S OVER
Here Yogi is telling us not to draw conclusions about the background check until it’s done.
Many applicants have multiple line items in their background checks, criminal searches at the local and federal level, employment verifications, references. Wait until you have the complete picture to make any decisions. We all do our best to provide the information as quickly as possible, but if it takes a little extra time to get it right, it’s definitely worth getting right.
