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Background checks pay for Checkr, which just raised $100M

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Re: Background checks pay for Checkr, which just raised $100M

#11

Post by owenversteeg »

orange_county wrote: post #5

I used to work in the background screening company before switching careers. The background screening process is very tedious, each state and sometimes counties keep records in their own way. If you are lucky, you can easily just search for the person’s case online, however many times they only allow case searches over the phone. I’m wondering how Checkr handles that since it’s not an easy thing to scale. Even lookin…

Maybe that's outsourced to another company that does a ton of calling? I agree, I'm also very curious the various ways they obtain data.

Re: Background checks pay for Checkr, which just raised $100M

#12

Post by gringoDan »

orange_county wrote: post #7
gringoDan wrote: post #6

Checkr is minting money. I doubt they needed this cash infusion, but it could make sense to drive even more growth. Almost all of the on-demand companies (Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, etc.) use the service to screen independent contractors. The kicker is that independent contractors often sign up for many of these services, so Checkr can turn around and sell the same data that they pull for 1 individual to 3+ companies at ~…

Depending on regulations of this, I doubt they can resell. Especially if each background check is done days apart from each other. You may run into a scenario where a felony case was recorded in between background checks.

Fair point. I can't speak to the regulations or ethics here. But in practice, with the number of ICs being activated daily, I doubt a low-level employee at an on-demand startup really cares or notices if the background check was run today vs. last week vs. last month.

Even if it has to re-submit each time, given the volume of reports Checkr runs, it could negotiate such that the marginal cost of running a report decreases each time it is run for a given individual.

Re: Background checks pay for Checkr, which just raised $100M

#14

Post by lawnchair_larry »

owenversteeg wrote: post #10

The demo on the website is pretty interesting, especially with the amount of information they can get. The "previous salary" was pretty interesting - is that something that companies actually check? Also, is there a risk of abusing this? What information does Checkr need to run a report, and how do they verify that the person they are running the report on is actually applying for the relevant position?

They try to get salary, but often don’t get it. I’ve been asked for salary info on former employees. Equifax also owns a company called theworknumber, which your employer voluntarily provides with salary information.

The standard language in background checks gives them permission to obtain it through any means, including asking your bank how much your direct deposit is, or asking your credit card company what your stated income was. I haven’t heard of anyone attempting to use those means, but technically they could.

Re: Background checks pay for Checkr, which just raised $100M

#16

Post by baldfat »

I work in education with children and background checks in PA is as follows.

1) State Child Line background check (Mail in a form $15)

2) State Police Background check (Online Access $20 I get this back immediately)

3) FBI Finger Prints (UPS Store $50)

So frustrating that we don't have a national registry with state police and national agencies. I Don't have to do the finger prints as much but the other clearances are every three years.

The issue for driving is I have to get my driving record. Some agencies ask for multiple of years so this could mean multiple of states and many states have outsourced the work.

Re: Background checks pay for Checkr, which just raised $100M

#17

Post by erichurkman »

orange_county wrote: post #7
gringoDan wrote: post #6

Checkr is minting money. I doubt they needed this cash infusion, but it could make sense to drive even more growth. Almost all of the on-demand companies (Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, etc.) use the service to screen independent contractors. The kicker is that independent contractors often sign up for many of these services, so Checkr can turn around and sell the same data that they pull for 1 individual to 3+ companies at ~…

Depending on regulations of this, I doubt they can resell. Especially if each background check is done days apart from each other. You may run into a scenario where a felony case was recorded in between background checks.

I'd love if they could re-use data to temporary supplement checks that take a long time. Some background checks can take _ages_ for certain counties, especially if they were a city/county employee, a police officer, or lived in some rural county that only does background checks via paper or fax and their city office is only open 10am to 3pm two days per week.

If Checkr could tell me immediately, "We submitted the requests, but they may take a long time, so here's Bob's clear background check as of 2 years ago while you wait."

(I've had a few background checks via Checkr take many weeks or more, meanwhile the employee is left in limbo. 98% were quick, but those 2% were painful; not Checkr's fault of course.)

Re: Background checks pay for Checkr, which just raised $100M

#18

Post by luckydata »

Whatever they do, they can't do worse than HireRight, the company with the most hilariously bad reviews I've ever seen in my life.

https://background-check-websites.no1reviews.com/user-review...

and

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/hireright-to...

and

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2012/08/emplo...

They are the fucking worst.

Re: Background checks pay for Checkr, which just raised $100M

#19

Post by josefresco »

rusbus wrote: post #13

Maybe now they can buy a vowel. I say this only half as a joke. I recently had to use checkr. The first thing they ask you for is your social security number. Typing your social into a box below a misspelled URL isn't a super comforting experience

Founded in 2014, which makes the choice of name even more peculiar. Didn't the "dropping vowels" naming convention die with "Web 2.0"?

Re: Background checks pay for Checkr, which just raised $100M

#20

Post by justherefortart »

luckydata wrote: post #18

Whatever they do, they can't do worse than HireRight, the company with the most hilariously bad reviews I've ever seen in my life. https://background-check-websites.no1reviews.com/user-review... and https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/hireright-to... and https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2012/08/emplo... They are the fucking worst.

Wow, that's comical and sad at the same time.

I have a few friends that would always pass background checks in spite of having some issues in their past. Maybe this is how they lucked out.

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