4 Things a CRA Must Know Before Selecting an International Employment Verifications Provider

As the US labor market continues to expand and evolve, international background checks are becoming an increasingly important part of the service portfolio for successful CRAs. International employment verifications are an important part of providing a comprehensive international background check offering. At a high level, international employment verifications may seem very similar to US employment verifications. And at a high level they are, but the similarities end there, and knowing the differences determines whether your CRA will succeed or struggle with international background checks.

Differences Matter in International Employment Verifications

As with many things though, the devil is in the details, such that choosing a good provider for your international employment verifications is critical to achieving good results for your CRA and your customers. There are four things that are important to know and consider before making this choice. Let’s dig into these important factors, which in turn will help your CRA be a better-informed international employment verifications customer.

1. Know Thy Data Provider

First, like their US counterparts, international employment verifications are sometimes conducted via 3rd party databases. While these sources are only a small part of the overall global volume, they can offer a much faster and easier method for completing an employment verification. In some cases, they are the only way to conduct the verification. To optimize the use of these 3rd party sources, a company needs to understand each source’s process, including specific ordering requirements, how to make payments to foreign organizations, and which specific schools or employers are verified through that particular database. As a result, it is important that your international employment verifications provider knows these sources and when to use them to achieve the necessary coverage of an applicant.

2. Successful International Employment Verifications Rely on Process

Second, and even more complicated than the 3rd party sources, are the various processes used by the tens of thousands of organizations that employ people or track employment throughout the world.

While some sources are simple, and one needs to merely call them to conduct a verification, there are also many sources that have a very detailed and precise process. For example, some schools and companies in India, because of the high volume of requests that they receive, will only accept verification requests on a specific day, emailed in a specific format. Results are then returned a specified number of days later. There is no deviation from this process, and additional contacts to the source seeking to expedite the process might end up delaying the response. If a CRAs international employment verifications provider is unfamiliar with these various processes around the globe, it will only cause delays and frustration. A good international employment verifications provider will maintain a comprehensive global directory of sources, including the optimal method for contacting that source, and any special requirements that the source might have.

3. Words Matter in International Employment Verifications

The third item may sound obvious, but it is important to mention. Not everyone in the world speaks English, and even those international sources that do may not be as receptive to being contacted in English. Instead, it is important that your international employment verifications provider be able to speak the local language. In some cases, this is the only way to get a verification completed because the source may not speak English. However, even when the source may be able to communicate in English, they may prefer to communicate in their local language, such that they will respond better and faster if their local language of choice is used. Having an international employment verifications provider that can speak the languages necessary to optimize your searches will ensure faster processing with a higher success rate.

4. Measure. Analyze. Improve. Repeat.

Finally, a CRA will want to make sure that its international employment verifications provider has good service metrics. This means that they are successfully completing the vast majority of searches, in a reasonable time period, with high-quality results. To ensure that this is happening, a provider must enforce consistent use of its process and manage that process well, otherwise your CRA will end up paying for searches that languish for weeks, and frequently come back as unable to verify. A quality international employment verifications provider will easily be able to tell you what their metrics are because they are watching them regularly.

In conclusion, if you use the criteria above to vet your international employment verifications provider, you can be confident that your CRA will choose a quality partner that will get the job done right because that partner will be able to handle your needs around the globe, whether your international employment background check is in Angola or Zimbabwe.