A Day in the Life of a Background Investigation

Hi, I’m John Smith’s background investigation report. I’m just a number at this point, a bunch of 0s and 1s, one of 1,396 verifications on today’s log. The company that submitted me, Hardship Hospital, is hoping the John Smith they interviewed is as great as he appeared to be in person. As John’s representative, I’m vibrating with intensity as the investigative team at Commercial Investigations LLC approaches me.

I know a lot of the CI members will be looking at me, and I feel more than a little exposed. There are over 45,000 John Smiths in the USA, and I’m hoping there are no criminals that will get mixed up with my good reputation. I’ve heard the team at Commercial Investigations checks identifiers against solid facts, but databases are filled with us and I’m hoping they stand up to their excellent reputation. Did I mention I don’t like red? I really hope nothing adverse is marked on me.

The Initiating Investigator has already run my identifiers through Origin™, sweeping over 645 million criminal records to get top level hits through federal databases, anti-terrorist databases, the Dru Sjoden Sex Offender Registry, and The Death Master Search Index…oh, snap! Several John Smiths have come up!

I notice fields are getting populated with county, federal, and sex offender searches based on my address history. The investigators are on the phones going to the primary source, diligently checking 2 of my education verifications at Harvard and Yale. They are asking questions and sending faxes to verify the correct graduation date, degree, and area of study with the accredited institutions. Simultaneously, other investigators are calling prior employers, obtaining references, and seeing if there are any hits in the state specific sex registries.

Lead Investigators have determined that the John Smiths that showed up initially are not me, hooray! Did you know CI saved Hardship Hospital $20,000 last year because they use CI NY™ instead of going through the Office of Courts Administration?

The HR manager just started to login to peek at the estimated time of arrival (ETA), when an email appeared announcing the report was completed! Happily, for all, I am not marked with red and I have made it through a rigorous process in just a day and a half. The manager of investigations has double checked my quality and I am set to completed status. Phew!

Right on time, my excellent results have been sent to Hardship Hospital, electronically through the portal at lightning speed. I’m going on vacation. Bon Voyage!