You probably know what background checks are… you might have even had one run on you. But do you really know what it means? And if you’re in HR assisting with your company’s hiring management… do you know what you’re asking for when you use a service for “Background checks”?

How about “social trace”? Ever heard of that? No, it’s not a new thing on Facebook or Twitter. It’s a check that’s run on an individual’s social security number that allows you to know what states the person has lived in and what other names they could have used. Sometimes, we get a red flag because a female’s maiden name wasn’t listed and pops up as an alias, which is pretty common and obviously nothing to worry about… but other times, we get a red flag on a social trace because the individual has used entirely different aliases—not misspellings, completely different names!

We see it all around here. There’s no telling what a new day will bring. But for you, and your company, trust us when we say that it’s better if we find out first. After all, that’s what we’re here for! And remember, if you’re not running a social security trace on your potential new hires, you could be missing out on crucial information that will keep your workplace environment safe and happy.