How Reliable Are Online Background Checks?

When something looks too good to be true it usually is. Are online background checks all they are cracked-up to be? Are they really Instant and Nationwide?

SURPRISING TRUTH # 1: It is perfectly legal to do a background check on anyone at any time. Now I know that I've lost some of you who now think that I am off my rocker because you know that there are all sorts of forms that you have to sign with all kinds of legal warnings with criminal penalties and such, but I'll say it again. "ANYBODY CAN DO A BACKGROUND CHECK ON ANYONE, ANY TIME THEY FEEL LIKE IT." Because I want you to read this whole article, I am not going to explain those statements until further into the article.

SURPRISING TRUTH # 2: There is no instant national database of all criminal records that you can access. Right now you are probably sure that I am crazy. "Why just last night on Law & Order they got the bad guy's record . . ." There, you are talking about NCIC, the National Crime Information Center or otherwise known as the FBI files. While the FBI maintains the best and most accurate records, unfortunately, you can't get them, unless of course you are a federally insured bank, a defense department contractor, a nuclear power plant, a branch of the government itself or some other such entity. A surprising amount of otherwise intelligent people think that there are giant government databases with information on everyone including their criminal history, job history, credit files an even what books they check out of the library and what videos they rent. If that were true, why does it take the government itself four months and 00 to conduct its own background checks? Don't believe me? Send me an e-mail and I will send you the link to the Office of Personnel Management website that shows the fee and time schedule.

How Reliable Are Online Background Checks?

SURPRISING TRUTH # 3: There is a big, big difference between everywhere and anywhere. The companies that sell database information advertise that they search everywhere, or at least that's what they want you to believe. Using the word Nationwide is designed to make you think that they check everywhere. The question then becomes, "If you don't check everywhere, what do you check?" The answer is that we check anywhere a person has lived or worked. It is much better to check ANYWHERE and get real records than to check EVERYWHERE and get inaccurate database records?

So if there's no such thing as an instant nationwide database what are these companies selling? First let me tell you what these databases are good for and then I'll tell you why they are dangerous. In some states of the USA their REAL criminal records are available in some kind of publicly accessible form. It may be on the internet and it may require a subscription or acknowledgment of permissible purpose for its use, but it is available. Texas is a good example of this. For a small fee you can go online and access the REAL criminal records of the state of Texas. Florida, Minnesota and Virginia are other examples of where you can get via these database services what I call "REAL" records. The problem is that these database companies don't tell the consumer (you) that is most cases and in most areas of the country you are getting either nothing or marginal information at best.

Here's why. The companies that collect and sell these database records, and the hundreds of companies that re-sell this information do not emphasize the weakness of their systems. This is why they emphasize the words "instant" and "nationwide" in their promotions. Everyone wants cheap and instant as opposed to slow and expensive, don't they? Can you imagine a website that advertises "Slow And Expensive Limited Area Background Checks." In fact to get really accurate records in most of the country it still requires in person searching at each county courthouse.

These companies get records where they can get them for free; usually from a state's Department of Corrections, which means you are only getting info on a person if he/she has been convicted of a felony and sentenced to prison. When most people think of a criminal history background check they think of all arrests and convictions; both misdemeanors and felonies and the court disposition, guilty or not guilty and the sentence. As you can see, if you are getting only felony convictions, you are getting only a small piece of the pie. For example; a person could be arrested a couple of times for having drug paraphernalia or a small amount of drugs in his or her possession. If the records you are getting only include felony convictions, you would have no record of that person's drug abuse.

The other problem that these Instant Nationwide background checks have is that in many areas of the country they get nothing at all because the states or the county superior courts or district courts don't furnish them with free records. Here is another example: Suppose you are a parent in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Boston, Atlanta or New Orleans (just to name a few) and you want to do a criminal background check. You go online and type in "background check" in Yahoo or Google and right away you see the ads for the "Instant Nationwide" background checks. You choose one of the websites that offers instant records, you pay your .95 or .95 and you put in the information on the person you want checked. Instantly the website tells you that there is no record found based on the info that you have provided. You feel great! You go ahead and tell the nanny that she can start tomorrow because she has passed the background check. Here comes the big kick in the gut. . . What the website didn't tell you is that their database records don't search any of those areas at all. You just paid .95 or .95 and got NOTHING, ZERO, ZIP, NADA. Disclosure: Actually the proceeding sentence is not 100% true. In Nevada and Louisiana the databases do search currently incarcerated prisoners in their respective prison systems. So if your potential nanny is in prison right now then it would tell you that he/she is in prison, but I guess you would already know that.

Now to explain the # 1 Surprising Truth: I'll say it again: Anyone can check anyone, anytime. If you are so inclined, you can check the criminal or civil record (or lack thereof) of your daughter's boyfriend (I do that on a regular basis) your crazy neighbor next door, your business partner, your doctor, your ex-husband, your mayor or even your priest. In fact, you don't even have to be a citizen of the USA to get these records. You can walk into the Superior Court (District Court in some states) clerk's office, in the jurisdiction where that person lives/lived, go up to the counter, fill out a slip of paper, hand it to the clerk and wait for the results. Remember that you will only get the records from that county, i.e., if a person lived in multiple counties you would have to check each of them. The subject of your search could be an axe murderer from the next county over, but your county court clerk would not have a record of it.

OK, now you've got the information, what do you do with it? This is the area where the law is concerned; what you do with the information! If you use this information to discriminate against a person, deny them employment, housing or entrance to a school, etc. then you are violating the law and opening yourself to big time liabilities and possible lawsuits. This is what all of the consent forms with warnings are all about. It's not the getting of the information that the laws are concerned with but the use of it.

In summary, read the fine print and ask questions or go to the courthouse and do it yourself.

How Reliable Are Online Background Checks?
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Kit Fremin is the owner and founder of Background Check International. Since 1994 BCI has served clients a varied as: the LA Times, Department of Defense, Mars, Inc., the UN, the NTSB and Calvary Chapels nationwide. His website is: http://www.bcint.com and he can be e-mailed at kit@bcint.com

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What is Networking and Why is it Important in Business?

When I began my networking journey, I attended any and all networking events as time permitted. Every event was fair game! Today I am much more strategic in my networking endeavors. I discovered which events and organizations gave me the best return on my investment of time as well as how to be an effective, caring networker.

In order to know where to begin you must first understand what networking is and why it is important to grow your business. Networking in its purest form is simply talking to people, making connections and developing rapport to grow our circle of influence. Business networking is essentially the same except that our primary objective in business networking is to help us grow our businesses. For most of us, building a network means meeting people we can do business with or who will do business with us, or refer people who will do business with us, are our ultimate goals.

In fact, some of the best networks are those created by people who own and run their own businesses. When you create valuable networking relationships, you build them on a foundation of mutual trust, sharing knowledge, experiences and resources to help one another grow your businesses by either referring one another or doing business directly with one another.

What is Networking and Why is it Important in Business?

It works like this: If you do a good job, one customer might tell three to five of her colleagues, family and friends about you. Whereas, when you build a network of say 10 to 20 strong advocates, they may each tell only one person about your, however your "exposure" is now more than doubled - With the right network, the ultimate in "word of mouth" marketing takes place. You promote your network, and your network promotes you.

Have you ever attended a BNI or Le Tip or other form of structured networking groups? Perhaps you are already a member of a similar group. If not, you might consider becoming involved in one to the fastest growing business networking concepts around. These groups invite business professionals to join on an exclusive basis. That means, that if you are a chiropractor and become a member of one of these groups, no other chiropractor will be invited or allowed to join.

These groups have regularly scheduled meetings (anywhere from monthly to weekly) with a list of rules and objectives to which you must abide. In some cases, a minimum number of referrals is required to participate. In others, simply doing business with one or more in the network is all that is asked of he members. However, keep in mind that for this type of networking to be worthwhile for all parties, each must make every effort to do business with other members of the group.

If this form of structured networking isn't for you, there are other options for finding potential networking venues and partners. Here are some ideas to help you on your way to networking success.

a. Develop a joiners mentality. By that I mean, don't just sign up to get our name on a roster. REALLY JOIN. Get involved. Participate in discussions, events and BE VISIBLE. The saying "out of sight, is out of mind," holds true when it comes to networking. I have been involved in groups and decided to take a hiatus from attending for 2 to 3 months (and sometimes more) only to have people come up to me and tell me they forgot the name of my business so they had to find someone else either through a friend or through the local phone book. BUMMER!

b. Attend networking functions. These can include Chambers of Commerce meetings, after hours socials, ad hoc committees and special events task forces.

c. Get involved in a community service group such as Kiwanis, Lions, Jaycees, etc.

d. Volunteer with a non-profit organization, whose mission you are passionate about and believe in. People who have similar passions will want to do business with you.

e. Host events - I started an event called Goddess Gatherings more than 2 years ago in my home. It is an intimate gathering of women (8 max.) who share a common interest and/or wish to expand their own circles. I invite women who do not yet know one another although they may be familiar with their names. These women are women in my circle of influence either directly or indirectly (they are either members of the 22 groups I belong to and attend regularly or they are part of a circle within these groups). I might invite a "surprise" guest who can entertain the women - such as a masseuse or tarot card reader- or feature a business such as a jeweler or make-up artist. This helps make for a memorable evening and the women either start their own Gathering or look forward to being invited to another gathering hosted by either myself of one of the women in attendance.

f. Look for ways to cross-promote with businesses that complement yours. For instance, a spa might join with a health food store or restaurant and promote their products and services for staying healthy. A salon might join a florist to promote weddings or proms and a realtor might join with a mortgage broker to promote a "one-stop" experience for home buyers.

g. Interview others. A great way for me to network is to interview women for projects I am working on. Since most people are flattered when you ask their opinion about something or experiences in life, this has been a great means of increasing my own circle for various reasons. I might interview a woman (or even a man) about an article or book I am writing, or a seminar I am developing. People love to share their stories. I tape the interview (with their permission, of course) and give them a copy afterwards. It helps to have a list of questions ready prior to the interview, however, unless they insist, I don't give them the questions ahead of time. I have done these interviews via phone, email as well as in person. Many of the women have since.

h. Join an online business or social networking community such as MeetUp, Ryze, Max-in-Common, Linkd In, Open BC, to name a few,. These groups have subgroups made up of people with a specific focus and similar interests. Or you can join a non-specific group to gain more knowledge, exposure and contacts.

Make a point of attending one new networking event a month just to "check it out." Make a list of the people you know, the organizations you have heard and read about and the companies who currently do business with you. These are all great resources to tap into to find new venues to network. Get the local newspaper and look at the organizations and businesses hosting events to which the public is invited. Attend them.

The best networking begins with planning and taking action. Being strategic in your planning is important to your ultimate success as an effective, caring networker.

If you are interested in sharing your networking success stories, drop me a note to heidi@speakingwithspirit.com. It would be an honor to interview you. Who knows, your story could be the subject of one of my articles, or you could even write your own.. Looking forward to hearing from you. Here's to your success in building your network.

What is Networking and Why is it Important in Business?
Check For The New Release in Health, Fitness & Dieting Category of Books NOW!
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Check For Cookbooks Best Sellers 2012 Discount OFFER!
Check for Top 100 Most Popular Books People Are Buying Daily Price Update!
Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

©Heidi Richards is the author of The PMS Principles, Powerful Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business and 7 other books. She is also the Founder & CEO of the Women's ECommerce Association, International http://www.WECAI.org (pronounced wee-kÄ«) - an Internet organization that "Helps Women Do Business on the WEB." Basic Membership is FREE. Ms. Richards can be reached at Heidi@speakingwithspirit.com or heidi@wecai.org.

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