Background checks are most often conducted by external third party resources known as Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRA’s), however, some companies conduct background checks using internal resources including security personnel or human resources professionals who are trained to conduct background checks.
Thorough background checks require extensive training of the assigned investigator to learn how to use subscription data aggregation services and to understand the results which are then used to confirm personal information. The investigator would need to access an employee’s Personally Identifying Information (PII) in order to verify the employee’s social security number and then to process criminal history, employment verifications, educational verification, etc. Employees with financial or fiduciary responsibilities will typically also have their credit history checked, therefore it is extremely important that the assigned background investigator be someone that have themselves passed a background check, understand strict confidentiality, and are extensively trained in how to handle sensitive data of other employees.