Background checks with blockchain in job recruiting

In 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the median tenure of workers aged 25–34 was just 2.8 years. Nowadays, people are more likely to have multiple degrees, certificates, diplomas, and different types of jobs—internships, gigs, temp work, contract work, freelancing—the list goes on. Job recruiters, in turn, have an increased burden of performing background checks and employment history verification. Blockchain, however, offers a potential solution to decrease the costs and effort involved in the process.

Facilitating and automating reliable background checks

Currently, background checks are a tedious, manual process—often completed by a third party such as a recruiting agent—and require the “potential employer or background vendor [to do] individual checks, going directly to each source.” This involves searching through various agencies and databases, such as criminal records, professional licenses, and employer credit reports. Often job candidates must fill out authorization forms to allow access to the information, and then there’s the wait time for processing.

Using blockchain technology, however, a job candidate could have all this data and all personal information “pre-validated and stored on a secure blockchain application.” The information could be freely viewed by any organization granted access by the candidate themselves, who would retain ownership of their background data.

Combating fraudulent education claims

A huge advantage of using blockchain is the ability to combat fraudulent education claims. There are cases of people claiming education from other countries as a way to skirt background checks—or even falsifying documents from national schools. Education verification on a blockchain would be much more reliable, and it could be facilitated by the educational institutes themselves. Syncing information across different countries would be far easier, as well. Employers could accurately and quickly verify education credentials on the tamper-proof blockchain without incurring large costs or outsourcing the task.

Streamlining employment history

Verifying employment history is a little more difficult. The variety of job experiences and job titles makes standardization in employment history more nuanced than simply having or not having a specific degree. In addition, when companies go out of business, it’s difficult to later verify the history of their former employees. But this information can be preserved on a blockchain permanently, as a digital method of record keeping that cannot be altered. For job recruiters who perform a lot of background checks, blockchain technology may be the answer for a streamlined hiring process.

Image via Pixabay.