What is Checkr background check?

Used by thousands of international companies, Checkr is the trendy kid on the block to help make hiring faster, more transparent and provide equal access to jobs.

What is Checkr?

Checkr offers six different screening categories for companies hiring new employees and uses artificial intelligence to deliver reliable, accurate, and fast results. As a result, many businesses are turning to the San Francisco-based company that currently runs one million background checks per month for more than 10,000 customers, including LinkedIn, Lyft, Uber, Hot Topic, and Thumbtack.

Checkr’s artificial intelligence provides customizable screening and filtering settings that prove useful considering that almost one-third of Americans have a criminal record, but not every charge is relevant to every job. Read more about the charge classifier here.

This technology can help employers view a broader pool of qualified and talented candidates and provide the most accurate and up-to-date information. It also reduces the cost of hiring by improving reporting accuracy and reducing human bias.

Checkr's website platform also hosts a blog with multiple articles and tips concerning every aspect of recruiting, getting hired, and performing reliable security and background checks, and it also offers Webinars.

How does Checkr work?

There are different packages that employers can choose from, including progressive screenings, a special COVID-19 continuity package, one-time offers, and more. Screening categories include criminal records, registry searches, driver and MVR, drug and health, verification checks, and civil searches.

The process consists of an employer asking Checkr to perform a background check on a candidate. The candidate will receive an email request and, upon doing so, will enter their personal information and PII number. The reports are usually completed within 3-5 days. Meanwhile, the candidate and the employer can review the checking progress.

Whether your business is hospitality, management, retail, healthcare, food services, gig economy, or any other else, you will find packages and solutions catered especially to fit your needs.

How does it offer equal opportunities and a fair chance of hiring?

Since the Black Lives Matter movement exploded in 2020, Checkr has re-evaluated its approach and tried to improve fairness for all candidates by providing equal access to employment. The cracks in the criminal justice system negatively impact Black people and directly contribute to the systemic racism that affects every aspect of their lives.

Checkr is working to impact the hiring system in two ways. The first is to raise awareness around criminal records and change peoples’ views and biases towards them using data and education. The second aspect is to help people with criminal records gain access to employment.

That is why Checkr aims to open opportunities for 1 million people who face employment barriers this year (2020). First, however, It is the responsibility of companies to take a look at their hiring practices, be open-minded, and educate themselves to develop fairer hiring processes known as fair chance hiring. Read more about this here.

Can you trust Checkr?

‘Beware of futuristic background checks’ is the word on the street, and Checkr has come under fire in the past for its still-emerging technology and the problems and errors it brings with it. The company has faced many lawsuits for making mistakes that have cost people potential employment opportunities. One such example is a hopeful Uber driver who was wrongly linked to a murder conviction just because of a similar name!

While automating business aspects and using AI for hiring can be positive, time-effective, and cut down on huge costs, it can also go a step too far. Although Checkr claims to be taking significant steps to provide equal opportunities for all, eliminate bias, and not judge applicants’ social media behavior, you should still carefully consider what information you share online. As AI potentially has access to your social media accounts and with platforms such as Facebook selling data, we recommend you take steps to consider which networks might help your career and what information you would like to remove from the internet permanently.