Position Overview
A background investigator may be hired by companies to check backgrounds of potential employees, or even by government agencies, to handle checks of a more sensitive nature.
Depending on which capacity you want to work in, your work may differ a little. However, the nature of investigative work stays more or less the same.
There are agencies / organizations that hire background investigators to perform an entire plethora of investigative work related to both these areas. It all depends on where you want to work.
Position Requirements
Apart from a high school diploma or a GED equivalent, there are no formal education requirements to work as a background investigator.
However, you do need to possess some physical and mental attributes that will help you work well in this area. These will include exceptional analytic skills, excellent communication, interpersonal and listening skills, the ability to derive information from the most unlikely of sources, and of course, capability of analyzing and compiling information in a proper manner. Working as a background investigator means that you will be on your feet most of the day, going around and asking questions. You have to be physically fit and dexterous if this is the work that you want to peruse.
Some duties expected of a background investigator are provided below for your reference:
Job Description for Background Investigator Resume
• Engage employers or clients in conversation to determine their specific needs for background checks
• Obtain and record information regarding subjects or prospective employees, for the purpose of reference
• Interview subjects or potential employees to derive information regarding their backgrounds, to include financial, personal and professional
• Perform complete, thorough and comprehensive background checks and reviews for clients or employers
• Determine applicants’ suitability for a position by confirming and analyzing information determined during background checks
• Conduct and review criminal history checks through different agencies, and create and maintain contact with law enforcement agencies
• Review subject or applicants’ files, and contact former employers to obtain references for the purpose of determining eligibility
• Contact subjects’ or applicants’ references to verify the information that they have provided in referral documents
• Gather and analyze personal, professional, credit, and educational documents, and ensure that they are run through a well-placed verification system
• Research and obtain data from various databases and information systems, and analyze it to derive required information
• Prepare reports detailing findings of specified data collection and investigative activities, and submit them for review
• Respond to requests for information, refer requests to managers, and answer subject or / and applicants’ questions according to company protocol