When it comes to hiring top talent in an increasingly competitive and fast-changing market, background screening can play a crucial role. A robust background check program often involves verifying and assessing a candidate’s personal, professional, and educational history to help ensure they’re the right fit. The extent of screening can differ depending on the role and the industry. According to First Advantage’s 2025 Global Trends Report, 68% of respondents noted that the candidate experience sets the tone for their overall candidate journey.
To help employers strengthen their hiring process, here are some frequently asked questions by HR professionals, along with practical answers to address the importance of delivering a positive candidate experience during the background screening program and how it can help build a lasting relationship with your most valuable resource: your people.
Let’s start with some of the common questions employers ask.
Q: Why is a seamless candidate experience important to employers when conducting background screening?
A: Keeping top talent engaged within the organisation can be tricky for HR leaders. Employers need to be confident that their entire hiring process – including background screening – is smooth and engaging. This way, they can help candidates adjust to their company in the best possible way without interruptions in the candidate journey, such as delays, difficult-to-navigate platforms, or unclear documentation requests.
By delivering a seamless candidate experience, you not only strengthen engagement but also keep the candidate informed about their progress.
First Advantage supports this by offering clear, mobile-friendly workflows that help candidates move through their background checks quickly, comfortably, and with confidence.
Q: How does First Advantage enhance the candidate experience, and what benefits does this deliver to both employers and candidates?
A: We provide a modern, accessible candidate experience that makes it easy for employers to seamlessly collect the correct information from their candidates the first time, all while making the right first impression.
- Modern/User-Centric: Intuitive “hub-and-spoke” navigation model allows candidates to pause and/or return to their session where they left off, whenever convenient, reducing drop-off.
- Seamless Data Collection: Candidates enter their personal information as well as employment and education details, all in one place. This model also allows candidates to track their progress from a centralised dashboard.
- Accessible to All Audiences: Our simple, straightforward experience helps multiple generations of workers across different industries feel confident and stay engaged throughout the screening process.
Q: How long does a background check take?
A: Turnaround times from start to finish can vary significantly depending on the types of searches needed, the country in which the check is taking place, the company that provides them, and the speed at which the candidate provides the required information.
In most cases, reports can be returned within one to three days, or they may take up to several weeks depending on the type of verification and response time of the verifying source. We’re proud of our dedicated team and innovative technology, which helps us deliver industry-leading turnaround times for our background checks. When delays do occur, we partner closely with our customers to help work through them as quickly as possible.
What you need to know about candidate background checks
We’ve compiled the top questions candidates ask about background screening to help you understand their concerns and improve the hiring journey.
Q: What kind of data will you need from my candidate?
A: This will vary depending on what type of searches you’ve requested. We’ll only request the candidate to provide us with information necessary for us to conduct the checks you’ve ordered. Once we have this data, we’ll coordinate this screening process with the candidate.
Q: Will you contact my candidate’s current employer?
A: We won’t contact a current employer without first obtaining the candidate’s prior consent. When candidates are completing our forms, we’ll specifically ask if we can contact their current employer. We know that securing employment can be delicate, and that often, the candidate won’t want their current employer to discover they’re looking elsewhere.
Q: Will my candidate be able to dispute the results of their screening report?
A: In instances where there’s information in a candidate’s report with discrepancies, First Advantage has dedicated team members who’ll work quickly to resolve any issues.
Putting Candidates First
Delivering a seamless candidate experience isn’t just a ‘nice to have’, it’s a strategic business advantage. Every touchpoint in the hiring journey shapes how candidates perceive your brand, and a smooth, streamlined process can make the difference between securing top talent and losing them to competitors.
Speak with us today to discover how we can work together to build a hiring journey that’s smooth, engaging, and hassle-free.
