Whether you're hiring your next employee, vetting a contractor, or onboarding a volunteer, a background check is one of the most valuable tools you have for making informed decisions. But when that report lands on your desk, it can feel like a wall of data — names, dates, records, and technical terms.
What Is a Background Check?
A background check is a screening process that verifies a candidate's identity and history — typically criminal records, employment, education, and sometimes driving or credit history — before a hiring, contracting, or volunteer decision is made. For the full picture of what a background check covers and why organizations run them, see What Is a Background Check?
This guide is about the next step: once you order a background check, what actually shows up in the report — and how to read each section.
1. Identity Verification
What it includes:
- Full legal name
- Date of birth
- Address history trace and known aliases
- Current address of applicant
Every other section of the report depends on this one. Confirming the candidate's identity — and surfacing any prior addresses or alternate names through an address history trace — is what allows the criminal search to run against the right jurisdictions in the first place. It's especially important for candidates with common names, where the wrong match can either miss a real record or attach someone else's history to your candidate.
2. Criminal History
What it includes:
- Local, state, and federal criminal records
- Charges, convictions, and arrests
- Dates of offenses
- Dispositions (e.g., conviction, dismissal, pending)
This is usually the section employers scrutinize most closely. Not every record is disqualifying, and context matters — a decade-old misdemeanor rarely carries the same weight as a recent felony directly related to the role. Some records may also be outdated, sealed, or legally protected from employer use depending on the state.
3. Employment Verification
What it includes:
- Previous employers
- Job titles
- Dates of employment
- Reason for leaving (when available)
- Eligibility for rehire
Résumés are aspirational more often than people admit. This section confirms whether a candidate's stated experience holds up — titles, dates, and tenure verified directly with past employers rather than taken at face value. Minor date discrepancies are common; larger inconsistencies are worth a follow-up conversation before they become a surprise later.
4. Education Verification
What it includes:
- Schools or institutions attended
- Degrees or certifications earned
- Dates of attendance and graduation
Degree fraud is more common than most hiring managers assume. Confirming education directly with the issuing institution protects against candidates who exaggerate — or outright fabricate — credentials required for the role.
5. Driving Records (Motor Vehicle Report)
What it includes:
- Driver's license status
- Traffic violations
- DUIs or reckless driving offenses
- License class and expiration
For any role that involves operating a vehicle — deliveries, fleet driving, transportation — this section is often as important as the criminal history search. A clean criminal record doesn't tell you anything about how someone drives.
6. Credit History (For Financial Roles)
What it includes:
- Credit accounts and payment history
- Bankruptcies, liens, or judgments
- Debt-to-income insights
This one doesn't belong in every screening package — it's reserved for roles with financial oversight or fiduciary responsibility, and it comes with additional FCRA disclosure requirements. Where it applies, it can offer insight into how a candidate manages financial obligations, though it should never be the sole factor in a hiring decision.
7. Civil Records (When Included)
What it includes:
- Lawsuits and civil judgments
- Evictions or property disputes
- Restraining orders or other civil filings
Civil records show up less often than criminal ones, but for leadership roles or positions involving significant trust, they can reveal patterns worth understanding before you extend an offer.
8. Sanctions, Watchlists, and Global Databases
What it includes:
- Terrorist watchlists
- Government sanctions
- The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Interpol, and international criminal data
Global companies and security-sensitive roles rely on this section to catch risks that a domestic-only criminal search would miss entirely.
What You Won't See (and Why)
Not everything that exists about a candidate is fair game for a background check. A compliant report is deliberately limited — and each of those limits exists for a reason.
Compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA governs what a background check can report and how. It requires the candidate's written consent before a check is run, accuracy in how records are reported, and a defined process — disclosure, then pre-adverse action, then final adverse action — before a report can be used to deny someone a position. Data that falls outside FCRA's permissible scope, or that a Consumer Reporting Agency can't verify to FCRA's accuracy standard, doesn't belong in the report. See our FCRA compliance guide for the full breakdown.
Respectful of ban-the-box laws and local hiring regulations. Many states and cities restrict when — and sometimes whether — an employer can ask about criminal history during the hiring process. In a ban-the-box jurisdiction, that inquiry may need to wait until after a conditional offer is made. A compliant report accounts for these timing and disclosure rules rather than surfacing everything up front regardless of local law.
Limited to job-relevant information. A background check isn't meant to be a complete life history — it's meant to inform a specific decision. Arrest-only records with no conviction, sealed or expunged cases, and non-convictions that fall outside your state's reporting window are typically excluded. Even where a record is reportable, employers are generally expected to apply an individualized assessment — weighing the nature of the offense, how long ago it occurred, and its relevance to the role — rather than a blanket disqualification.
FAQs About Background Check Reports
What will get flagged on a background check?
Flags typically include a criminal conviction relevant to the role, a pending criminal case, a sex offender registry match, or a significant discrepancy between what a candidate reported and what the report verifies — such as an unconfirmed employment date or degree. A flag means the result needs a closer look, not that the candidate is automatically disqualified. Bchex's Insight+ surfaces these flags automatically within a report so nothing relevant gets buried in the details.
Can you fail a background check and still get hired?
Yes. There's no universal pass or fail — each employer sets its own criteria for what's disqualifying based on the role. A record that would rule someone out for a financial position might be irrelevant for a warehouse role. Employers are expected to apply an individualized assessment rather than an automatic rejection, and the final decision is theirs to make within FCRA's adverse action process.
What information is not on a background check?
Depending on your state, arrest-only records with no conviction, sealed or expunged cases, and non-convictions outside the legal reporting window are typically excluded. Full Social Security numbers never appear — reports use an address history trace and identity verification instead. Protected characteristics like religion, medical history, and genetic information are never part of a compliant screening report, regardless of what's technically discoverable elsewhere.
Conclusion
A background check is more than a list of data points — it's a tool to help you hire smarter, safer, and more confidently. By understanding each section of the report, you can make informed decisions without overreacting to minor or unrelated findings.
Need help running or interpreting background checks? Bchex provides fast, compliant, and easy-to-read reports tailored to your industry and risk profile.
