When you’re hiring for your business—whether it’s your first employee or your fiftieth—getting the right person in the role matters. You want to protect your team, your customers, and your reputation. That’s why background checks are sucha key part of the hiring process. But the temptation to run a quick online search or use a cheap background check site is real, especially for small businesses trying to move fast or save money.
Here’s the problem: DIY background checks aren’t reliable, and they carry risks that can come back to bite you.
- The Information May Be Incomplete—or Just Wrong
Many free or low-cost online background check services pull information from public records, but they don’t always verify what they find. You might get outdated data, mismatched records, or incomplete reports. That means you could miss red flags—or worse, make a hiring decision based on inaccurate information.
- You May Violate the Law Without Realizing It
Employment background checks are governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and that applies whether you’rehiring someone to handle your finances or stock your shelves. If you use online data to make a hiring decision without following FCRA protocols (like providing disclosure, getting consent, and offering a pre-adverse action process), you open yourself up to lawsuits and fines.
- Privacy Violations Can Damage Your Reputation
Employees and candidates trust you to handle their personal information responsibly. If you rely on questionable websites that don’t follow privacy laws or sell sensitive data, you risk breaching that trust—and possibly facing legal consequences.
- You Might Miss What Actually Matters
A proper background check goes beyond scanning headlines or public records. It verifies employment and education, checks for criminal convictions in the right jurisdictions, and evaluates results through a consistent, legally defensible lens. You won’t get that level of depth or context from a quick online search.
- You’re on Your Own if Something Goes Wrong
Professional background check providers offer support, dispute resolution, and compliance guidance. With a DIY option, there’s no one to help you interpret the results or handle a candidate’s questions. That can make an already sensitive process even more complicated.
Hiring is one of the most important decisions you make for your business. It’s worth doing right. A trusted background check partner helps you screen candidates fairly, thoroughly, and compliantly—so you can build a team that supports your goals without cutting corners.
