This post will try to clear the doubts which our clients (especially the individuals) may have about background verification and detective type investigation. We see that to quite a few consumers, these two appear to be same – especially in the context of matrimonial verification. In certain cases, even some of the business clients may mistake these to be same and request us to do detective or investigative work – typically to find out more about the absconding employees.
Background verification refers to verification of the various credentials associated with the candidates/individuals under consideration. These would include facts that are claimed by the candidates regarding their ID, contact details including residence, education, employment, reference, or criminal records. The background verification process would try to find out if these claimed credentials are true or not. In certain cases, additional feedback or observations around the character or personality attributes of the candidates may come out but these are not per se the core information being desired. The core remains the verification of the credentials provided by candidates. And in nearly all these cases, this is done with the authorization from and consent of the candidate.
Detective type investigation goes one step beyond the background verification. It aims to find out more facts, which may not have been supplied by the candidates. Depending upon the client’s requirement, it may include other activities like shadowing the candidates for a period of few days to weeks to establish behaviours, habits, social (or even anti-social!) interactions, character assessment, past and present relationships and the nature of these relationships. It is typically done in a clandestine manner so that the candidate is not aware that such gathering of facts is being done. Thus the consent or authorization of the candidate is not applicable as that may defeat the very purpose of investigation.
Background verification services provided by JantaKhoj and other such professional background verification agencies are limited to verification only and do not go within the realm of detective type investigation work. So depending upon the specific requirement, clients should either go to such background verification agencies or to detective / investigative agencies.
