When it’s time to screen candidates for a new job position, there’s a plethora of background check tools to pick from. HireRight offers criminal background checks on both local and global candidates. It also lists I-9 verifications, driving record checks, and candidate experience checks on its comprehensive list of services. In this review, we’ll take a look at the pros and cons of HireRight and explore the products it offers.
HireRight Compared to the Best Background Check Companies
To help save you time and energy, our research team has compiled a list of outstanding background check companies we call our Golden Eggs.
If the background check process is overwhelming to you, GoodHire excels at guiding you through the process, making it as simple and reliable as possible. Get a free quote from GoodHire today.
Checkr is ideal for conducting background checks on gig workers—think drivers, freelance landscapers, and food deliverers. Businesses that run over 300 background checks a year get custom, discounted pricing.
Asurint gives its users top-notch customer service, helping solve any issues as soon as they arise. Reach out to the sales team for a quote.
HireRight: The Good and the Bad
It’s important to research a background check service before sending new hires there for a screening. We’ve done this work for you. There are several things users like about this service, but some aspects of it don’t deliver. Let’s dive in.
What HireRight Is Good At
HireRight has several strengths. Some, like its ability to integrate with an existing ATS system, benefit employers who need to perform background checks. Other strengths, such as the easy-to-navigate user interface, benefit end-to-end users.
Integrations: Employers love that HireRight integrates with applicant tracking systems (ATS) they already use, such as Zoho Recruit, Greenhouse, JazzHR, Jobvite, and BambooHR, among others. These are just a handful of the many ATS integrations HireRight offers.
Ease of use: There’s nothing more exasperating than a website that’s not user-friendly. Our research found that employers and end-users alike praised how easy it is to navigate HireRight’s website.
Affordability: Background checks are just one of the dozens of expenses a company must juggle daily. The reviews we researched cited affordable prices as a reason they switched to HireRight from other, more expensive brands.
Centralized dashboard: End-users can check the status of their background check using HireRight’s Applicant Center Dashboard. The dashboard helps users keep track of which documents they’ve already uploaded and which ones are still missing from the application. Employers can also view data from a centralized dashboard.
Rigorous screening: HireRight is ideal for employers hiring people who will be dealing with sensitive information, spending time in other peoples’ homes, or working with kids. Thanks to HireRight’s rigorous screenings, employers feel they’re getting comprehensive, important information on the people they hire.
What HireRight Is Lacking
After combing through hundreds of reviews, our research team found that HireRight lacks adequate customer service, quick turnaround times, and reasonable expectations for new hires.
Customer service: According to dozens of HireRight end-users, the company’s customer service is unhelpful and inconsistent. Users cited several problems, including:
- Unresolved issues requiring countless callbacks
- Uninformed customer service agents
- Having to repeat themselves to multiple agents
- Incorrect information
- Impolite agents
- Failure to upload documents sent by email
- Failure to return calls
- Long hold times
In short, there’s a lot of room for improvement regarding HireRight’s customer service.
Slow turnaround times: Users reported longer-than-usual wait times for background checks, citing wait times as long as two months. Since most companies don’t let new hires begin their jobs until the background checks come back, this can be a huge problem for employers and employees.
In addition, several reviewers said that they were asked to re-upload documents multiple times, causing frustration. They also complained about having to upload documents at all, stating that other background check companies do that part of the work for them.
Unreasonable expectations for candidates: Several candidates felt that HireRight’s background checks asked for information that wasn’t reasonable for the job’s requirements—or its pay scale. These reviews must be taken with a grain of salt, as there’s no way to know the full picture, but there are more than a few of them.
And at least one reviewer even felt there were so many hoops to jump through that they wished they’d never started the process at all and had just dropped the job offer.
HireRight Options and Pricing
HireRight offers a variety of checks, including criminal background checks, verifications, I-9 and E-Verify, identity checks, and candidate experience. What’s more, these services are available in over 200 countries. HireRight is ideal for U.S.-based companies hiring applicants from around the globe—and for international companies, too.
HireRight Criminal Background Checks
Criminal background checks are essential for just about any career. Each industry has different standards for what types of crimes will prevent a new hire from proceeding with a job. For example, industries such as construction may accept hires with a criminal history, while the education sector won’t.
For example, a thorough background check can prevent a teacher with a record of child abuse from getting a job working with children.
A background check involves the search of various databases. HireRight provides the following searches in its criminal background check packages:
- Federal criminal records
- Federal civil records
- County criminal records
- Statewide criminal search
- Sex offender registry search
- Prohibited parties check
For HireRight’s Executive Intelligence service, which helps you screen high-profile hires, you’ll get all of the above plus a National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Biographical Affidavit Background Report.
HireRight conducts standalone criminal background checks for SMBs using its company, Backgroundchecks.com, where you can choose from one of three packages:
- Instant Criminal: for $33.15, you’ll get a criminal record check, sex offender registry check, and SSN validation
- Instant Criminal + Local County: pay $49.95 for everything in Instant Criminal plus one county-level search
- Instant Criminal + All Counties: pay $69.95 for all checks in Instant Criminal plus multiple county-level searches
Get started with a criminal background check today. Or, if you know you’ll need more than one criminal background check for your medium-to-large business, contact HireRight for a quote.
HireRight Verifications
If you need to check a new hire or potential employee’s professional license status or education history, HireRight’s verifications services can help. Here are the verification services HireRight offers:
- Employment verification, including current employment verification
- Education verification
- Professional reference checks
- Professional license check
It’s important to note that HireRight depends on participation from a job applicant to complete some of its verification services. For example, during a HireRight current employment verification, the company will ask applicants to upload pay stubs and W-2s for proof of employment.
HireRight states that it asks for these documents to avoid contacting an applicant’s current employer, which is fair. However, it can pack additional tasks onto a new hire’s to-do list.
Contact HireRight to get a quote on verification services.
HireRight I-9 and E-Verify Services
Check to make sure your potential new hire is cleared to work in the United States with HireRight’s I-9 and E-Verify services. Complying with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) can get overwhelming, but HireRight makes the process smooth for you.
With HireRight, you can:
- Electronically fill out I-9 forms
- Use E-Verify, the U.S. government’s online employee verification system, with HireRight’s E-Verify integration
- Manage your I-9 program from a central dashboard
- Set alerts to help you stay compliant with I-9 requirements
- Access over 5,000 authorized representatives to help remote employees fill out I-9 forms
Contact HireRight for a custom quote that considers your business’s I-9 and E-Verify needs.
HireRight Monitoring Services
There are many reasons why you might need monitoring services. For example, if you manage a doctor’s office, you’ll need to keep track of dozens of healthcare license expiration dates to ensure your employees stay on top of license renewals. HireRight provides occupation license and certification monitoring to address this need.
Other monitoring services HireRight offers include:
- Arrest record monitoring
- Criminal record monitoring
- Healthcare sanctions and actions monitoring
Utilizing these monitoring tools can help ensure that your employees continue adhering to state and federal laws—even after employment.
Reach out to HireRight for a quote tailored to your company’s needs.
HireRight Identity Checks
Do you want to ensure your new hires or employees are who they say they are? HireRight’s identity checks service can help—whether the employees in question are based in the U.S. or not.
HireRight verifies government-issued identification for international employees. For U.S.-based employees, HireRight utilizes its U.S. Social Security Trace™ tool and other avenues to ensure that the identification information on a social security card or passport aligns with government records for that person.
Contact HireRight to get started with identity verification.
HireRight Drug and Health Screening
Many careers require drug tests and health screenings, including those in the healthcare, transportation, and construction fields. These tests and screenings help keep everyone safe.
Take the healthcare industry, for example. A pre-employment drug test and health screen can help prevent patients from receiving care from medical providers who are under the influence of drugs or living with health issues that compromise their quality of care.
HireRight works with over 20,000 partner locations to provide:
- Physical exams, including DOT-compliant screenings
- Urine, hair, and oral drug testing
- Random testing program management
- Breath alcohol testing
- Instant drug testing
To start testing and screening new hires or existing employees, contact HireRight for a quote.
HireRight in Summary
HireRight is a flexible background check solution that offers an impressive range of services. Its commitment to screening local and global clients helps it stand out from competitors. With HireRight, you can easily integrate your background check solution with the rest of your ATS, HR, and payroll software. It seems to struggle to provide reliable customer service, though.
If you’re looking for a different option, check out our list of Golden Eggs. Our all-around top pick, GoodHire, guides both you and your end-users through the entire background check process. If you need to vet gig workers, Checkr is the best solution. And for high-quality customer service, go with Asurint.
For a deeper dive into these providers, check out our list of the top background check companies.
