One of the biggest problems I have with potential candidates I interview for various positions in my organization is that I have no way of knowing whether what they say is true or not. I mean, there is only so much of information that one can gather about a person. The rest of it is based on an assumption that she/he is telling the truth. But in business, one cannot go on gut instinct alone. Especially when it pertains to big positions with a lot of responsibility. This is why a new and unique service has come into being that offers background checks.

The companies that offer this kind of service are known as background check companies. What they do is relatively simple. They offer details about individuals or companies and help you get details about the background of those entities. In other words background check companies provide a service similar to that offered by private investigators. But there is one crucial difference.

While private investigators need a license to operate, background check companies don't need any such thing. While private investigators make use of their contacts in law enforcement to dig out details, background check companies rely on information already available in the public domain.

There are a lot of ways in which information about people or companies can be gathered. First and foremost, background check companies rely on the annual reports of the companies. This, more often than not reveals a lot more about the people within (especially in senior positions) and in some cases, even their salaries. Other indicators too may be easily found by background check companies in this manner.

Such information gathered by background check companies is especially useful when it comes to mergers and acquisitions or when it comes to senior appointments. Think of the service provided by background check companies as something that fills in the gaps that the person has in information already provided to you.

But there is a fine line between the service provided by background check companies and snooping or invasion of privacy. In some cases, when someone has made use of background check companies to find out more about a competing company, it has come under the purview of industrial espionage. This is where the law too is very sketchy and more and more people are becoming increasingly concerned about what information about them is retained where and by whom. Privacy laws have gotten more powers in recent years and conducting background checks is no longer easy or feasible.