The Atlanta business chronicle reports
companies are spending more
effort and cash to investigate executive hires

In short, times are good for ChoicePoint Inc., whose services include background screenings for corporations out to hire executive talent.

Corporations are vetting candidates in unprecedented fashion, putting their pasts under the microscope as never before. Probes that were once restricted to credit reports, a light parsing of the résumé and a reference call or two are now far more exacting.

"Background checks are much deeper today, and it's not just the larger corporations either," said David Cook, ChoicePoint's vice president of workplace solutions. "We're seeing small and midsized companies starting to do them, too. Was this applicant really a vice president at IBM? Did he really make $200,000 a year? Has he used drugs?"

Paul Winum, area vice president and managing director of RHR International Co. in Atlanta, said there's a "heightened sensitivity" regarding background checks these days, "especially for financial positions and at the CEO and board level. It's a lot more than talking to people at the golf club about an applicant and determining that he's a pretty good guy."

Increased scrutiny

Cook said today's skepticism is playing out on two fronts: more widespread criminal records probes and more detailed examination of employment and education claims.