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With this being our first edition after the very
successful NAPBS conference I wanted to express my sincere
appreciation to all of you that visited our exhibit booth.
I also want to say a great big thank you to each of you
that had your picture taken as a ‘Background Screening
Shining Star.’ We had a lot of fun. To show you how
much fun, Mike Sankey, BRB Publications came to our booth
with red clown noses and here was the result. Don’t
laugh to hard.
Also
please email me at wbnixon@aol.com
to let me know what you would like to see covered in the
Buzz and ideas on ways we can help you create additional
sales opportunities.
Have a great day!
Barry
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Why Raise Capital?
By Christopher P. Jansen, Gatehouse Ventures
Most new businesses are built without raising substantial
amounts of outside capital. They are founded with small
infusions of cash from the founders, perhaps augmented by
support from relatives or wealthy individuals. In doing
so, the founders avoid the effort and dilution of raising
capital from institutional investors. The vast majority
of small businesses remain small, and their founders are
happy maintaining family control and pursuing modest growth.
However, most business owners and management teams eventually
reach a crossroads. Should they take on outside financing
to fund future growth? Should the shareholders diversify
their personal net worth by selling stock in their business
to provide personal liquidity and enhance their financial
security? If they do, will they have to give up the operating
control that made their companies successful in the first
place? These are very good questions to consider. Once the
decision is made to seek outside capital, entrepreneurs
and management teams can use equity and/or debt capital
to achieve a variety of business objectives.
How
Much Capital Should You Raise? |
902 East 5th Street Suite 101
Austin Texas, 78701
(v) 888.690.9297
(f) 512.485.3111
sales@deverus.com
|
What
if you could give HR exactly what they really want? What
if you had the cutting edge solutions to the most pressing
issues, the best technology and expert team to make it happen?
deverus
is the leader in technology solutions for the background
check industry. From the most powerful industry software
applications and data exchange solutions to process consulting
and tools that connect disparate background data sources,
we enable background check companies to deliver more of
what HR wants, quickly and profitably.
Call us today to find out how we can help 888.690.9297
|
Is
Extensive Background Screening Creating an Unemployable Class?
Hundreds of
people rallied on Boston Common yesterday calling for reforms
of criminal background checks. Reform advocates contend that some
information on criminal backgrounds should be shielded to prevent
discrimination against former offenders. ''Think about all the
wrong and shameful things you've done over the course of 40 years,"
said Jackie Lageson of the Massachusetts Alliance to Reform CORI.
''Now imagine that every time you go for a job, you have to disclose
it to everyone no matter how ashamed and sorry you feel. Opponents
of changing CORI, such as the Massachusetts District Attorneys
Association argue that employers have the right to know applicants'
backgrounds to determine whether a potential worker poses a threat.
Source: http://www.boston.com/news/
Employers
turning their backs on drug testing
In
the drive to get working bodies into jobs, employers in some parts
of the country and in some industries are turning their backs
on drug testing. Is this a trend that will expand across the country
and across industries, as the economy heats up and the competition
for workers intensifies? And why is it happening? Some HR professionals
and testing experts claim that drug testing is dropping off in
part because it shows no demonstrable return on investment, at
least in some industries. But others say that because the tight
job market forces employers to be pickier about new hires, companies
that forego drug tests are asking for trouble. Doing away with
testing “does seem to be a trend,” said Mike Perkins,
vice president and general counsel at Amstaff Human Resources
in Pensacola, Fla. “My company is a PEO [professional employer
organization], and, when we’re trying to find clients, more
and more companies are uninterested in drug testing. On the Gulf
Coast of Florida, with the hurricane reconstruction, there’s
a huge demand for workers. Also in the hospitality industry,”
said Perkins. “We’ve perceived it for some time. As
the demand increases, drug testing is viewed as an impediment
to finding employees.
Source:
http://www.shrm.org/hrnews_published/articles/CMS_016599.asp#P-8_0
| BRUCE
BERG’S BUSINESS CORNER: |
Customer
Service is King
by Bruce Berg, President, Berg Consulting Group
What is superior customer service? The simple answer
is that customer service resides in your customer’s expectations.
Remember not all customers are the same. If one is happy with
a 10-day turnaround on a background check and you are doing it
in 5, then you have met that requirement. If another wants 2-day
turnaround and you take 5, that’s a lack of service. While
TAT is a simple measurement that you must calculate and must review
as management, customer service extends much beyond that. Every
customer is different. When I ask a background checking company
why they are better, invariably they give credit to “better
customer service.” Is your definition the same as your customer?
You might want to find out.
Click
here for more information
 |
Congratulations
to Tracy and her team for a great job on making the conference
a great success. They keep getting better and better. Also
a big thanks to Mary Poquette and Jason Morris for their leadership
this past year.
Please
click here to read About the Conference |
| 2005
EMPLOYERS’ BACKGROUND SCREENING PRACTICES SURVEY RESULTS:
|
In June of
2005, The National Institute for the Prevention of Workplace Violence,
Inc. conducted a survey on the current practices that businesses
were using to conduct background screenings. The survey explored
in depth the full realm of checking applicants backgrounds ranging
from the types of checks conducted, to the content contained in
background screening policies to key selection factors in choosing
an outsourced background screening firm.
Click
here to see the preliminary results
Printed
with permission from ADP Screening and Selection Services
Go to http://www.adphire.com/screeningindex/index.html
for more information
An
Ezine is A Simple Way To Increase Your Sales?
You have heard
about ezines and their power to boost sales, but were not quite
how they would help your business or how to get started. To help
you get your ezine going we have created an easy way for you to
get started so you can unleash the power that is lying dominant
in your business to skyrocket your sales.
Here
are Six Powerful Reasons Why You Need an Ezine!
- Proven
method to increase sales. You can skyrocket sales
of your services and products, online and offline.
- When your
clients read about you in print it establishes you as ‘the
expert in your field.’ Stay ahead of your competitors
by establish yourself and your team as the experts.
- Keep
your products and services fresh in your clients minds by
keeping in touch. When they have a need you will be the first
company to come to mind because you kept your message in front
of them.
- Explain
your services and products to increase clients awareness
of how to gain maximum benefit from your services which
will increase their familiarity, usage and even shorten your
sales cycle.
- You have
heard of Viral Marketing well let your ezine
be the catalyst for stimulating your sales and business growth
in a way that has been proven successful.
- Enhance
revenue streams by selling more of your services and
products to your clients and further penetrating client opportunities.
We can simplify
the process of creating and delivering an ezine for your company
by providing you with specific content relevant to the background
screening industry. We have already done the work, the research
and are knowledgeable about the background screening industry.
You can share the valuable information from The Background Buzz
that you have come to appreciate directly with your clients (minus
the ads and competitive information and with your own personalized
title/header) to build your relationship with them, to build their
confidence in you as a resource and to cross sell your products
and services.
Click
here for more information about this exciting way to increase
your sales opportunities:
Document
Security Alliance Issues Recommendations For Drivers License Security
The Document
Security Alliance released a summary of recommendations it has
made to then Department of Homeland Security regarding the upcoming
regulations associated with the Real ID Act. The DSA recommendations
are based on a comprehensive approach for improving government
ID document security and related security procedures that correspond
to a set of ID security principles that the alliance developed
in 2004 to provide critical guidance to state and federal issuers
of identification documents. These principles, which help protect
citizens from the threat of identify theft, criminal or terrorist
acts and enhance homeland security, are based on five key elements
of a secure ID system:
Source; http://www.stevenspublishing.com/
Court Clarifies When Public Records Obtained by Employer
Must Be Disclosed to Employee; Practical Guidelines
The California
Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act governs the disclosure
of employer-conducted background checks. It requires an employer
who collects information that's a matter of public record—such
as documentation of an arrest, indictment, conviction, civil judicial
action, tax lien, or outstanding judgment—to provide a copy
of the record to the applicant or employee within seven days of
receiving it. However, you can ask individuals to waive their
right to receive copies of such public records by checking a box
on an employment application or another written form. If you decide
to fire or not hire someone based on a public record, you have
seven days to give the person a copy of the record, even if the
person has waived the right to a copy. You must provide the record
before you take the adverse action, unless you obtained the public
record as part of a misconduct investigation—in which case
you can withhold the information until your investigation is complete.
The law doesn't specify how long you have after completing a misconduct
investigation to furnish the employee with the records. But now
a new California appeals court ruling says you must provide them
in a "reasonable" amount of time.
Source: http://www.employeradvice.com/cgi/getdoc.pl?redirect=/internet_resources.html
Experts Say Computer Background Checks Are Key To Immigration
Reform
At the heart
of any immigration bill that makes it through the heated congressional
debates is likely to be a computerized system that could help
employers determine instantly whether someone can legally work
in this country. A voluntary version of the Internet-based system
has been up and running on an experimental basis since 1996 and
now includes more than 5,000 companies nationwide. Democrats and
Republicans alike have included expanded versions in every bill
now under serious consideration in President Bush's budget request
calls for adding $115 million to the program's current budget
of $20 million to make it mandatory across the country. (The spending
also includes a system that will eventually check the immigration
status of applicants for driver's licenses and other benefits.)
Source: http://news.tmcnet.com/news/2006/04/11/1561849.htm
| NEW
BACKGROUND SCREENING AND WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION TRAINING:
|
|
HRTutor.com,
a pioneer in the delivery of affordable, online training,
is pleased to offer a Background Screening &
Violence Prevention Suite, built with the guidance
and expertise of W. Barry Nixon, SPHR of the National
Institute for the Prevention of Workplace Violence, Inc..
This suite of courses offers 5 PHR Recertification credits
and is designed for individuals responsible for background
screening processes, violence prevention, and overall risk
management and safety in the workplace.
Special
Introductory Pricing - receive a 10% discount when you go
to http://www.hrtutor.com/en/purchase.aspx?fromid=9111
and enter the code NOVIOLENCE during checkout.
We are
pleased to be able to offer the same discount to your clients
if you would like to share this training suite information
with them.
|
Self-Govern or Be Governed: How CRA's Can Secure
Personally Identifiable Information (Part II)
(This article repeated from
March edition since the link to full article was not live)
By Dave Malmstedt, CEO, Vincera, Inc.
The
House of Representatives recently passed a Data Breach and
Security bill aimed at regulating the beleaguered consumer
report industries after 2005 which is being referred to
‘as the year of the information breach.’ The
governmental appears to be determine to implement HIPAA-type
legislation for Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRA's), placing
the legal responsibility for Personally Identifiable Information
(PII) security squarely on the shoulders of information
aggregators and providers. Under the new laws, even data
obtained from public record sources will likely be required
to be secured from illicit use, theft, and tampering during
data transfer and storage. This article details what you
can do by using available tools to implement appropriate
controls to secure the integrity of the PII you must transmit
and to minimize the risk to your business.
Click
Here for More Information
The Enemy Inside
For
many years external security threats received more attention
than internal security threats, but the focus has changed.
While viruses, worms, Trojans and DoS are serious, attacks
perpetrated by people with trusted insider status—employees,
ex-employees, contractors and business partners—pose
a far greater threat to organizations in terms of potential
cost per occurrence and total potential cost than attacks
mounted from outside. The reason insider attacks "hurt"
disproportionately is that insiders can and will take advantage
of two important rights: trust and physical access. Learn
how a realistic approach to prioritizing actions to prevent
privileged user or insider security threats including the
following:
-
What Motivates the Internal Attacker?
- What are some common attacks?
- Where should you begin to address the problem?
- What motivates the internal attacker?
Source: http://www.csoonline.com/read/040106/caveat041206.html?source=csoupdate
2006 Identity Fraud Survey Report Consumer Only Version
A
complementary report to provide consumers with factual and
practical information to help protect themselves against
identity fraud, based on the most comprehensive annual study
in the U.S. For a quiz and easy-to-read tips based on this
report, visit www.idsafety.net.
Go
to http://www.javelinstrategy.com/IDSAFETYQUIZ.htm
to take Identity Theft Survey to see how vulnerable you
may be and to get a copy of the report.
Is Your Information Safe with Your Screening Provider
As
many as 106,000 individuals associated with the University
of Texas are at risk because their personal information,
including social security numbers, may have been accessed
despite the school’s commitment to remove this information
from student records. In response to this recent incident,
Integrated Screening Partners (ISP) is releasing a white
paper entitled, “Is
Your Information Safe with Your Screening Provider”
to educate HR professionals about current employee
screening security risks.
| JOB
BOARD DEDICATED TO THE BACKGROUND SCREENING INDUSTRY
LAUNCHED |
Here
you will find resumes of people with industry experience
and industry employers seeking industry experience.
BackgroundScreeningJobs.com
- your one stop source to quickly and easily find people
in the background screening industry. Go to backgroundscreeningjobs.com
today!
|
| START
GETTING ADDITIONAL SALES OPPORTUNITIES TODAY:
JOIN PREEEMPLOYMENTDIRECTORY.COM |
PLATINUM
MEMBERSHIP HAS IT’S PRIVELIGES
- You are provided a full page to display your
marketing message.
- Your web site URL appears with your listing
and is linked to your web site so potential clients can go directly
to you.
- You get an automatic pop up email to connect
visitors directly to your sales staff. Your logo will rotate
on the front page giving you a substantial advantage over non
Platinum members.
- Your logo will placed at the top of the page
along with other Platinum member’s logos in the alphabetical
and geographical (US or International) sections.
- On your specific alphabetical and geographical
(US or International) page your firm’s logo will appear
at the top ahead of all other non platinum listings.
- You can update your ad copy at no charge if
you introduce new products and services or your marketing campaign
changes.
CLICK
HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT PLATINUM MEMBERSHIP AND TO BECOME A PLATINUM
MEMBER TODAY
IT
Companies In India Show CV Fakers The Door
Much to the horror of many Indian companies they
are discovering a large number of their workforce has made its
way in on the back of forged documents for experience and other
qualifications. Some estimates say every third curriculum vitae,
CV that is coming in, could be fake or forged. Many employees
are now being sacked and at least two leading IT companies have
filed criminal complaints. But the malice may run much deeper
and corporates have reason to worry. On March 22, 2006, Wipro,
one of the biggest Indian IT firms sacked 25 employees for falsifying
information in their CVs and a day later, Wipro lodged police
complaints against not just the employees, but also the placement
agencies that were responsible for them being there in the first
place. An internal investigation by Wipro revealed a nexus with
employment agencies. They had helped the employees provide false
certificates and letters of previous employment - 10 such recruitment
agencies have been dragged to the cops and another 20 have been
blacklisted by Wipro.
Source: http://news.moneycontrol.com/india/news/investigation/fakecvsfakeresumes/fakecvworkmncs
/market/stocks/article/210442
State of the Art Biometric Center Opens
in Brussels
With security and identity management high on
the agenda of European businesses and governments looking to reduce
risk and protect themselves against fraud, the new centre will
offer executives the opportunity to see first hand the benefits
of biometrics technology. For example, the centre will showcase
such applications as fingerprintidentification tools that could
be used to limit access to buildings and areas within office or
a combination of technologies such as voice and iris recognition
to control access to data storage facilities. Unisys customers
will benefit from the ability to test the latest biometrics solutions
whilst also having the opportunity to work directly with Unisys
business and technology consultants to develop customised solutions
that can meet their specific needs and evolve over time as technology
progresses. The centre also will provide clients with the opportunity
to discuss and debate issues with leading experts who will offer
guidance and potential solutions.
Source: http://www.netherlandscorporatenews.com/archive/en/2006/04/26/f056.htm
Deliver Your Company Information
Directly to Decision Makers in Europe
Our special CD-ROM was distributed in Nice, France
at the ASIS International European Annual Conference this week.
We will also be distributing it and exhibiting at the Business
Forum’s International ‘s Employment Vetting Conference in Stockholm,
Sweden on June 16, 2006. Denmark.
We will be reprinting the CD-ROM for the June
conference which will give you a great opportunity to have your
company information put directly in the hands of decision makers
in Europe and the international community.
Click
here for more information:
SPECIAL ALERT – We have added
two more conferences where the CD-ROM will be distributed - Business
Forum’s International ‘s Employment Vetting Conferences in New
York and London.
Join the new International CD-ROM and
Get a Fantastic ‘2 for 1’ Deal
When you sign up for the International Directory
on CD-ROM you will also get a 12 month Platinum listing in PreemploymentDirectory.com
in the International Section with the full benefits of a Platinum
member.
Click
here for more information
Join
the new International CD-ROM and Get a Fantastic ‘2 for
1’ Deal
When you sign
up for the International Directory on CD-ROM you will also get
a 12 month Platinum listing in PreemploymentDirectory.com in the
International Section with the full benefits of a Platinum member.
Click
here for more information
| 2006
Background Buzz MEDIA RATES: |
Click
here for
more information about advertising in The Background Buzz and
PreemploymentDirectory.com (Sections: US Provider, International,
Vendor Showcase.)
Business Forums
International’s 2nd Annual European Pre-Employment Vetting
& Screening Conference -16 June 2006 – Stockholm,
http://www.bfi.co.uk
SHRM 20006 Annual Conference & Exposition,
June 25 – 28, 2006, Washington, DC Convention Center –
see http://www.shrm.org/conferences/annual/
Global Security
China 2006, Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Centre,
Shenzhen, China5 - 7 September 2006, http://www.globalsecchina.com/docs/GSC-brochure.pdf
|
