New Tool Streamlines Online Applicant Background Checks

June 30, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - CareerBuilder has launched a new tool it says makes the process of researching job candidates online easier and quicker.

According to a press release, through CareerBuilder’s Applicant Explorer, employers can view public, yet hard-to-find, background information on a candidate in an online dashboard. Applicant Explorer combines information from its database of 31 million resumes with online content using Bing, Microsoft’s new decision engine.

The tool works by combing the Web for relevant mentions of a job seeker based on data pulled from the candidate’s posted resume on CareerBuilder.com. The resulting snapshot is generated from a variety of sources:

  • social networking sites,
  • professional and personal blogs,
  • personal and corporate Web sites,
  • press releases,
  • discussion and forum postings, and
  • articles and news stories published online.

According to CareerBuilder, nearly four-in-ten employers (38%) report that they already research job candidates online. “With so many employers already utilizing the Internet to research candidates, Applicant Explorer was created to help employers do that necessary research in the most efficient and simple way possible,” said Greg Brass, director of profile search at CareerBuilder, in the press release.

Applicant Explorer is free to employers who use CareerBuilder’s Resume Database service.

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