Drug testing is often seen as the most useful type of pre-employment screening procedure. Nearly all of the respondents say they currently employ reference checking to evaluate potential employees. Many feel pre-employment screening procedures allow them to research information about prospective employees and helps them select well qualified personnel. Since respondents were allowed to answer with open-ended responses, respondents use the term background checks, experts may conclude that respondents are referring to criminal record checks. On unaided basis many respondents say their companies use reference checks and background checks to evaluate prospective employees.
Respondents reveal that many companies utilize drug screens.
A smaller percentage of respondents say their companies use physical examinations and DMV checks. Drug testing is considered the most useful type of pre-employment screening. Respondents were then asked to rate the effectiveness of each employment screen currently being used at their company. When rating the effectivenesss, respondents were asked to guage the effectiveness of the information gained and its impact on selecting the right employee for the job. They were asked to use a scale of one to five, where five means the information gained is extremely useful and one means the information gained is not at all useful.