What do people who’ve been arrested have in common with people who are seeking new employment?
Greg Dawson of The Orlando Sentinel reports more and more employers are fingerprinting job applicants. The number of fingerprints sent to the FBI for thorough screening has quadrupled in less than a decade.
So it is becoming common, although not universal, that employers go beyond simple background checks. Yet it’s still random who does and who does not fingerprint. A lot of medical centers now fingerprint. So do places where adult volunteers have to work with kids.
The kind of fingerprinting that’s done today is not the ink and paper method from the days of old. It’s all electronic these days, done with a silicon-based sensing pad. Extra security measures like this really started escalating after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
So know that this is going on if you’re out there applying for jobs. Don’t be shocked if you’re asked for your fingerprints!
