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Job Interviews & Careers vocabulary · Job Offers & Contracts

Background check

Meaning in job interviews & careers, with examples

nounCommon term

In job interviews & careers, background check means: A check an employer carries out before or after an offer to confirm a candidate's identity, education, work history and sometimes criminal record.

In Turkish: geçmiş araştırması, geçmiş taraması

How it is used

Offers are often 'subject to a background check' or 'subject to references'. What employers may check differs from country to country. In England and Wales, a criminal record check for certain jobs is called a DBS check.

Example sentences

  1. The offer is conditional on a successful background check.

  2. The background check took two weeks because they had to contact my old university.

Common collocations

  • run a background check
  • pass a background check
  • subject to a background check
  • criminal background check
  • referenceA statement from a former employer or teacher about your work and character, or the person who gives this statement.
  • offer letterA formal letter or email from an employer that confirms a job offer and states the job title, salary, start date and main terms.
  • HRShort for human resources: the department that deals with hiring, contracts, pay, training and employee matters in a company.
  • job offerA formal proposal from an employer to give you a job, usually stating the salary, start date and main conditions.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Job Offers & Contracts

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