Joined a new job? Here’s how your documents are verified | Tech News

Joined a new job? Here’s how your documents are verified

Traditional background verification has thus far been a manual process. Results would take days. Companies like HelloVerify has digitised the entire process and uses machine learning to give you results in a few seconds.

By: JHINUK SEN
| Updated on: Aug 20 2022, 18:49 IST
It is vital to make sure that all verification checks come back clean, however, to expect HRs to pull off mass verifications humanly is impossible. Enter HelloVerify.
It is vital to make sure that all verification checks come back clean, however, to expect HRs to pull off mass verifications humanly is impossible. Enter HelloVerify. (Getty Images)
It is vital to make sure that all verification checks come back clean, however, to expect HRs to pull off mass verifications humanly is impossible. Enter HelloVerify.
It is vital to make sure that all verification checks come back clean, however, to expect HRs to pull off mass verifications humanly is impossible. Enter HelloVerify. (Getty Images)

A new job means submitting a whole list of documents, including ID proof and phone numbers of ex bosses for reference to Human Resources (HR). The HR's job is then to verify all your submitted documents and run background checks to ensure that you are who you are claiming to be and all your documents are originals.

As time-consuming as this process might be, imagine doing it for five new joinees in a team. Now, imagine doing it for a 100 or a 1,000.

It is vital to make sure that all verification checks come back clean, however, to expect H to pull off mass verifications humanly is impossible. Enter HelloVerify.

HelloVerify works in a space that's described as the background verification (BGV) industry and their job is to check on an uploaded document/ID and let you know, almost in seconds, whether you (as an employer/house owner) can go ahead approve a hiring or a rental.

Traditional background verification has thus far been a manual process. Results would take days, easily. Companies like HelloVerify has digitised the entire process and uses machine learning as well to give you results in a few seconds.

And HelloVerify is not the only company out there that is carrying out mass verifications. There are other companies like Authbridge, Digio, Goodhire and IDfy that also help big companies run verification checks on their potential employees. However, to understand exactly how the process works, we spoke to HelloVerify CEO Varun Mrichandani.

HelloVerify is currently handling background verification for companies like Cognizant, Go Airlines, Ola, Axis Bank etc.

To see how the process works, we uploaded a picture of a driver's license on the HelloVerify site. As soon as that is done, HelloVerify extracts all the information from the picture itself. Since there is no manual input, chances of human error, like a spelling mistake or a wrong number, is reduced to zero. HelloVerify has already fed in enough data for the system to accommodate 26 different kinds of driving licenses, understand that DL means Delhi and WB means West Bengal etc.

There is machine learning in the mix as well, so, if a faded driver's license pops up where the DL looks like OL, the system will know that it means Delhi.

Once all the information has been extracted, the data is sent to data partners who check on it. The software on HelloVerify comes up with a colour coded report - green for clear, orange for an alert and red for negative. The final report comes to you in 30 seconds after which you can decide how you want to proceed - do you want to run another ID and/or get in touch with the concerned person to check or you want to entirely drop the candidate.

The check first tells you that the document you have uploaded is a driver's license (if it is a PAN card, the system will state that and show you the PAN number), it checks the validity of the license and the expiry date, the software also runs a check on the photo on the driver's license with the photo you would have submitted to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) when you applied for a license.

If there is a discrepancy between photos, the HelloVerify software flags it. There are many instances where licenses get forged just by using photos, there are also instances where the license might be valid, but expired.

The HelloVerify software also works to bring out all the information there is on the person - address, age, sex etc. Information that institutions like DMV would have already. Validity and expiration of a license is vital for companies like Ola and Uber, understandably. If there is a discrepancy in addresses provided, like your Aadhaar Card and Passport might have different addresses on them and you might have submitted those as proof for license.

HelloVerify lets the company running the verification know of all the discrepancies asking them then to follow up as needed.

All the information HelloVerify checks your details against are in collaboration with data partners. Essentially, all this information is available online, HelloVerify just streamlines the process making it easier to run these verification checks. The more documents that get scanned, the more information the software has, the process is continuous.

What a software like HelloVerify does is to help companies like Ola or Uber run checks on drivers who have nothing else but a driver's license to submit, in some cases. Depending on how deep you want the verification to run, the HelloVerify portal can also pull out cases registered against you or cases you have registered.

Remember, all this information is available in the public domain already. And the more cross checks you run, the easier it is to narrow in on the person of interest, especially in a country where names are common.

HelloVerify can run these checks for pretty much all documents. While they do not sell a fixed package of what sort of verifications need to run to make sure a candidate is good to be hired, they do suggest it when services are being booked. A landlord can also use HelloVerify to check on a tenant before renting them the house or run a check on a university degree and even for visa applications for embassies, a service like this is not just restricted to corporates.

HelloVerify works with the likes of MagicBricks for landlord-tenant checks, however, in this case, a lot depends upon information that's being provided by the tenant - from ID proof to previous address. Mirchandani tells us that HelloVerify has plans to enter into dating apps and matrimonial sites as well, but in good time.

For now, in all the extensive data collection and collation, the main aim is to ensure that no fraud IDs and fake degrees slip in. In a day and age where everything can be cloned, a thorough background check, amidst legitimate fears of 'how much of my personal information is out there', is a necessary evil.

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First Published Date: 14 Jan, 18:09 IST
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