First Advantage Background Check
If you are a final candidate for a position or university employee, you may be required to have a background check, per policy 4.15. The university’s exclusive third party vendor is First Advantage, and you can complete it online through a link that will be sent to you directly from First Advantage.
The background check minimum standards include, but are not limited to the following:
- Social Security Number (SSN) Validation with Address History
- National Criminal Database
- County Felony and Misdemeanor (for past seven year residence history)
- National Sexual Offender Registry Search
Additional requirements such as a motor vehicle check, credit report history, education verification, employment history, reference check, and/or professional licensing/credential verification may be requested if relevant to position qualifications.
What to Expect
The First Advantage application request will not come from a university domain. Our third party vendor, First Advantage, will send the invitation from DONOTREPLY@fadv.com. This email may contain characteristics that may be similar to phishing attempts, however, please be assured that this is a legitimate request generated by the university.
Application invitations are automatically generated from the vendor’s platform on behalf of Ohio State.
An example of a new hire background check email sent by First Advantage can be seen to the right.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ohio State Cybersecurity requires completion of a Third Party Risk Assessment for service providers who may transmit and/or store institutional data. First Advantage has a complete and satisfactory assessment. You can also view the vendors’ privacy policy for more information regarding security and data protections.
Ohio State is a public institution and, therefore, most of our records are subject to public records requests. However, personal identifying information such as social security number, home address and date of birth will be redacted when responding to these requests. In addition, specifically with the background check reports, a specific report would need to be explicitly requested. If such background check results were requested through a public records request, we would inform the consumer before releasing his/her information.
Please reach out to HR-BackgroundChecks@osu.edu for assistance.
The country of residence cannot be altered once it has been selected. Please reach out to HR-BackgroundChecks@osu.edu and request a new application.
The background check application requires self-disclosure of felony and misdemeanor convictions, regardless of age. Misdemeanors include DUI/OVI. Traffic infractions such as speeding, stop sign and turn signals do not need to be reported. Providing any false or omitting any information on the application may be sufficient grounds for rejection or termination of employment.
You may request a free copy of your report during the application process. If it was not requested during the time of completion, please send a written request to HR-BackgroundChecks@osu.edu.
Completion of a SSN Validation with address history is a required search in order to complete a background check. The vendor utilizes credit header info to pull name and address information reported from one of the major credit bureaus. The search cannot be conducted if there is a freeze on the account. The vendor is unable to utilize a temporary pin number to access the information.