It seems that Wikipedia, the company’s online encyclopedia division, had a new chief operating officer with a record of theft, drunken driving and fleeing the scene of a car crash. Such information would have turned up in a background check, something the Wikimedia folks evidently failed to get, but something local business managers are increasingly turning to as the pool of job applicants continues to swell.

Ask Brandon Phillips, CEO of Global HR Research, a Bonita Springs-based firm that conducts background checks for businesses. His local and national client base, including small businesses and companies with hundreds of employees, has steadily expanded in the company’s two years of operation.

"Bigger firms might have our personnel check courthouse records and interview former employers. They may want character evaluations, which we provide through a partnership," Phillips says. "Smaller companies can get reports with more limited online information from high-quality, international databases."

Before hiring anyone, the least an employer should do is check on the validity of the candidate’s Social Security number and address history, he advises. Criminal record, sex-offender status and credit status are also important.

"A person with a history of money problems is more likely to cause a company trouble than an applicant with a good record," he says.

Another thing to watch out for, he says, are job applicants who create fraudulent résumés by claiming education they don’t have and by stating they worked longer at jobs than they did.

Phillips cites a case about a chief financial officer who had already been hired. "The company came to us, and we discovered his entire résumé was fraudulent. The person didn’t even have a CPA license."

Bonita Bay Group currently does background checks on approximately 400 applicants a year through Global HR Research, according to human resources assistant Marie Ivelise. A red flag doesn’t necessarily mean the heave-ho for an applicant, she says. "We like the fact that [a background check] can dig deeper for us. For example, sometimes a felony is on the record, but further investigation shows the charges were dropped."

The TraitSet online report, created by Naples computer veteran Dan Longton to reveal key personality traits about applicants, can be in the hands of the hiring person right after the applicant completes it. Longton says he developed his program, geared mainly for restaurants, seven years ago in Ann Arbor, Mich.

"The National Restaurant Association says employee turnover can be as much as 200 percent a year," Longton says. "That’s an expensive and aggravating situation for a restaurant owner trying to compete in a crowded marketplace."

By answering a series of questions, applicants who fill out TraitSet online surveys reveal whether they would show up on time and be organized, and how likely they are to steal, as well as other attributes and tendencies.

An added bonus, Longton says: The program eliminates the bias that can arise when employees are interviewed first in person. "There are plenty of good workers who might not make the best impression visually, but who have what it takes to make good employees."

Once a computer scores the survey—within two minutes of completion—a report is e-mailed to the restaurant manager with the profile of the candidate, as well as strategic questions to ask at the follow-up interview.

TraitSet’s author is confident that the questions, which were developed by behavioral science experts, are on the money. "We advise clients not to hire anyone who scores in the ‘red zone,’" he says. "Our feedback is that people who ignore that advice usually live to regret it."

He also says not all flaws are fatal. "We’ve discovered that people who score poorly on organizational skills can be good employees if they get double the training other applicants receive. In Florida, where good help is hard to find, that’s important to know."

Sysco Foods has endorsed TraitSet. "It’s in their best interest that the businesses they supply stay in business," Longton says.

He has another fan in Matt Berman, owner of Noodles Italian Café & Sushi Bar in Naples. Berman sees the program as an edge in maintaining his 40 front-of-the-house staff.

"This program shines a light on the applicants who tell you what they think you want to hear," he states. "I’ve got a folder crammed full of applications. It’s good to have a quick method of weeding out the ones we don’t have to take time to interview, and to know the best questions to ask the ones we do."