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Candidate forms and background verification

The candidate fills in their own details once on a link, and HR checks them against the documents. Background checks run with signed consent, by your own staff or an agency. Joining can wait until the checks are clear.
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The problem it solves

  • HR retypes a candidate's address, education and bank details from a paper form, with mistakes.
  • A candidate joins, and the fake degree certificate is found six months later.
  • Verification agencies send results in their own Excel, and nobody knows which checks are still open.
  • Someone starts work before the checks are back because the joining date came first.

How it works

  1. At a stage you choose, or with Ask the Candidate to Fill the Form, the candidate gets a link. They fill the form in short steps, saved as they go, then sign with their typed name.
  2. HR checks each section against the documents: Verified or Does Not Match. Differences from the application are listed.
  3. A verification case opens by itself when the package says so (before the offer, after acceptance or after joining), or by hand. The candidate gets the consent link; nothing is checked before they agree.
  4. Each check goes to the person named on it, or into a batch for an agency. Previous employers and referees answer a short questionnaire on a link.
  5. Each check ends Clear, Minor Discrepancy, Major Discrepancy or Unable to Verify. All clear closes the case; anything else goes to HR to decide.
  6. If the package holds a step until clear, that step waits: Create Employee, the start of onboarding or confirmation. A named role can let it through with a reason.

Everything it does

The candidate's form

  • Two forms ready: Standard (before the offer) and Short (before the interview); asked before the interview, the offer or joining
  • Sections: about you, contact and address, identity numbers, family and dependents, emergency contacts, nominees, education, employment history, references, bank account, languages, skills, declarations, more questions
  • Each field required, optional or hidden; your own questions as text, number, yes or no, choice, date or file
  • Rules: explain gaps longer than some months, references needed, a drawn signature
  • Reminders when not opened or not finished, three times at most
  • Sensitive sections only for users with Candidates' Sensitive Details; every look is logged; numbers show their last four characters in lists
  • Statuses: Sent, Opened, In Progress, Submitted, Reopened, Link Withdrawn; the answers fill the employee record

Checks and packages

  • Ready-made checks: identity, current and permanent address, education, previous employment, reference, criminal or court record, credit, drug test, professional licence, social media, medical fitness, other
  • Per check: one per person, qualification, employer or referee. Method: document against the original, phone, email, questionnaire, visit or agency. Also days expected, usual cost and check again every few months
  • Packages by staff category, grade or designation; the most specific wins
  • Waits Until Clear: nothing, creating the employee, joining or confirmation after probation

Doing the checks

  • Original Seen, calls logged, visit notes with photos, questions sent to a referee or employer
  • Case statuses: To Start, Waiting for Consent, In Progress, To Decide, Waiting for the Candidate's Explanation, Closed, Consent Withdrawn, Cancelled
  • Consent reminders every three days; withdrawn consent stops the open checks
  • HR decides: accepted with a note, candidate asked to explain, offer withdrawn, or action after joining
  • Managers and interviewers see one word only: No Verification, Verification Pending or Verification Clear

Agencies and reports

  • Agency batches: the list in Excel and the documents in a zip with the signed consent letters, and a link for the agency
  • The agency returns its filled list or results one by one; you can load their file yourself
  • Reports: Dashboard, Checks Overdue, Discrepancies, Cost per Hire, Agency Performance, Joined, Verification Pending
  • Verification Report and Authorisation Letter print

Who uses it

CandidateFills the form, gives consent and explains a finding, all by link.
RecruiterSends forms and follows the status of a case.
HR officerChecks forms, opens and decides cases, sends batches to agencies.
CheckerDoes the checks named on them from My Checks.
Verification agencyDownloads its batch and returns results on its link.

Where you use it

  • Web: Recruitment > Applications > Candidates > Candidate Forms; Recruitment > Configuration > Candidates and Drives > Candidate Forms; Employees > Verification (Cases, All Checks, My Checks, Agency Batches, Reports)
  • Candidate, referee and agency pages: by link, without a login
  • The SmartMy HRMS app: Menu > Candidate forms and Verification. Log a call, record the result, decide, go ahead anyway (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
  • Not built: a direct connection to a verification agency's system; agencies work through their list and link

What you control

Settings

  • Per form: Link Valid For, Remind If Not Opened After and Remind If Not Finished After (days), Send When Reaching a stage
  • Per package: when, open the case by itself, Waits Until Clear, May Go Ahead Anyway (the HR administrator when none is named)
  • Keeping forms and cases of people not hired or who left: 0 days, never deleted, unless you set a period

Approvals

  • No approval chain: HR decides cases, and Go Ahead Anyway is logged with the name, time and reason; nobody lets themselves through

Notifications

  • Candidate Form: Please Fill, Reminder and Reopened: to the candidate, by email, WhatsApp or SMS
  • Candidate Form: Filled and Asks to Reopen: to the recruiter, on screen and by email
  • Verification: Consent, Consent Reminder and Please Explain: to the candidate; Questions to a Referee or Employer: to them
  • Verification: Check Due, Overdue, To Do Again, Answers Received: to the checker
  • Verification: Result, Decision, Consent Given or Withdrawn, Stopped at the Gate, Agency Results In: to HR and the recruiter

Questions

Can a candidate join before the checks are clear?

Only if you allow it. Set Waits Until Clear on the package, and the step you choose waits until the case is clear. A named role can still go ahead anyway, with a reason that is logged.

Do we have to use an agency?

No. Your own staff can do each check by phone, email, a questionnaire link or a visit. Or send checks to an agency in a batch.

Is the candidate's consent recorded?

Yes. The candidate reads the list of checks, ticks agreement and types their full name. The Authorisation Letter prints it, and withdrawing consent stops the open checks.

Can SmartMy connect to our verification vendor's portal?

Not directly. The agency gets a link to download its batch and return results, or you load their results file.

Does the candidate's form fill the employee record?

Yes. When the employee is created, the answers fill the employee and person records, and documents already given are not asked again in onboarding.

Related features

RECRUITMENTOffers, negotiation, pay bands and joining bonusMake the offer from a salary template with the full breakup, check it against the pay band and peers, and get it approved. The candidate accepts on a link. Every version and counter-offer is kept, a joining bonus is paid and clawed back through payroll, and the employee is made from the accepted offer.JOINING AND PROBATIONPre-joining, onboarding tasks and the joining kitFrom the accepted offer to the end of the first week. Each joiner gets a joining page without a login, a daily risk score and the joining kit to sign online. Medical checks run where a role needs one, every department gets its onboarding tasks, and each joiner gets a buddy and a first-week plan.EMPLOYEES AND ORGANISATIONEmployee records with statutory detailsOne record holds each employee's position, PAN, Aadhaar, UAN, PF and ESIC numbers, family and nominees, education, past jobs, background checks and bank accounts. The stage (probation, confirmed, notice, separated) moves by itself, and every change is kept with its date.JOINING AND PROBATIONProbation, confirmation and new joiner check-insA probation review opens for the manager 30 days before probation ends, with attendance during probation already filled in. HR approves confirmation, an extension up to your policy limit or no confirmation, and the letter goes out. Short check-ins at 30, 60 and 90 days show who is unhappy before they leave.LETTERS, CARDS, DOCUMENTS, ASSETSEmployee documents, letters and ID cardsKeep each employee's documents with scans and a reminder 30 days before one expires, and track the original certificates you hold and lend back. Issue letters from templates with a QR code anyone can check, and print ID cards with a re-issue charge taken through payroll.

See your own month run in it.

Tell us how many people you have, how you take attendance and how your salary is structured. We will show you SmartMy HRMS set up that way.
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