Welcome to Checkr!
This guide will walk you through the Checkr | Lever integration process, and outline how to use the Checkr dashboard for the background check process.
The Checkr Help Center is a great resource for any questions that may not be covered in this user guide. If you have any questions not covered in this guide that are specific to Lever, please submit a request via Lever’s request form for additional assistance.
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- Prerequisites
- Sending candidates from Lever to Checkr
- Background check operations
- Applying a specific background check package to a candidate
- International Packages
- Domestic Package with International Verifications
- Candidate Experience
- Review A Background Check
- Using the Checkr Dashboard
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This guide describes how to set up Checkr to use within Lever, such that Lever users can initiate, view, and process Checkr background checks from within the Lever interface.
Prerequisites
The following items are required to Enabling and using the Checkr integration. (Please ensure you have the following before proceeding.
- Super Admin access in Lever
- Admin access in Checkr
Create a Checkr account
If your company does not yet have a Checkr account, one must be created before integration with Lever.
To create an account for use with Lever:
- Click to Sign Up
- Enter your name and company contact information, and click Continue
- Enter payment information. Invoices for background checks will come directly from Checkr, and not from Lever. (Payment information may be edited within the Checkr dashboard after the account has been created)
- Provide the requested credentialing information. This information is required by law to ensure that only legitimate companies, with legitimate business needs, can run background checks. Note: Select Purpose: Pre-employment to use Checkr to run background checks for hiring/employment purposes.
- Click Continue to submit your information to Checkr for review.
STEP 1: Contact Checkr Support
- To enable the integration, contact Checkr Support once you have a Checkr account to verify that your account is properly configured to integrate with Lever. Click the following link to submit a ticket to Checkr Support:https://help.checkr.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
- Once the credentialing process is complete, Checkr will notify you, and you may begin ordering background checks through the Lever platform.
- Credentialing typically takes 1-2 business days. If Checkr needs additional information, they will reach out to you directly by email.
STEP 2: Generate an API key in Checkr
- Ensure that you are on your 'Live' Checkr instance (not 'Test') when you complete this step
- Navigate to Account Settings> Developer Settings
- Click the Create Key + button and select Secret
STEP 3: Activate the integration in Lever
- Go to Lever Settings > Integrations and API
- Select the Integrations and API tab
- Toggle Checkr ON
- Send a Request to Lever to Enable the Checkr integration
- A Lever Support representative will be notified of your request and will reach out to you via email to ask you to provide the following information:
- The API key from your 'Live' Checkr instance (retrieved in Step 2)
- The name of the default Checkr package that you wish to be applied to candidates that are sent from Lever to Checkr
- The name of the pipeline stage in Lever that you wish to trigger a background check
- You can also specify a stage that you wish for opportunities to be advanced to upon successful completion of a background check.
- Authorization to configure the appropriate API key and webhook settings in your LeverTRM environment; note that modifying or disabling the API key and webhook settings after a Lever Support agent has configured them could cause the integration to stop working
- The Lever Support agent will send you a confirmation message when the Checkr integration has been successfully enabled in your LeverTRM environment with the information you provided; the Checkr toggle on the Integrations and API page of your Settings will also turn green to indicate that the integration is active
Example of a tag added to an opportunity corresponding to the slug for a Checkr background check package
Note: Include default package override tags on postings to have them automatically added to opportunities for candidates that apply to those postings. Using the example shown above, including the tag 'bc_checkrdirect_account_executive' on the Account Executive posting would add that tag to the opportunities of any candidates that apply to that posting, meaning they will automatically bypass the default Checkr package if their opportunity advances to the trigger stage.
Sending candidates from Lever to Checkr
Once the integration is enabled, when an opportunity reaches the trigger stage in your pipeline a Checkr background check will be initiated for the candidate. Note that upon reaching the trigger stage, Lever only sends the name and email of the candidate to Checkr. Once a candidate has been sent to Checkr, their pending invite link will appear on the homepage of your Checkr dashboard.
Background check operations
When their opportunity reaches the trigger stage, the candidate will receive an email via Checkr inviting them to initiate the background check. Once the invitation has been sent, an 'Invitation Pending' tag will be added to the opportunity on the candidate's profile in Lever. Once the candidate has completed the background check, the tag will change to read 'Invitation Completed.'
If no records were found in the background check, the tag will change to read 'Report Clear' and a gated link to the results will be added to theLinkssection on the candidate's profile in Lever. The link will only be accessible to authenticated Checkr users. If records were found (e.g. criminal records, traffic infractions, sex offender status), the tag will change to read 'Report Consider.'
Applying a specific background check package to a candidate
Default Checkr Package (Automated Ordering - Option 1) The background check package run for candidates sent from Lever to Checkr will be the default package that you specified during integration setup. However, there may be cases where you would like to run a specially designed background check for candidates applying to certain roles. For example, say you wanted to run a unique background check package only for applicants to your 'Account Executive' posting.
Overriding a Default Package (Manual Ordering - Option 2) If you would like to run a background check package for a candidate other than the default package, you can do so by adding a unique tag to the opportunity on their profile in Lever before advancing the opportunity to the trigger stage. The format of the tag must include the prefix "bc_" and the name of the slug associated with the desired Checkr package written in all lowercase with underscores instead of spaces. When the opportunity is advanced to the trigger stage in Lever, the default package will be bypassed and the background check package associated with the slug would be run for that candidate instead. Contact your Checkr Customer Success Manager to request a list of slugs associated with your Checkr packages.
Note: The Lever integration is incompatible with Checkr's Account Hierarchy feature. If you have this feature enabled in your Checkr account, Lever will be unable to initiate background checks when candidates reach the trigger stage.
International Packages
Checkr defines international background checks as background checks run on candidate’s living and working outside of the United States.
Checkr currently offers the following international screenings for candidate’s with work locations outside the United States:
- International Criminal
- Adverse Media Search - may be enabled to automatically run if criminal not available
- Identity Document Verification
- Global Watchlist
- Education Verification
- Employment Verification
Domestic Package with International Verifications
If your candidate works in the United States but has out-of-country history, for example attended school internationally, request a package that includes an education verification with out-of-country history enabled. Checkr currently offers an out-of-country history setting that can be added to any domestic criminal search or verification.
The option can be applied for candidates who will perform their work inside the US, but who have an address history outside the US. Screening types that can be run on domestic screenings with out-of-country history include:
- Education Verification
- Employment Verification
Candidate Experience
Once the candidate has been sent to Checkr, they will receive an email invitation from Checkr to begin the background check process. On the Lever side, a tag will be added to the candidate titled “Invitation Pending.” Once the candidate submits their background check, the tag will change to “Invitation Completed.” If there are no records, a tag will be added with “Report Clear.” If there is some adverse action to evaluate, the tag will show “Report Consider.” There will be a gated link to the completed results that are hosted on the Checkr dashboard from Lever. Only authorized Checkr users will be able to access the full report.
Review A Background Check
Once the background check has been ordered, the status of the report will be listed in the Lever candidate dashboard. Once Complete, click on it to open the report in the Checkr Dashboard, and review details.
For more information on reports and report statuses, see How do I interpret a background report in the Checkr Help Center which covers:
Most background checks will be completed within 24 hours, but the time to complete can range from a few minutes to a few weeks, depending on the type of check ordered, the geographic location of the candidate, and/or county courthouse operations.
Using the Checkr Dashboard
While the Lever integration allows you to order background checks and view report status; however, some features can only be accessed from the Checkr dashboard:
- Background check invitation links
- Full background check report results
- Adverse Action initiation and processing tools
- Create customizable packages and add-ons
- Checkr settings
For a quick overview of the Checkr Dashboard, please see Getting started with Checkr.