Know the basics If you aren't sure where to start with a background check on a potential hire, take the time to learn what's commonly included and what's off limits.

I recommend:  Business Owner's Toolkit provides the basics on how to do a background check. The consumer-oriented Privacy Rights Clearinghouse offers an informative guide for small business owners on employment background checks. Although this guide is geared to California business owners, much of it applies to businesses in other states.

DIY or hire a pro Determine if you're going to perform background checks in-house or if a screening service makes more sense for you. If you're only going to check on one or two very basic items – a person's credit history, for example – you may want to go it alone. For more comprehensive background checks, consider hiring a professional screener.

I recommend:  For simple credit reports, the three biggest agencies are TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. Professional services, such as ChoicePoint, offer more broad background checks. To search for a screener, try the online database of more than 400 companies maintained by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners.

Verify basic employment eligibility As an employer, you're required to confirm your employees' eligibility to work in the United States.

I recommend:  You can find a list of your responsibilities and the tools to meet them from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Keep it legal Employers are legally required to obtain signed consent when conducting a background check through a third-party agency. However, if you're simply calling the references you asked an interviewee to provide, and you're independently searching for publicly available information, no notification is necessary.

I recommend:  The Fair Credit Reporting Act governs the acquisition of consumer information; the full text of the FCRA is available here. Sections 604, 606, 613 and 615 address reports acquired for employment purposes. The Federal Trade Commission summarizes key points for employers.

Obtain criminal records You can access criminal records from individual courts in jurisdictions where the potential hire has lived. Some courts post them online; others will ask that you pick them up at the courthouse.

I recommend:  You should be able to find most municipal courts through this list of state judiciary sites, available from state and local government. If you're screening someone for certain positions (working with the elderly or handicapped, for example), you may qualify for access to the FBI's database maintained by the National Crime Information Center.

Do a blog sweep In their spare time, potential hires of any age might maintain a blog or a page on a social site like Facebook.com or MySpace.com. These sites can say a lot about how they conduct themselves personally and professionally.

I recommend:  Search blogs using Blog Search on Google. For MySpace, Friendster, Facebook, or Xanga, you'll need to set up a free account to search names of other users.