There are many reasons why background checks are commonly used in hiring for all sorts of positions, from hourly to staff.

The employer may want to make sure you are telling the truth. It’s estimated that up over 40% of resumes can contain false or tweaked information, so, employers want to ensure that what they are getting in an employee is what they were promised. (Once hired, an employer may tout an employee’s qualifications — if it is revealed that these qualifications are false, it reflects poorly on the employer.)

The employer may perform a background check to find out whether you actually graduated from the college you said you did or to confirm that you worked at your previous employer(s) during the time stated on your resume or your job application.

These checks can also be used to protect employers from liability issues — if employees behave poorly, employers can sometimes be held responsible for negligence, or failing to do the research required. That is, if a bus company hires someone with a poor driving record, they can be held responsible if the driver gets into a crash; the expectation is that a bus company should check the driving records of any candidate before hiring.