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When the Earthquake Shakes Up the California World of Background Checks

I would think it no secret that everyone in the world knows Southern California was treated to a fairly strong earthquake, yesterday. When it is 5.8 on the Richter Scale, for Southern California, it means the buildings sway, plates fall out of the cupboard, things tip over, but overall there isn’t a lot of extensive damage. Fortunately, our building are constructed so that they can easily withstand the shock, as opposed to recent events in other countries where building construction is such that it elicits somber remarks of tragedy from semi-somber news media reporters who are trying to show how sensitive they are to to the rubble and devastation.

Since there are a fair amount of background checking companies here in Southern California, there was a pause in the process as employees at the different companies waited out the rocking and rolling. The entire event lasted maybe fifteen seconds, but you can ask anyone who has experienced a severe earthquake just how long that fifteen seconds can be. This is was of the variety that started off slow and then got rowdier as it gained momentum. Earthquakes of another variety start with a loud crack and shock and then settle down. Their duration is shorter than the Hollywood type earthquakes with the slow build to the climax.

I’m sure employers from around the country, interested in conducting pre-employment screening were on hold for a moment. In some cases the phone lines went down for awhile, and the Internet was disrupted. And then of course, there is the shock to the employees at the background checking companies and then the ensuing discussion with other employees, regarding its impact, followed by the obligatory reminisces of earthquakes past.

Then of course people call to see if you are okay. By far, the majority call out of genuine concern, but you can sense in a few they are gloating, as if to say, see you guys in California don’t have it so easy, after all.

But now, when an hour or so has passed, and the phone lines come back up, the Internet is once again accessible, the pre-employment background searches begin again. Orders for employment searches come in from across the country and from around the world. We process them. The earthquake is in the past.

Hey, every day can’t be a day at the beach. Even in Southern California. Thanks all who called Corra Group.

Check them out before you hire.

By Gordon Basichis

Gordon Basichis is the Co-Founder of Corra Group, specializing in pre-employment background checks and corporate research. He has been a marketing and media executive and has worked in the entertainment industry, the financial, health care and technology sectors. He is the author of the best selling Beautiful Bad Girl, The Vicki Morgan Story, a non-fiction novel that helped define exotic sexuality in the late twentieth century. He is the author of the Constant Travellers and has recently completed a new book, The Guys Who Spied for China, dealing with Chinese Espionage in the United States. He has been a journalist for several newspapers and is a screenwriter and producer.