Sterling, A First Advantage CompanySterling was acquired by First Advantage on October 31st, 2024. First Advantage (NASDAQ: FA) is a leading provider of employment background screening, identity, and verification solutions. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, First Advantage performs screens in over 200 countries and territories. Visit the Company’s website at https://fadv.com/.
Sterling, A First Advantage Company (sterlingcheck.com) has 3,953 customer reviews on Five Star Index, with an average rating of 4.1 out of 5.
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T.L
Area of improvment: employment and diploma check for foreigners. The hiring company had to ask for the proofs, I thought it was sterling mission to do so ..
Response from Sterling, A First Advantage CompanyDec 12, 2022
Thank you for providing us with feedback. We have forwarded it along internally.
Graham J.
After some initial issues with verification of my passport and online discussions with 3 people from Sterling, I was unable to complete the passport verification digitally as their system would not accept the photo. Sterling have advised they will contact my recruiter direct to look at manual verification. I’m now hoping that there are no issues with the information provided for the DBS check (there should not be). There needs to be a robust exception process in place for ID failure e.g. the ability to upload an image of the passport document. A very frustrating and stressful experience which I hope will be resolved shortly. Sterling need to provide better communication to candidates instead of standard responses.
Response from Sterling, A First Advantage CompanyNov 21, 2022
Update: We have seen the update to your review. A leader will be contacting you to solve for this as soon as possible. Thank you. Hello. We apologize you are having this experience with Sterling but appreciate the feedback. To solve for this, we are looking into this internally. In the meantime, can you please call 02087410000 or email [email protected]? Thank you.
Doris K.
I'm not sure if the process is finalized successfully. Send my ID per mail and didn't got a feedback about the finalization the background check.
Response from Sterling, A First Advantage CompanyOct 28, 2022
Hello! Please call 02087410000 or email [email protected].
ANTONISH M.
Everything is good with Sterling just need more communication with update or current information that is done on what you all ask for employees to do before working with a company as background and drug screen and I9 forms.
Response from Sterling, A First Advantage CompanyOct 17, 2022
Thank you for your feedback. We will forward it along internally to our team.
JM
This was the most nerve racking background experience I have ever had in my 35 yrs of working. It took way too long and why is one of the questions, "have you ever been convicted of a misdemeanor?" Usually you only ask if it was in the last 5 or 10 yrs., not EVER. I believe that was one of the things that slowed the process down, was chasing down a 15 yr. old DUI. Also why do I need to find 25 yrs. of check-stubs/W2's, It can't be that hard to get employment verification from National Companies.
Response from Sterling, A First Advantage CompanySep 29, 2022
Hello. We appreciate you sharing this feedback and request that if you are still facing any issues, to email [email protected] or call 1-888-889-5248. We will also pass this along to the proper team.
Rob S.
Had a few issues with Sterling. Firstly, the Background Check portal isn't the best. If you miss a required field there's an error message in virtually the same font and colour as the rest of the onscreen text (the error message is a shade of deep red which is barely distinguishable from the regular black text). Secondly, the Right To Work portal didn't work (ironically). I was supposed to take a selfie of me holding up my passport but the software couldn't access the camera on my phone or laptop; there was no prompt to grant access (I made sure all pop-up and add blockers on my laptop were switched off). So I had to call support for help. Whilst they were very nice, I was disconnected twice, and lost audio their end during a vital part of the conversation. Furthermore there's a serious lag in the call pick-up times reminiscent of 15-20 years ago. They kept asking me for a reference number which I wasn't provided on any correspondence. The overall customer experience is not good, especially considering web, CRM and CTI technology in 2022. That said, the lady I spoke to in support was very courteous and helpful, and called me back when the audio failed and we were forced to hang up.
Response from Sterling, A First Advantage CompanySep 22, 2022
Thank you for taking the time to leave this review. We are forwarding along this information to our team to review. If you are still facing issues, please email [email protected] or call 1-888-889-5248.
Hurley
If you are looking for a background check company or a new one, LOOK ELSEWHERE. Customer service was great when I started at my job. I understand (being in HR myself) that hiring and staffing is miserable right now. But my experience with this company went completely down hill. -I have waited for a background check for 2 months+ -Our layout of the website changed as well as the background check process (W/O NOTICE) -Seems that the "Client Experience Portal" was not thought through or tested enough from the client and employee POV. Definitely not a "Client Experience" -Sterling has many bug and technical issues on their site that need/needed attention during my time as a client With staffing being as difficult as it is, we need a quick turnaround for background checks. When I first started at my company, I would get checks back in less than 1 HOUR! Now I am on anywhere between 1 day, 2 weeks, a month or more. I am not one to normally write reviews as I know from a business standpoint, it can be hurtful, but Sterling has hurt our business in the process of their "transition" (and even before) as we have lost candidates due to the delay and lack of communication from them. 3 stars because my 7 months out of the 1 year with this company was relatively positive.
Rafael R.
Notifications and status update are helpful. However, a side note of what check revealed (i.e. No record, 1-2 records found/revealed, etc.) would be convenient for the job candidate. Thank you.
