Behind the Screens: Conversations with Background Screening Pros hosted by Les Rosen

Les Rosen
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"Behind the Screens" is a podcast that brings you up close and personal with the people in the background screening industry. Hosted by Les Rosen, each episode features in-depth, human-interest interviews with a diverse range of guests—including business executives, employees with extensive screening experience, vendors who serve the industry, and legal and compliance experts. These conversations dive into the personal stories and insights of those who know the industry best, offering a fresh perspective on the people driving background screening. Whether you are part of the industry or just curious, "Behind the Screens" delivers authentic, non-marketing-focused stories from the world of background checks.Your host:  Les Rosen is an Attorney, former owner of a screening firm, the chair of the steering committee that founded PBSA and the first co-chair of PBSA, as well as author of the "Safe Hiring Manual," and frequent presenter nationwide. According to attorney and industry veteran  Vince Pascarella, "For those of you who don't know, Les Rosen was the chief architect of the PBSA predecessor NAPBS, and its first Chair and unofficial Executive Director. Simply put, no Les Rosen then, no PBSA today."For more information, see:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesterrosen/ CONTACT US!Send comments, feedback,  suggestions for future guests or sponsorship information to:screeningpros200@gmail.comPlatinum Sponsor:  https://preemploymentdirectory.com/ , publisher of the Background Buzz!  

  1. Nov 3 ·  Video

    Episode 78: UK/EU Powerhouse Roundtable with Caroline Smith, Diane Shepherd and Valerie Bertrand

    Send us Fan Mail Three experts and three countries, and not one of them planned a career in background screening. In this special roundtable I'm joined by Caroline Smith, who leads HireRight's legal function outside the US and Canada, Diane Shepherd, Director of Strategic Accounts at iCover, and Valerie Bertrand, SVP European Counsel at First Advantage. Between them they cover the UK, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and they live the realities of cross-border compliance every day. In this episode you'll hear about: - How Caroline went from an English literature degree to city law, then joined screening on a six-month maternity cover in 2008 and never left - How Valerie moved from French law to HR software in Berlin, and how one call to a former colleague led to her role at First Advantage - How Diane got a call that started with "you speak three languages and you don't work in hospitality," tried to leave the industry for finance, and came back - Early lessons: humility is not a weakness, never make assumptions, ask why, and sometimes wait a day before replying to that email - What keeps them in screening, from a community that works side by side to an industry that "keeps regenerating itself like Doctor Who" - Surviving GDPR in May 2018, complete with T-shirts, champagne and macarons - The role of women in the screening industry, and why curiosity and problem solving matter more than any leadership style - How PBSA and the Europe Africa Council made each of them better at their jobs - Fun facts: a secret love of heavy rock concerts, growing up without a TV and learning to read at three, and a six-year-old Lady Diana at a school royal wedding in 1981 - Advice for newcomers: jump right in, have fun, stay connected, and don't be fooled by how niche screening looks Connect with US: Les Rosen- https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesterrosen/Subscribe to our YouTube Channel- https://www.youtube.com/@BehindtheSCreens200

  2. Oct 19 ·  Video

    Episode 77: Industry Boosters: Joe Dardano and John Lawrence on Earning Your Place in Background Screening

    Send us Fan Mail One started out writing record store ads in South Florida. The other spent 18 years as a teacher, including years as a missionary teacher in inner-city Vancouver. Neither planned on a career in screening, and both earned their place the hard way. Today John Lawrence is VP of Client Experience at InfoCheck Solutions and Joe Dardano owns Background Investigations, and both are among the most visible, generous voices in the screening community. I call them industry boosters. In this episode you'll hear about: How John went from music industry marketing to running marketing at GIS, and helped grow it into the fourth largest CRA in the country before the HireRight mergerHow Joe and his wife bought Background Investigations in 2017, rebuilt it from the studs, and found real growth after moving to Palm Desert and serving staffing clientsThe day a lighthearted Snow White trade show skit ended up in a John Oliver segment on HBO, and how John turned that exposure into a positiveJoe's biggest sales and marketing lesson: be the tortoise, not the rabbit, and just keep showing upWhy John believes you can't stumble into being an expert in this industry, and why investors who don't value that expertise learn it the hard wayJoe's reminder that behind every background check is someone looking for a job, and a client who needs 500 people in the warehouse tomorrowWhat PBSA has meant to both of them, from John's first intimidating conference in Orlando to introducing InfoCheck as a diamond sponsor, and Joe's advice to do Advocacy Day at least onceAdvice for newcomers: don't let the bozos discourage you, never stop learning, and put yourself out there on LinkedInFun facts: John is 6'6" and descends from Captain James Lawrence of "Don't give up the ship" fame, he's writing a science fiction novel set in South Carolina, Joe never learned to ice skate as a Canadian kid but played roller hockey for 12 years, and he's bringing a rhinestone cowboy hat to Texas Subscribe so you never miss a conversation with a background screening pro. Thanks to our sponsor, PreemploymentDirectory.com, publisher of Background Buzz and numerous other resources. And a special thanks to W. Barry Nixon. Connect with US: Les Rosen- https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesterrosen/Subscribe to our YouTube Channel- https://www.youtube.com/@BehindtheSCreens200

    Episode 77: Industry Boosters: Joe Dardano and John Lawrence on Earning Your Place in Background Screening

  3. Oct 19 ·  Video

    Episode 37: Nancy Alt Explains Why Compliance Begins with People, Not Paper

    Send us Fan Mail What does it take to shape an entire industry from the inside out—while mastering compliance, leading operations, and serving the public good? It takes vision, grit, and a whole lot of hats—and this episode is proof of exactly that.  In this episode, I sit down with Nancy Alt, founder of Tweak the Core, who’s spent decades navigating complex mergers, standing up massive federal contracts like TSA screening, leading PBSA initiatives, and championing consumer protection—all while infusing heart and integrity into everything she does. From clowns to compliance, Nancy’s journey is unlike any other. What she’s learned will not only inspire you—it will change the way you think about leadership, purpose, and the true power of listening. Pro Conversation You don’t want to miss! 1. Laying the Groundwork: From Utilities to Screening Consultant 2. Growing With the Industry: Saying Yes, Wearing Hats 3. Compliance, Accreditation & Advocacy: PBSA and the Power of Process 4. Human Moments: Giving Back, Listening, and Loving the Work Nancy Alt is a powerhouse of insight, warmth, and impact—proving that a successful background screening career can be built on a foundation of hard work, learning, and heart. Whether you’re in compliance, operations, legal, or leadership, this episode is packed with lessons that matter. If you found this conversation valuable, please take a moment to rate, follow, and review the podcast wherever you listen. Connect with US: Les Rosen- https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesterrosen/Subscribe to our YouTube Channel- https://www.youtube.com/@BehindtheSCreens200

  4. Oct 5 ·  Video

    Episode 76: Nina French on 30 Years in Drug Testing, Why the Industry Loses Sight of Its Mission, and How to Build a Career That Lasts

    Send us Fan Mail Nina French is the founder of Inflection Point, a consulting practice focused on product development, innovation, and the future of human capital management. With a career spanning more than three decades, she built her expertise from the ground up at one of the first medical review offices in the country, grew with the company through its evolution into First Advantage, and has spent the years since consulting with startups, advising large enterprise clients, and doing expert witness work in the drug testing and occupational health space alongside Bob Cadwell at Cadwell Consulting. If you have ever wondered what it looks like to spend 30 years becoming the true definition of a subject matter expert, and then use all of that knowledge to look at the whole industry from the outside in, Nina French is the person to talk to. Nina answered a help wanted ad in the Washington Post for a summer office manager job, became the 13th hire at one of the very first medical review offices in the country, and never looked back. What followed was a career that grew right alongside the drug testing and background screening industries themselves, from dot matrix printers and hand-stuffed envelopes to building out First Advantage's drug testing and occupational health business over 22 years. Today she is doing the work she finds most energizing: consulting, speaking, advising startups, and looking at the industry through the external lens to ask where it is doing well and where it needs to do better. Pro Conversation You Don't Want to Miss! The startup lesson Nina learned early and never forgot: when a client asks if you can do something, the answer is yes, and then you figure out how to do it in the six weeks before they sign the contractWhy Nina says she tries never to look at the industry through the eyes of someone inside it, and how that outside-in perspective is what makes innovation actually possibleHer argument that we are not here to find the bad guys but to grow the good guys, and why she thinks the industry loses sight of that mission more often than it shouldThe closing advice she gives to everyone from newcomers to her own kids entering the workforce: close your mouth and listen, find the people you trust, and understand that real networking is not schmoozing, it is learning who to trust and staying in touch long after you stop working togetherHer proudest personal accomplishment: having four kids in four and a half years, growing her career through all of it, and doing it without, she hopes, terrible sacrifice to herself or her familySubscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a conversation. Thanks to our sponsor, PreemploymentDirectory.com, publisher of Background Buzz and numerous other resources. And a special thanks to W. Barry Nixon. Connect with US: Les Rosen- https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesterrosen/Subscribe to our YouTube Channel- https://www.youtube.com/@BehindtheSCreens200

    Episode 76: Nina French on 30 Years in Drug Testing, Why the Industry Loses Sight of Its Mission, and How to Build a Career That Lasts

  5. Sep 21 ·  Video

    Episode 75: Be Kind, Stay Curious, and Never Stop Growing: Bon Idziak's 28 Years of Hard-Won Lessons in Background Screening

    Send us Fan Mail Bon Idziak has 28 years in the background screening industry spanning CIC, First Advantage, Applicant Insight, Checkr, and Accurate Background. He served five years as chair of PBSA's Government Relations Committee, sat on the PBSA Board of Directors, and has represented the industry in meetings with the Department of Justice, the FTC, the CFPB, the EEOC, and federal and state lawmakers. He recently launched Symphonix, a global screening enablement software platform, and also operates a background screening company in Australia covering ACIC and AFP police checks. If you want to know what 28 years of real experience in background screening actually looks like, this episode is the answer. Bon Idziak has done it all, and he is just getting started. Bon started at CIC when Bruce Berg talked him out of quitting six months in, ran Applicant Insight for 12 years, helped build Checkr from employee number five, spent six years in compliance and global expansion at Accurate Background, moved into wholesale, and is now launching Symphonix, a platform built to solve the global screening gap that has existed in this industry for years. Along the way he chaired government relations for PBSA, sat on the board, and built a career defined by the same three things: passion, kindness, and an almost pathological need for the next challenge. Pro Conversation You Don't Want to Miss! The call from Bruce Berg six months into Bon's first screening job that changed everything, and why he has never forgotten the promise Bruce made him: give me a year and you will have an amazing career in background screeningWhat Bon learned at Checkr from employee number five about the difference between traditional screening and high-tech iterative models, and why reducing friction without compromising compliance is still the central tension in the gig economyThe early career lesson that took years to really land: passion is great, but kindness, generosity, and giving others a soft place to land matters more than intensityWhy Bon says it is always okay to be wrong, as long as you admit it and fix it, and how that principle has shaped how he leads every team he has ever builtSymphonix: the new platform launching at PBSA Arlington that connects CRAs to global vendors agnostic to both, and why Bon believes it closes a gap that has existed in this industry for too long Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a conversation. Thanks to our sponsor, PreemploymentDirectory.com, publisher of Background Buzz and numerous other resources. And a special thanks to W. Barry Nixon. Connect with US: Les Rosen- https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesterrosen/Subscribe to our YouTube Channel- https://www.youtube.com/@BehindtheSCreens200

    Episode 75: Be Kind, Stay Curious, and Never Stop Growing: Bon Idziak's 28 Years of Hard-Won Lessons in Background Screening

  6. Sep 8 ·  Video

    Episode 74: Kevin Bachman on What 25 Years in Background Screening Actually Teaches You

    Send us Fan Mail If you are in a decision-making role in this industry and you are waiting for a law, a court case, or a webinar to tell you what to do next, Kevin Bachman has a message for you: nobody is coming to save you. Kevin has been in background screening for 25 years, starting in radio and television news before falling into the industry while finishing a master's degree. He has seen it from inside a growing CRA, through a Sterling acquisition, and out the other side as a consultant who now helps companies ranging from scrappy startups to private equity firms figure out what it actually takes to build and run a screening business. What he has learned along the way is not theoretical. It is the kind of hard-won knowledge that only comes from being in the room when things go right and when they do not. Pro Conversation You Don't Want to Miss! Why ethics and moral fiber are not soft skills in background screening, and the Warren Buffett principle Kevin has carried since week two of his career: it takes a lifetime to build a reputation and a minute to destroy oneThe $5 to $10 million revenue zone where founders often become the ceiling of their own company, and what it actually takes to break through itWhy background screening is not a commodity, and how two completely opposite business philosophies can both win if you know which one you are and commit to itA decade on the PBSA Background Screening Credentialing Council and what watching three waves of industry leadership looks like from the insideThe message every decision-maker in this industry needs to hear: nobody is coming to save you. No regulation, no court case, no webinar will give you permission. You have to make the call. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a conversation. Thanks to our sponsor, PreemploymentDirectory.com, publisher of Background Buzz and numerous other resources. And a special thanks to W. Barry Nixon.Connect with US: Les Rosen- https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesterrosen/Subscribe to our YouTube Channel- https://www.youtube.com/@BehindtheSCreens200

    Episode 74: Kevin Bachman on What 25 Years in Background Screening Actually Teaches You

  7. Aug 24 ·  Video

    Episode 73: How David Robillard Brought Real Background Screening Standards to Latin America and What It Took to Make It Stick

    Send us Fan Mail David Robillard is the co-founder of MultiLatin, the firm widely credited with bringing professional background screening standards to Mexico, Central America, and South America. After MultiLatin was acquired by First Advantage in 2021, David stayed through the Sterling integration before stepping back to focus on board advisory work. He currently serves on boards across background screening technology, compliance software, a 140-year-old teaching hospital in Mexico City, and Education for Sharing, an NGO operating across six countries. If you've ever wondered who brought real background screening standards to Latin America, this episode is for you. David's path to founding MultiLatin is one of the most unexpected origin stories I've heard on this podcast. It started in Ghana, wound through Cuba, Ottawa, and Mexico City, and took a literal detour when a running accident forced him to pivot from investigations into background screening. What followed was more than a decade of building something that did not exist before, applying real standards to a region where a background check used to mean someone counting your light bulbs and interviewing your neighbors. He built MultiLatin, survived COVID, sold to First Advantage, and never once stopped being curious about what comes next. Pro Conversation You Don't Want to Miss! How David went from a sociology degree and a deep-end internship in Ghana to pioneering background screening across an entire continentThe running accident that broke his hip and accidentally redirected his entire career toward background screeningWhat background checks in Latin America actually looked like before MultiLatin, and why David credits PBSA for helping him apply real standards to the regionHis biggest career lesson: shut up and listen until you really understand what you're looking at, because most decisions go wrong when people leap to conclusions before they understand the problemWhy David says comfort is the enemy, and what it looks like to deliberately break what is working so you don't atrophySubscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a conversation. Thanks to our sponsor, PreemploymentDirectory.com, publisher of Background Buzz and numerous other resources. And a special thanks to W. Barry Nixon. Connect with US: Les Rosen- https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesterrosen/Subscribe to our YouTube Channel- https://www.youtube.com/@BehindtheSCreens200

    Episode 73: How David Robillard Brought Real Background Screening Standards to Latin America and What It Took to Make It Stick

  8. Aug 10 ·  Video

    Episode 72: Vivek Khanna on Building Neeyamo Into a Global Screening Powerhouse & Why the Cost of Saying No Is Always Too High

    Send us Fan Mail I have known Vivek Khanna for years. I see him at every PBSA conference, and I always wondered how someone becomes the person who figured out international background screening before most of the industry even knew it needed figuring out.  This conversation gave me the full picture, and it was even more interesting than I expected. Who is Vivek Khanna Vivek Khanna is the co-founder of Neeyamo, a global HR services company covering background screening in over 200 countries with in-house operations in more than 80 of them.  He also founded ScreenXchange, a technology platform built for background screening companies outside the US that embeds an AI agent called Agent Sam for verification workflows.  Vivek served as chair of the PBSA Global Advisory Council and helped initiate the international accreditation standards that now cover companies worldwide. Vivek started as a chartered accountant in India, ran his family's manufacturing business, caught the internet bug in 1998, landed in the US just as the dot-com bubble burst, and stumbled into background screening through a LexisNexis contract that showed him a broken global process and a massive opportunity.  He built Neeyamo into one of the most recognized names in international screening, initiated the PBSA international accreditation standards, and somewhere along the way also became a music producer releasing Hindi ghazal albums on Spotify using AI. Pro Conversation You Don't Want to Miss! How Vivek turned international background screening from a pass-through cost CRAs barely broke even on into a high-margin revenue line, sometimes at a ratio of fifteen dollars cost to seventy-five dollars billedThe core value that drives everything at Neeyamo: customer centricity, and why the cost of saying no to a customer is always higher than the cost of saying yesHis take on the organizational triangle turning into a diamond, and why the future belongs to people who adopt AI tools and move up to the middle management layer rather than fight the shiftHow Vivek helped kick off the PBSA international accreditation standards, a process that took five years and now covers companies across the globeThe fun fact that genuinely surprised me: in the last two months, using AI tools, he wrote Hindi ghazal poetry, converted it into fully produced songs with music, and released three albums on Apple Music and Spotify under the name Bedar LakhnawiSubscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a conversation. Thanks to our sponsor, PreemploymentDirectory.com, publisher of Background Buzz and numerous other resources. And a special thanks to W. Barry Nixon. Connect with US: Les Rosen- https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesterrosen/Subscribe to our YouTube Channel- https://www.youtube.com/@BehindtheSCreens200

    Episode 72: Vivek Khanna on Building Neeyamo Into a Global Screening Powerhouse & Why the Cost of Saying No Is Always Too High
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About

"Behind the Screens" is a podcast that brings you up close and personal with the people in the background screening industry. Hosted by Les Rosen, each episode features in-depth, human-interest interviews with a diverse range of guests—including business executives, employees with extensive screening experience, vendors who serve the industry, and legal and compliance experts. These conversations dive into the personal stories and insights of those who know the industry best, offering a fresh perspective on the people driving background screening. Whether you are part of the industry or just curious, "Behind the Screens" delivers authentic, non-marketing-focused stories from the world of background checks.Your host:  Les Rosen is an Attorney, former owner of a screening firm, the chair of the steering committee that founded PBSA and the first co-chair of PBSA, as well as author of the "Safe Hiring Manual," and frequent presenter nationwide. According to attorney and industry veteran  Vince Pascarella, "For those of you who don't know, Les Rosen was the chief architect of the PBSA predecessor NAPBS, and its first Chair and unofficial Executive Director. Simply put, no Les Rosen then, no PBSA today."For more information, see:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesterrosen/ CONTACT US!Send comments, feedback,  suggestions for future guests or sponsorship information to:screeningpros200@gmail.comPlatinum Sponsor:  https://preemploymentdirectory.com/ , publisher of the Background Buzz!  

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