PBSA Accredited · Smart Screen™ by Equifax

Background Checks Don't Have to Be a Pain in the Ass.

Stop waiting 3–5 days for results. 3rd Degree automates criminal, employment, and compliance checks—delivering clear, decision-ready reports in minutes. No offshoring. No contracts. No surprise rate hikes.

No credit card required
No offshore processing
Lifetime locked rates
app.3rddegreescreening.com/dashboard
3D
3rd Degree
HR

New Background Check

Fill out candidate details to begin

Sarah
Johnson
sarah.johnson@gmail.com
Senior Software Engineer

Essential

Standard

Comprehensive

3m 24s avg. turnaround

50-state coverage

PBS

PBSA Accredited

Industry certified

Certifications & partnerships

PBSA Accredited

Background screening's highest certification

Equifax Smart Screen™

Powered by Equifax data infrastructure

SOC 2 Type II

Third-party audited security controls

FCRA Compliant

Built-in adverse action workflows

E-Verify Partner

Authorized DHS partner — I-9 & WOTC

Three steps. Zero friction.

From order to report in minutes — not days

Legacy providers stretch this into a 3-day ordeal. 3rd Degree automates every handoff, so you spend less time waiting and more time hiring.

01

Submit candidate

Order in under 30 seconds

Enter candidate details, choose a screening package, and send a mobile-friendly consent link—all in one flow. Or connect your ATS and let 3rd Degree auto-pull candidate data on every new hire.

API-firstATS syncInstant consent
02

Automated screening

Smart Screen™ runs everything automatically

Powered by Equifax, Smart Screen™ simultaneously queries 750M+ criminal records, verifies employment history, confirms degrees, and checks licenses—in parallel, not sequentially. No manual hand-offs.

750M+ recordsParallel checksReal-time county
03

Results that mean something

Clear reports, instant adjudication

No raw data dumps. Reports are structured, color-coded, and adjudication-ready. Green means go. Red means review. One click to approve or flag a candidate—with a full audit trail built in.

Color-codedOne-click adjudicateFull audit trail
app.3rddegreescreening.com/order
New Screening Request

Full Name

Marcus Rivera

Job Title

Operations Manager

Email

m.rivera@acme.co

Basic

Standard

Complete

Send Consent Link
Biometric ID Verification

Verify identity at the source — before a check is ever run.

Every background check starts with knowing the person is who they claim to be. Our biometric verification layer confirms identity using liveness detection and document AI — cryptographically binding the candidate to their record before screening begins.

Cryptographic bindingDeepfake detectionSub-3-second verification200+ ID typesFCRA compliantNo PII stored offshore
9:41

Identity Verification

Face Scan

Blink slowly…

Keep your face within the oval

Liveness Check

Anti-spoofing active

Smart Screen™ by Equifax

The industry's fastest criminal background engine.

Smart Screen™ isn't just a database query—it's an intelligent orchestration layer that runs every check in parallel, resolves discrepancies automatically, and returns structured, adjudication-ready results.

0M+

Records Searched

0min

Avg Turnaround

0 states

Full Coverage

SSN-First Search

Start with social security trace to surface all known aliases and addresses before checking records.

750M+ Criminal Records

Multi-jurisdictional search spans national, federal, county, and state repositories simultaneously.

Sub-5-Minute Median

Parallel processing across all databases means no bottlenecks—most orders complete in under 5 minutes.

Real-Time County Courts

Live access to county-level court records—not outdated database copies—for maximum accuracy.

50-State Coverage

Every state, every federal district, plus sex offender registries and OFAC watchlists.

Instant Adjudication

Smart flags and compliance-aware scoring auto-surface what matters, without legal overreach.

By the numbers

The platform trusted by HR teams nationwide.

0+

Employers screened

Across all 50 states

0M+

Records searched

Criminal database coverage

0 min

Average turnaround

vs 3–5 days industry average

0+

Countries covered

International screening

Works with your existing stack.

Connect 3rd Degree to your ATS or HRIS in minutes — no engineering required.

Workday
Workday
Greenhouse
Greenhouse
ADP
ADP
Lever
Lever
BambooHR
BambooHR
iCIMS
iCIMS
Oracle HCM
Oracle HCM
SAP SuccessFactors
SAP SuccessFactors
Rippling
Rippling
Gusto
Gusto
Jobvite
Jobvite
SmartRecruiters
SmartRecruiters
Everything under one login

Every check you need. One platform.

Stop juggling vendors. Criminal, employment, education, credit, and compliance checks—all on one dashboard, one invoice, one integration.

750M+

records searched

Criminal Record Search

SSN-first trace expands the net to catch all known aliases before searching national, federal, county, and state criminal repositories simultaneously.

National DBFederalCountySex Offender Registry

Direct

employer contact

Employment Verification

We call prior employers directly—not just database pings—confirming titles, dates, and re-hire eligibility with a documented audit trail.

Job titlesDate rangesRe-hire statusGaps flagged

24/7

post-hire coverage

Continuous Monitoring

Don't stop at hire day. Post-hire monitoring watches your workforce 24/7 and alerts you the moment a new criminal record or license change appears.

Real-time alertsNew criminal recordsLicense changesAutomated

Education Verification

Catch diploma mills and unearned credentials.

Credit & Financial

FCRA-compliant reports for fiduciary roles.

Motor Vehicle Records

Real-time DMV history, all 50 states.

License Verification

Active status for 200+ license types.

International Screening

200+ countries, localized compliance.

Healthcare Sanctions

OIG, SAM & state exclusion checks.

Built for your industry

Screening shaped around how you hire.

Generic packages don't cut it. Each industry has unique compliance requirements, turnaround expectations, and risk profiles. 3rd Degree adapts.

Healthcare

HIPAA-compliant screening with OIG exclusion, healthcare sanctions, and license verification for clinical and administrative roles.

OIG ExclusionsHealthcare SanctionsLicense VerificationCriminal Records
Explore Healthcare Screening

Staffing

High-volume, fast-turnaround screening built for agencies placing talent at scale. Bulk order management and ATS integrations included.

Bulk OrderingATS IntegrationEmployment VerificationI-9 & E-Verify
Explore Staffing Screening

Enterprise

Enterprise-grade screening with SSO, HRIS integration, custom adjudication rules, and audit-ready reporting for compliance teams.

SSO & HRIS SyncCustom WorkflowsAudit ReportingGlobal Screening
Explore Enterprise Screening

Property Management

Tenant screening with credit, criminal, and eviction history—fast enough to keep your vacancy window tight.

Eviction RecordsCredit ReportsCriminal SearchIncome Verification
Explore Property Management Screening

Transportation

DOT-compliant MVR checks, drug & alcohol screening coordination, and FMCSA-ready reporting for fleet operators.

DOT MVRFMCSA ComplianceDrug ScreeningCriminal Records
Explore Transportation Screening

Education

Safe-school screening for K-12 and higher education with sex offender registry, criminal, and employment verification.

Sex Offender RegistryCriminal SearchEmployment CheckReference Checks
Explore Education Screening
Why teams switch to 3rd Degree

The old way isn't working anymore.

Large legacy providers are hiking prices, offshoring sensitive PII, and providing mediocre support wrapped in long-term contracts. 3rd Degree was built as the alternative.

We never offshore your data.

All criminal checks and verifications are processed domestically. Your candidates' PII never leaves the US.

100% US-based processing

Lifetime locked-in rates.

Quote a rate today and it's yours forever. No annual hikes, no "market adjustment" surprises.

No surprise rate hikes

No contract. No commitment.

Pay only for what you use. Month-to-month with the freedom to scale up or down without penalty.

Zero term commitment

A real person picks up the phone.

US-based account managers—not ticket queues. Your team gets a dedicated contact who knows your workflow.

Dedicated account manager

Common questions about background screening

Everything you need to know before you place your first order.

What's included in a standard background check?

A standard background check typically includes an SSN trace and address history, a national criminal database search, a federal criminal records search, and a county criminal search in current and recent counties of residence. Employment and education verification are often added depending on the role.

How long does a background check take?

With 3rd Degree and Smart Screen™ by Equifax, most background checks complete within 3–5 minutes for criminal components. Employment and education verification can take 24–48 hours depending on the responsiveness of prior employers and institutions.

Are background checks FCRA compliant?

Yes. All screening conducted through 3rd Degree follows the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requirements, including proper disclosure and authorization forms, pre-adverse and adverse action processes, and dispute resolution procedures.

Can I run background checks on existing employees?

Absolutely. Our Continuous Workforce Monitoring product runs ongoing checks on your current workforce and alerts you when a new criminal record or license change appears—without requiring a new full check each time.

Do you support international background checks?

Yes. We offer screening in 200+ countries with country-specific compliance built in—covering criminal history, employment and education verification, and credential checks tailored to each jurisdiction's laws.

What ATS platforms do you integrate with?

3rd Degree integrates with Workday, ADP, Greenhouse, Lever, BambooHR, iCIMS, Oracle HCM, SAP SuccessFactors, and more. We also offer a full REST API and webhook support for custom integrations.

Get Started Today

Stop overpaying for slow, offshore background checks.

Join thousands of employers who switched to 3rd Degree. Pricing starts at $29.95 per check—and it's locked in. No surprises. No contracts. No offshoring.

No credit card required · Cancel anytime · Free onboarding support