A Swiss Position, an International History

In cross-border hiring, two worlds meet: the future role is located in Switzerland, while a candidate's education, employment, residence and other relevant history may lie abroad. This considerably increases the complexity of a background check. A Swiss company cannot simply use the same data sources as for a person who has spent their entire career in Switzerland. At the same time, the link to the role remains the central starting point. Even for international candidates, only what is relevant and proportionate for the specific role should be checked. The fact that certain checks are common in another country is not, on its own, a reason to adopt them in a Swiss recruiting process. Global recruiting therefore needs local data knowledge and clear Swiss governance.

Data Availability Is Not Data Comparability

An official document from another country can have a completely different evidentiary value than its supposed Swiss counterpart. Registers are structured differently, responsibilities can be organised centrally or regionally, and some information is not accessible to employers at all. This applies to criminal records just as much as to financial data, academic degrees or proof of employment. Professional cross-border screening should therefore check not only whether a document exists, but what source lies behind it, what time periods are covered, and what the result actually demonstrates. Where there are no official register extracts, or where an employer has no direct access, work must be done within what is legally and practically possible. Transparency about these limits is more important than trying to artificially produce identical results worldwide.

Objective Verification Gains Importance Internationally

The more international a CV, the more valuable verification of key facts can become. Education verification, for example, confirms whether a stated institution and degree actually exist. Employment verification can cross-check length of employment and role against suitable sources or former employers. Depending on the risk profile, further modules may be added, such as identity verification, mandates, conflicts of interest, sanctions, or global media searches. What matters is a modular approach: the depth of a check is determined not by a person's nationality, but by the responsibility of the position and the risks associated with it. This allows international screening to be designed consistently, without checking candidates from certain countries more extensively than others as a blanket rule.

Considering Cross-Border Data Flows

As soon as institutions, registers or service providers abroad are involved in a check, cross-border data flows arise. The source document refers here to the requirements of the FADP and the differing treatment of countries depending on their level of data protection. For companies, this means that cross-border hiring is not only a recruiting process, but also a data protection process. What data is transferred to whom? Where is it processed and stored? Which external partners are involved? A central screening provider can help answer these questions in a structured way and minimise data flows. Global screening does not have to be equated with global data storage. Especially for Swiss companies, a platform with data processing in Switzerland or the EU can be an important part of a controlled international screening architecture.

Validato Combines Global Reach With Local Logic

Validato supports background checks worldwide and adapts execution to the sources actually available and legally permissible in each case. Companies can define different modules and levels of depth depending on risk profile, and invite international candidates through the same digital process. Identity verification and digital consent form the basis. The selected checks are then implemented on a country-specific basis and brought together in a unified report. Where official registers do not exist, or candidates must obtain documents themselves, this is taken into account in the process accordingly. This avoids an artificial one-size-fits-all screening, creating instead a globally scalable approach that recognises local differences and places results in the correct context.

Cross-Border Hiring With a Global Screening Process

Are you recruiting internationally and want to manage background checks consistently across national borders? Validato combines global screening reach with country-specific verification processes and a central platform.