--- title: First Advantage Reviews meta_title: 'First Advantage Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 111 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how First Advantage works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 3.4 review_count: 111 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-06-21' parent_category: name: Pre-Employment Screening url: https://www.g2.com/categories/pre-employment-screening --- # First Advantage Reviews **Vendor:** First Advantage **Category:** [Background Check Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/background-check) **Average Rating:** 3.4/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 111 ## About First Advantage First Advantage delivers comprehensive background check and drug screening solutions that enable employers and housing providers to make confident applicant choices, reduce risk, and maintain compliance. With offices worldwide, First Advantage leverages leading technology and some of the industry’s largest global capabilities to complete background checks in 200+ countries and territories. If you’re looking for employee or resident background check solutions that enable fast and reliable decision making, we’re your First Advantage. For more detailed information on First Advantage products and services, visit fadv.com. ## First Advantage Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users value the **excellent customer support** from First Advantage, appreciating friendly interactions and quick solutions to inquiries. (15 reviews) - Users appreciate the **ease of use** of First Advantage, highlighting its user-friendly system and quick service. (15 reviews) - Users value the **quick and friendly support** from First Advantage, enhancing their overall experience and satisfaction. (12 reviews) - Users value the **responsive customer service** provided by First Advantage, enhancing their overall experience and satisfaction. (8 reviews) - Users value the **knowledgeable staff** at First Advantage, appreciating their helpfulness and expertise in solving issues efficiently. (7 reviews) - Speed (7 reviews) - Background Checks (6 reviews) - Users appreciate the **genuine kindness** of customer service agents, enhancing their overall experience with First Advantage. (5 reviews) - Staff Expertise (5 reviews) - Staff Helpfulness (5 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users experience **poor customer support** , facing long response times and a lack of effective communication when issues arise. (10 reviews) - Users frequently experience **significant delays** with First Advantage, complicating communication and hindering timely background checks. (7 reviews) - Users express frustration over the **lack of clarity** in processes and support from First Advantage, complicating their experience. (7 reviews) - Users face significant **process delays** with First Advantage, impacting hiring timelines and organizational efficiency. (5 reviews) - Users find the **complex processes** of First Advantage frustrating, experiencing delays and multiple departments for basic tasks. (4 reviews) - Time-Consuming (4 reviews) - Poor Onboarding (3 reviews) - Expensive (2 reviews) - Integration Issues (2 reviews) - Limited Access (2 reviews) ## First Advantage Reviews ### 1. Smooth and Easy Process **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Savannah S. | Staffing Consultant, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 23, 2025 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** I use Sterling for every employee I onboard and run a background check. The process is smooth and straightforward, so I've never had to request customer support. The platform is easy to navigate, I also like being able to see the status of my background check in real time. Everything feels organized and transparent, which takes away a lot of the stress. The turnaround time is usually quick, and I’ve never had to deal with confusion or delays. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** I don’t have any dislikes, the experience has been reliable and seamless every time. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Sterling makes the whole background check process way less stressful. They take care of all the details and keep everything moving, so I don’t have to worry about chasing down paperwork or wondering where things are at. It really helps speed things up and gives me peace of mind knowing it’s all being handled the right way. ### 2. Sterling Review **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Melissa C. | Talent Operations Manager, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 11, 2025 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** We found nothing easy to use with Sterling. They have no customer support, the dashboards are very hard to read, and the checks take a very long time with no rush options **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Dashboards, we had 3 to manage one process which was not doable. There is no customer support unless you are trying to cancel. When they were acquired, they wanted us to do a video site recording which was not happening. The checks take a very long time. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** NONE ### 3. Started Strong, But Needs Significant Improvement **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services **Reviewed Date:** November 22, 2025 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** They started well. But could be more responsive and flexible. Use better judgement **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Not responsive. Errors in reporting. If something is non standard they fall apart. They have poor feedback from applicants who experience frustration **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** International background checks ### 4. Reviewing the First Advantage basis on running background check **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Harshita M. | Senior US HR, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 21, 2025 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** It is easy to use for beginners as well, different packages available as per client requirements **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Its ledges sometime and also logged out quickly. Need to login again & again. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** It provides different packages for background verification for all type of job roles, easy to initiate, candidates are also happy to use it as it is easy. Only issue is that it ledges and log out quickly. ### 5. The worst background check in my career **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Andrii H. | Senior Test Automation Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 01, 2024 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Nothing is good about this company, the UI is unfortable to use, the error messages is misleading when you do need to upload more **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** The background check started on October 16, and now is November 1, and it's still in the middle of process, even if there is only 2 countries to check. Those countries have online services to provide criminal record check in 10 minutes, but FA team is doing that for 3rd week already. Client is angry that can't start work, employee is frustrated, and First Advantage can't do nothing, only escalate issue in team, but it's just empty words. When you uploaded all docs and want just to review your status, it will show you error message that is telling completely other information, **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** They only making a new problem for business because of slow work, and passing all deadlines. Work that should take couple of hours they can do multiple weeks. ### 6. Rate the background check **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Monika K. | Senior US HR, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 04, 2025 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** It is a hub of candidate information that helps companies hire a good candidate with a clean record. Very simple to use. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** There is nothing as of now as it provides all the details. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Providing information related to candidates is essential to hire a good and reliable candidate. ### 7. This is about the Background check experience **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sagar R. | Sr. US HR, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 04, 2025 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Easy to get the correct reports for Drug test and Background checks. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** I'm using is since long but didn't see any loop fall. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** It's helping me in running the background checks and scheduling the Drug tests very smoothly which helps in hiring a good candidate. ### 8. sterling review **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** shubham R. | Sr. Team Lead, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 05, 2025 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Best product used so far in staffing for day to day need **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** There is nothing to dislike as all the needs are taken care of. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** daily work goals ### 9. Be prepared to sit on hold for a long time! **Rating:** 1.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Brooke B. | Center Director / District Staffing Lead, Education Management, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 01, 2024 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** The customer service agents are genuinely nice people. Implementation was good, not great. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** They have so many different departments, each of which has a very very specific task that they can perform. We only utilize First Advantage for Driver Qualification records. You would think I only would need to talk to one department - wrong! For example, if I call and need to update someone's driver's license number, I talk to one team. For a drug testing question, it is another team. If I need help with a driver file after it has been returned and completed, they have yet another department. I created a G2 account and am writing this review while I am on hold - we are going on one hour now just to get two very basic issues resolved. Had I known it would be this terrible, we would not have selected First Advantage. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Driver compliance ### 10. No Customer Service + Integration Broken **Rating:** 0.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 14, 2024 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** They complete background checks. That's it. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** The customer support is beyond abysmal. You do not have a Customer Success Manager, so you are sent into the void whenever you email their general helpline. Even if you know what is wrong with the system, they ignore you and take literal days and multiple follow-up calls to finally agree with you that what you said is wrong is actually wrong. They have even been aggressive with me in calls - me, the customer! They will take days, if not weeks, to resolve an issue, while they will be in contact with you immediately if you take a day longer than usual to pay them. It's hypocrisy at the highest level. They changed the way that they integrate with Lever ATS, and now neither of their two integration options works for our company. Therefore, all background checks have to be sent manually. We are leaving them (thank god!), but I want to prevent other companies from engaging with them. See ya never, Sterling! **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Completing background checks. ### 11. Good Tool to manage employee work authorization. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Abid S. | Sr. Executive - US HR, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 12, 2024 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** this is very easy to use, and UI is very simple and easy to use. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Some it does not load and gives me error continusly for 1 - 2 hours. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is redusing our time to keep a track of work authorization expiretion. We can upload the data. ### 12. First Advantage Review **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Wil C. | Human resources admin, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 03, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** The intergration with other employee systems like Workday is seemless and effective for everyday hiring and background check results, making FADV easy to use. I have only had to contact customer support a handful a times, and each time was quick and resolved my issue. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** While it may not be a direct dislike with FADV, but the prolonged turn around time on some retults in some jusidictions without any real inforamtion on the delay or if there is a way to speed things up. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** We use FADV for Background checks for mgmt positions to evaluate the risk when hiring. It has been the prime focus and discussion when hiring to ensure we are hiring the right candidate(s). ### 13. If I saw FADV on a dating app, I'd swipe right! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Rivers O. | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 12, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** FADV knows how we do business. They get us. This translates into a partnership defined by trust, consultative support, and innovation. FADV doesn't let complexity get in the way of business. Meredith and Matt connect me to resources and put information within my reach at the right time, every time. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** I don't dislike anything about our partnership with FADV. I quite simply could not do this without them. I've shopped around and there is no comparison. Several years ago, we had customer service issues. The way the FADV team addressed and resolved the problems - and have remained dedicated - gives me the confidence that they are committed to our partnership and are supportive of our mission. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** We have a large federation of member organizations across the country. FADV provides products that are built to adhere to our safety standards. We know that our members are fully compliant with our requirements when they are using FADV for background checks. ### 14. People are Great - Support Systems Are Not **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Financial Services | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 29, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** The people. The reps are incredibly friendly; many times I find myself laughing and connecting with them. The majority of my interactions are with someone who is trying their very best to get me an answer to my question or solution to my problem. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Being bounced around when calling for support. The people are wonderful, but they seem to be limited by their departnement, on what they can help with. It seems to me that the issue is with the systems and setup of support functions. I've also had some widly difficult experiences, such as: not being able to release criminal elements after adjudicating non-criminal elements; or having candidates be sent to a screening location that would take them over an hour to get to. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** First Advantage is doing the leg work to verify an individual's work and criminal history, education, drug screens, and also checking sanctions. First Advantage is keeping us in compliance (FCRA, ban the box laws, etc.) ### 15. First Advantage in Higher Education **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 03, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** The customer service team is knowledgable about the services that First Advantage provides. The existing integrations support our business processes well. Additionally, the platform provides the end user a seamless experience for compelting their background check processes. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** We have experienced some significant delays in the processing of background checks, resulting in new hires being pushed back and our organization failing to meet hiring goals and deadlines. First Advantage has worked diligently with us to improve this as they are able. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** First Advantage represents a significant improvement in our backgound check solution. Their seamless implementation and existing integrations made the transition easier - from a technical standpoint- than other vendors might have been. We are benefitting from a more user-friendly platform for background check completion and information regarding the processing of our new hires. ### 16. Great Partner for Change & Efficiencies! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Vicky G. | Sr Director, Talent Acquisition , Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 13, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Our partners listen to us, help determine our needs (even things we didn't know we needed) and customize programs/offerings for us! Literally changed our whole hiring & background check process! Great partners! **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** I would have said response time, but it's been great now that FA has implemented its Chat feature! We actually plan on adding more services so I can't really say we dislike much. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Shorter background checks and drug testing result in a shorter time to hire. The platform for ordering and checking results is excellent. The integration with Workday is fantastic - a huge timesaver and supports managers only having to look in one place for results. ### 17. Worst company I ever worked with **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Maria S. | Business Analyst, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 01, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** They have a website where you can add documents to your case, the problem is, they forgot to make it possible to "attach" a document!The only way is to take a picture either with your phone or laptop camera, so if you have the documents but not printed, you are NOT able to add it to your case. How rubbish is that? **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** They Team is on auto-pilot mode, they are there to survive the day but literally don't care to help you with your issues, to make your onboarding smoother or even, finish the check before you start your work! I started my job without this company finishing my check and I needed to involve HR and tell them to take over, because I can't spend my time anymore on Sterling and need to concentrate to pick up the new Job. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Sterling should have done s imple background check. Problem is they did not looked on my files for the first 2 week, then when they started to work on it at last, they realised that I got my diploma in another country, and they were unable to make the check. ### 18. Relationship Manager for First Advantage Account **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 03, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** We have an evergreen agreement with FA and appreciate the responsivness and customer support. Easy to use the services. Our Account Manager is responsive and a true partner. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Wait times for Customer care team on the phone can be lengthy. We have experienced difficulty with prompt customer care and will escalate if necessary. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** FA conducts BGC's and drug screening at local clinics for all our manufacturing and distribuion facilities across the U.S. ### 19. Review FA on G2 **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Lizbeth R. | Global Employment Screening Advisor Lead, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 16, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** They're a great partner to work with! Our account with them is global, so there are many challenges to sort out, but for the last 16 years, these challenges have done nothing to improve. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Some limitations in the system but nothing that they already know and are working on enhancing. The international dispute process can for sure be better. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Providing the best customer service experience for all their clients, they're outstanding in doing so. New tools and features in their system help a lot for daily use. ### 20. I would highly recommend First Advantage **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jackie B. | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 12, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** We use FADV for pre-employment screening, WOTC and I-9s. I love having one vendor that can take on so many of our services under one umbrella. Our Customer Success Director is the best. She quickly responds to emails and addresses any of our questions and concerns. (Thank you, Lamis!) **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Everything has been positive. Nothing comes to mind for dislikes. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** FADV provides us with an efficient way to perform drug testing and pre-employment screenings, allowing my team to focus on other priorities. ### 21. Bugs Bugs Bugs and then a lot of bugs **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Manoj G. | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 20, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** None nada, there is nothing I can say positively about this product. Their product is slow full of bugs and tech support is just incompetent. Please avoid them, they don't deserve your hard-earned money. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** - Bugs Bugs Bugs and then a lot of bugs - Support staff is incompetent and not helpful at all. - They asked me to send my BGC application 3 times, and it takes at least 1 hr to complete it. Such a waste of time and effort. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** This particular product appears to lack any real value or practicality. It doesn't seem to offer any benefits or advantages over similar products that are already available in the market. In fact, it's quite the opposite - the product seems to be nothing more than a waste of time and resources. As a result, it doesn't deserve to be on the market at all. It would be best to remove this product and focus on creating something that provides more value and actually solves a problem. ### 22. Sterling is absolutely impossible to cancel **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Amy P. | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 10, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** absolutely nothing. It is truly the worst, and I wish we had never signed up for it. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Sterling is impossible to cancel. We have sent multiple cancellation letters. They required one to be signed on company letterhead and we complied with their asinine request. Still, we keep receiving invoices 7 months later, and each time we have to jump through some ridiculous amount of hurdles, only for them to come back and invoice us again. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Background checks ### 23. Great Background Check service **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Accounting | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 09, 2024 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** User friendly, I like it that the process is very easy to use and the customer support is great. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Limited languege options. It would be better if more languages are included. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Background checks are easier to use, and faster. ### 24. Stellar Customer Service **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Eula S. | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 20, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** There is always someone available to assist. The follow-up is very helpful to our company. I am NOW happy with the service provided by First Advantage, Kristin Hennes specifically. Kristin is always readily available to provide assistance to our team. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** The employees are not all trained the same, the first 3 years was not a plesant experience. We have to say we have saw a major improvement. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Drug Test results turn-around time frame. Quick results has helped us during our busy hiring season, which is causing more production. ### 25. Michael Walker (FK) Review **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Pharmaceuticals | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 21, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** What I enjoy best about First Advantge is the in depth and detailed assistance provided by their team members. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Something I dislike about First Advantage is that sometimes it seems as if the process is too automated. Because of this, there are certain aspects of the process that can be overlooked. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** At the moment, FADV is healing up quickly oeefrom background checks and drug screenings. Because of this we are able to move candidates through the onboarding process quickly. ### 26. Director, HR Compliance **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Karen D. | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 30, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Account Rep is extremely helpful and always availalbe to assist **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** call times can take a long time to resolve issues **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** One site for our applicants to complete background, and schedule drug testing and fingerprints. ### 27. Great background check vendor, amazing client service and quick turn around times **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Stacy S. | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 20, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Quick turn around times, good customer service, easy and user friendly system. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Nothing that I do not like. Have had a great experience. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Creating a safe work environment for our business as we deal with children. ### 28. 2023 Feedback **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mildred W. | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 12, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Speed of verification and easy to read reports. Customer service ability to respond quickly. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Some criminal cases are delayed to no fault of FA and it does create a negative reaction with our users. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Better Customer Service. ### 29. Great turnaround time and great customer service **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Security and Investigations | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 12, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** We love that the turnaround time is quick and accurate compared to our previous vendor. The customer service that we receive from our account manager is exceptional. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** The costs for backgrounds have gotten quite high, although we understand that the cost of many things have been on the rise. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** First advantage is able to give us a quick and accurate background report for our US employees. This helps us tremendously with the onboarding process ### 30. It's been a good ride, so far! **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Carrie W. | Manager, Human Resource Shared Services, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 15, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Most of our criminal background checks complete more quickly than our former background vendor. The FADV team is also knowledgeable and helpful, especially when there is an issue. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** The downside is that our stats can not be easily obtained because the First Advantage system separates the criminal/background processes from the drug screen processes. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** We are working on developing our NYC two-step background screen process and expanding our Oraltox offering for pre-employment ### 31. HR Compliance Specialist **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jennifer Z. | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 20, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Ease of use, excellent customer service, quick TATs, consistent reliability, out of this world support **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Personally, have yet to find something I dislike **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Cost, productivity ### 32. So far so GREAT **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Alan N. | Human Resource Manager, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 15, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** I have only just started working with Sterling, but it is obvious they want to meet your needs. They are easy to work with and WOW is their background service quick. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Onboarding was a little difficult for me because I had a hard time understanding the person who was helping with my integration. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Past backgrounds were taking weeks!! Sterling is just a few days. ### 33. My overall experience with First Advantage is positive. **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Banking | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 29, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** I like the fact that we have a dedicated representative who works with us. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** The response time for customer care emails to be answered can be long. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** I really like the new chat feature. It has cut down on my wait time to resolve issues. ### 34. No knowledge of state regulations in regards to employment background checks **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 21, 2022 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Nothing. As a user, they are not a company you want to partner with to stay compliant with state mandates in regards to employment background checks. If you are hoping that this company with help you CYA so you don't have to know every states requirements, look elsewhere. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** This company willfully violates state laws regarding employment background checks. They will blame their non-compliance on you, the employer. They will tell you that they do as they are told. They do not care if they violate state laws and privacy mandates for potential hires. They operate without any regard to violating the privacy and state laws in regard to potential hires when conducting their background check reports. When questioned, they will throw this back at you, the employer and say it is your fault for requesting such information. If you think that Sterling will help keep you compliant with ever-changing regulations as far as what information you can legally obtain, look elsewhere. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** I thought this service would help us keep compliant with all the different state regulations in regards to what is legal when conducting employee background checks. But this is not the case. They just blindly do whatever and when questioned, they refer this back to you, the employer. They are not a partner that you can use to help you keep in compliance. ### 35. First Advantage has no basic competence, integrity and professionalism **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Management Consulting | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 12, 2022 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** I was offered a job, and the employer hired First Advantage to do a background check. Their upload portal has technical issues from time to time; when you upload the documents, there is no field to add some comments except the document name. Their work took more than one month. This was not the worest part. I followed their instruction and got the official authentication report from the government, and they still told the employer that I failed the background check. I offered them all the official original certificates from professional institutions, but they still told the employer they couldn't verify them. They still put me in big trouble and a nightmare even though I offered all the legal documents and proof they required in a timely manner. First Advantage has no basic competence, integrity and professionalism to do their work. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Everything except their polite customer service but their customer service doesn't involve background check work. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** They didn't solve problems. Instead, they created problems. ### 36. Does what it needs to. A little pricy **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jeff N. | Director of Business Development, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 16, 2023 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Ease of use. Was able to do what we needed. Turn around time was decent **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Pricing was the main factor for us looking at alternative vendors **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Verifying Criminal Records Checks in Canada and whe USA ### 37. First Advantage is a great background check process. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Utilities | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 18, 2022 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** I like entering our new applicant's information myself vs. relying on the applicant. They don't entering information correctly all the time. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** When the address doesn't seem correct but when I google the address, it seems to be right. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** I do not currently have problems that First Advantage is solving at the moment ### 38. Incompetent and Unprofessional **** **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Mechanical or Industrial Engineering | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 26, 2022 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** There is nothing to like about First Advantage. If at all it's a pain in the proverbial. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** They want all employment records including periods of unemployment if any. They then call ex-employers under the guise of confirming employment dates and ask for references even though the names of other referees have been submitted separately. Do not engage even if they are the last surviving background check people on earth. The customer support is unaware of what the processing team is doing so it's a toss between different departments. Each person works in their own way without proper guidelines, Unethical behaviour is the norm. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** They can only create problems that can be damaging to an individual. ### 39. Quick and Reliable **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Imran K. | Recruiter, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 12, 2022 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** As I gave title to this Quick and reliable because I have seen lot of My collegues and candidate gone through with their BG check process and had the same exp as me. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** what made to cut off 2 ⭐ is because I found the Process lengthy and repetitive. Most of the time you have to put the same thing you did before. Otherwise Everthing is Perfect! **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** As a Recruiter I would say having A-check for bg checking can be a saviour as generally employee always find the BG check a Hassle but when they go through with it, Its goes with Snap. ### 40. Annoying and making candidate frustrating! **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 31, 2022 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** None. I feel frustrated and upset with Sterling. I do not like everything in Sterling. Hope my nightmare will be over as soon as possible. Hope no company will use Sterling service as it is painful for new joiner. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Their background is started lately even I submitted all forms earlier. After 2 weeks of my submission, Sterling will keep asking me for filling out additional consent forms incrementally. Each time, Sterling will send an email to me at midnight and I need to go back to the office for printing it and sign it by hand (Electronic Signature is not allowed). As I do not have a printer and scanner at home, I need to visit my office daily during the COVID period. It is frustrating and each time, Sterling warns me, any delay will impact my start working date, will affect my family income. I need to sleep with worry and get up earlier for going back office to achieve Sterling's mission. I tried different backgrounds in different companies. Sterling is the worst one. I am planning to take another offer as I feel frustrated due to low visibility and no customer service in Sterling. All responses are automated robots. **Recommendations to others considering First Advantage:** Please use other background check solutions in order to make candidate life easier and less frustrating! Actually, I am preparing to take another offer due to Sterling's annoying task daily. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Background Check. No benefit has been realized for me at this moment. ### 41. Absolutely disgusted with Customer Service and Product. **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Gambling & Casinos | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 31, 2022 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Nothing. Not the CSR's nor the company's process. The wait time. Lack of progress. Lack of responsibility and efficiency. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** My employer initiated a PreScreen background check on 12/6/2021. It has been postponed 10X now, 2 months, with a reason referring to Court delays and COVID. I’ve contacted First Advantage several times to inquire, per HR, and have spoken to several Customer Service Reps. I’ve been given Ticket Numbers and been told that the request would be submitted again. My inquiries seem to not have been made a priority, nobody seems to take responsibility or follow through on what they promise. There seems to be no resolution or even any proactive initiatives taken. I’ve not been contacted, nor has my employer. At this time, my estimated completion date has once again been postponed to 2/4/2022. At this rate, it appears that this may go on indefinitely. I understand that the courts are stalling, however, this information is public record and although it may not be your process, the information is easily accessible and therefore continuing to hinder my employment process is unacceptable. If there is a hiccup in the company’s process, or if it is broken in some way, common sense would say that the job still needs to be completed and the customer satisfied. I am utterly confused and disgusted at the way I’ve been treated by your CSR’s; their lack of concern, interest and responsibility is appalling. First Advantage does not conduct or present itself in a professional business manner whatsoever. It repeatedly fails to take responsibility or follow through with completing the requested background checks by their clients. I would like to speak to a decision maker or Manager of some kind that can provide me and my employer assistance and a solution. Please contact me as soon as possible. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Background check. Not being solved after 2 months! No benefits whatsoever. The worst run business ever! ### 42. Accurate Background Check, not as efficient **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 27, 2022 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Sterling has been around for a while, and I trust the accuracy of their checks. Consistent pricing **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Not many integrations, not the greatest customer experience. Really clunky. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Background checks for new hires ### 43. Verifications Not Actually Performed - Left for Candidate To Do **Rating:** 0.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Online Media | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 09, 2021 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** The only positive I could note is that the interface is easy to maneuver - but needing to note exact dates without gaps for all fields is a nuisance. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** There is virtually no Customer Service available. Employment and education verification work is not done by Sterling but rather outsourced to the candidate. Responses and requests are automated and it is impossible to get through to a real person. Even after providing the documentation requested by them, it is not noted properly in the final report. Because they don't make the effort to actually verify information other than criminal history, despite providing the requested documentation for other information, it will still be counted against you as they technically didn't verify it themselves. I would assume it is hard to verify anything when you don't even attempt to actually contact the points of contact provided. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Sterling is supposed to streamline background checks - these are not properly performed so there are no benefits to note. They just serve to cause stress to the candidate. ### 44. Fantastic!! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Pankaj P. | Executive - Resourcing, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 06, 2022 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Best User Interface and easy to use with best submissions and functionality. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Nothing to dislike but they are improving day by day. **Recommendations to others considering First Advantage:** Very good and easy to use with the best functionalities. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Submission of profiles and finding a good match profile. ### 45. Easy and painless switch **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Translation and Localization | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 16, 2022 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Easy way to navigate the platform without major issues **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** layout of the reports and access to help center **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** running backgroud reports that are crucial to our engagement ### 46. Bulky and Inefficient **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 02, 2021 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** I do like that we can see more detail as different checks are being completed. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Where to even begin. Customer service is extremely lacking. They will try to tell you something in the software isn't acting up until you send proof. They will boot your preferred drug testing location without a heads up (which was a nightmare and took months to get set up in the first place). Oh and on the second random place they sent our candidate, they lost the sample, which is inexcusable and pushed hiring back several weeks. We're lucky we didn't lose the candidate since Sterling's support told him it was still being tested (nope, never got to the lab). Finally, they will close a case as completed even if something wasn't done, as in the case of the missing drug test. Instead of reaching out to us directly to explain the mishap, they told the applicant it had been lost and marked the check as complete and to "consider" the drug test results. Completely unacceptable. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** They are supposed to host our background check screening process, but it has been bulky and not very user friendly. Our last company was so much better and I look forward to the day we can go back. ### 47. Not a great user experience for prospective candidates **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Retail | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 28, 2022 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Not much to say here since we switched away from it. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Very opaque experience for all parties, plus more expensive than competitors. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Background checks and getting talent verified ### 48. Decent Basic System for Employment Eligibility Screening **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Automotive | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 15, 2021 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** I like that Sterling Talent Solutions is pretty easy to use and user-intuitive. Background checks, I-9 verifications, etc., are pretty easy to execute on Sterling. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** I dislike how slow the user interface is. A lot of times, in the middle of tasks, it'll lag and take forever to load. Also, from a peer design perspective, Sterling could use a facelift. The UI is very bare, dull, and uninviting. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** Sterling Talent Solutions is great for executing background checks, I-9 verifications, and other employment eligibility services. It's pretty easy to use and train employees on. ### 49. It's been 2 weeks and my background is still pending, they are delaying my start date **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Logistics and Supply Chain | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 05, 2021 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** Nothing, they don't help you at all Customer care doesn't take care of anything, all they do is post notes **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Everything, communication is the worst, every customer care give you different information, and none of them can help you **Recommendations to others considering First Advantage:** Don't use them! **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** I would give 0 starts if I could, it's been 2 weeks since the background started, they sent the back an incorrect background to the company I'll work for and have been trying to fix for one week. Every customer service tell me a different story and no one can resolve a simple issue. I would not use their service, as an applicant I almost feel like giving up the job because of the amount of stress Sterling is causing me, at this point they will delay my start date because they couldn't complete the background. If you care about your candidate don't use this service! ### 50. A-Check Global review **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Staffing and Recruiting | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 11, 2022 **What do you like best about First Advantage?** A-check global application helps in providing the best customer care and support. You also may customize background screening solutions to meet each client's unique requirements. **What do you dislike about First Advantage?** Nothing as such, because this application provides with the most accurate devices. However interface could have been much better **Recommendations to others considering First Advantage:** It provides solution to each type of industry ranging from small to big and even startups. **What problems is First Advantage solving and how is that benefiting you?** This application improves the quality of hiring n make the hiring process faster and also provide with risk management. ## First Advantage Discussions - [What is A-Check Global used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-a-check-global-used-for) - [What do you know about First Advantage?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-do-you-know-about-first-advantage) - [How Good Is First Advantage background check?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-good-is-first-advantage-background-check) - [What does First Advantage look for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-does-first-advantage-look-for) - [What shows up on a First Advantage background check?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-shows-up-on-a-first-advantage-background-check) - [View First Advantage pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/first-advantage/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-06-23+09%3A05%3A12+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=275e9343-8b6c-4a10-a09a-aed6c8b14863&secure%5Btoken%5D=92179ecbd2dba6c74bc2fca3ef91c00fbd5ae39a158aa5a8811b76be07205b41&format=llm_user) ## First Advantage Integrations - [Bullhorn](https://www.g2.com/products/bullhorn/reviews) - [UKG Pro](https://www.g2.com/products/ukg-pro/reviews) ## First Advantage Features **Background Check Administration** - Screening and Assessments - Compliance - Dashboard **Drug Testing Administration** - Screening and Assessments - Compliance - Dashboard - Integrations **Generative AI** - AI Text Generation - AI Text Summarization **Agentic AI - SAP Store** - Autonomous Task Execution - Multi-step Planning - Cross-system Integration - Adaptive Learning - Natural Language Interaction - Proactive Assistance - Decision Making **Background Check Data** - Real-Time Tracking - Platform Search - Alerts and Notifications **Drug Testing Data** - Real-Time Tracking - Alerts and Notifications **Background Check Additional Functionality** - Integrations - Mobility - Messaging **Drug Testing Additional Functionality** - Mobility - Messaging - Payment **AI Insight Check - Background Check** - Insight Check **Platform** - Customization - Integration APIs - Internationalization - User, Role, and Access Management - Performance - Mobility - Reporting - Dashboards **AI Investigation and Verification - Background Check** - Verification ## Top First Advantage Alternatives - [Checkr](https://www.g2.com/products/checkr/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (389 reviews) - [HireRight](https://www.g2.com/products/hireright/reviews) - 3.9/5.0 (174 reviews) - [GoodHire (a Checkr company)](https://www.g2.com/products/goodhire-a-checkr-company/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (270 reviews)