UserTesting: Hiring, Background Check & Employment Verification FAQs

UserTesting was founded in 2007 by Darrell Benatar and Dave Garr, and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The original idea grew out of Garr's work at Apple recording and analyzing how customers experienced opening a new Macintosh, with the founders setting out to do something similar for web-based products. The result was a platform that pays participants to complete tasks while their screen and voice are recorded, so product teams can see where people get stuck rather than guessing.

The platform today is marketed as a human insight platform. Organizations post tasks or questions, the system routes them to participants drawn from a large contributor network or from the customer's own audience, and teams receive video recordings, spoken feedback, and analysis they can share internally. Product managers, designers, researchers, and marketers use the output to test concepts, compare designs, and understand friction in live experiences. As of its 2022 announcement, the company reported serving more than 2,500 customers, including a substantial share of the world's most valuable brands.

Ownership changed in the early 2020s. UserTesting agreed in October 2022 to be acquired by the private equity firm Thoma Bravo together with growth capital firm Sunstone Partners in a transaction valued at 1.3 billion dollars. Stockholders approved the deal at a special meeting on January 10, 2023, and the acquisition was subsequently completed, taking the company private after a period as a publicly traded business.

The people connected to UserTesting fall into two very different groups, which matters when discussing screening. Employees hold corporate roles in engineering, product management, design, user research, data and analytics, sales, customer success, marketing, finance, legal, and people operations, working from San Francisco, other offices, and remote locations. Contributors, by contrast, are the members of the testing network who complete paid tests on their own devices. Contributors are generally engaged as independent participants rather than as employees, so the arrangements that apply to them differ from those that apply to staff.

Company culture and employee programs:

As a software company built around customer research, UserTesting's corporate roles emphasize collaboration between research, design, engineering, and go-to-market teams, and many positions are structured for distributed or hybrid work. Hiring for technical and product roles commonly includes practical exercises or portfolio reviews alongside conversations with the team. Compensation, equity, benefits, and remote work eligibility vary by role, level, and country, so candidates should confirm specifics with the recruiter during the process.

Yes. Employers in the software and technology industry, including UserTesting, are legally permitted to conduct pre-employment background checks on job candidates, provided they follow applicable federal, state, and local laws. In the United States, employment screening is governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which sets requirements for disclosure, written candidate authorization, and adverse action procedures. State and city fair-chance laws layer on additional rules, and candidates outside the United States are screened under the employment and privacy laws of their own country.

Technology employers are generally reported to conduct background checks on candidates who receive offers, and UserTesting is widely understood to follow standard industry practice for corporate hiring. Screening is common in software companies because employees may access customer data, production systems, source code, and confidential business information, and enterprise customers frequently expect vendors to vet staff who handle their data. The scope of a UserTesting background check may vary by role, seniority, and country. Participation in the paid testing network is a different relationship from employment, and contributors should not assume that the steps described here apply to them.

Steps vary by function, but the UserTesting hiring process typically follows a sequence common to software companies. Candidates apply online for a specific opening and, if shortlisted, speak with a recruiter about experience, compensation expectations, and location or remote eligibility. That is usually followed by an interview with the hiring manager and then a loop with several team members, which for engineering roles may include a technical exercise, for design roles a portfolio review, and for sales roles a mock customer conversation. Candidates who receive an offer typically complete pre-employment steps, which commonly include consent to a background check, before a start date is confirmed.

Turnaround depends on the searches ordered, the responsiveness of courts, schools, and former employers, and how many jurisdictions a candidate's history spans. Many technology pre-employment reports come back within a few business days, while education verifications, international checks, and multi-state criminal searches often take longer. Candidates who have worked or studied abroad should plan for extra time. Those who want to understand typical timelines in more detail can review background check turnaround times.

The components of any background check are determined by the employer and the requirements of the role. For a position at a software company like UserTesting, screening may include some or all of the following:

Review the disclosure and authorization forms you receive to see which searches apply to your specific role.

Lookback depends on the search type and the law of the state where the candidate lives or worked. In the United States, the FCRA generally limits consumer reporting agencies from reporting most negative information older than seven years, with exceptions for certain record types such as convictions and for higher-salary positions, and several states apply stricter limits. Employment and education verifications are treated differently, since they confirm dates and credentials rather than report adverse public records, and candidates with history in other countries may see local rules applied to those records.

UserTesting does not publish a detailed public policy on candidates with felony records, and decisions of this kind are typically made case by case. Common considerations include the nature and seriousness of the offense, how much time has passed, evidence of rehabilitation, and how the conduct relates to the responsibilities of the role, including any access to customer data. Many states and cities have enacted "ban-the-box" laws that limit when and how employers may ask about criminal history during the application process. Candidates are encouraged to apply honestly and be prepared to discuss their background if it comes up.

Candidates should expect to give written consent before a background check is initiated, usually through a disclosure and authorization form issued after an offer. Be prepared to supply accurate personal information, including full legal name and any former names, date of birth, Social Security number for U.S. applicants or the local equivalent elsewhere, and address history, along with documentation of work authorization. Accurate information helps ensure searches are run in the correct jurisdictions and reduces the chance of delays before a start date.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a U.S. federal law that governs how consumer reporting agencies collect, use, and share background check information. Under the FCRA, an employer must obtain written consent before ordering a report, provide a copy of the report and a summary of rights before taking adverse action, and give the candidate an opportunity to dispute inaccurate information before a final decision. For a detailed overview of how the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines apply to background checks, review Checkr's introduction to the two frameworks.

Generally, no, and it is important to separate the two relationships. Signing up to complete paid tests is participation in a contributor network rather than employment, and platforms of this kind typically verify identity and payment details rather than running an employment background check. Participants are usually asked to confirm who they are, provide tax or payment information where required, and agree to terms covering confidentiality and the handling of any customer material they see during a test. Anyone unsure about what a specific signup involves should read the participant terms and privacy notice before agreeing.

Running a personal background check with Checkr lets you preview what UserTesting may see and help you identify potential inaccuracies before they affect your job application. In one secure report you can review:

Create your report in minutes at Checkr Personal Background Checks. To showcase verified credentials proactively, build a free Checkr Profile you can share with recruiters, hiring managers, or potential employers.

Check your report status in the Candidate Portal. Or, visit the Checkr Help Center for FAQs, dispute steps, and to contact support.

The resources and information provided here are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Always consult your own counsel for up-to-date legal advice and guidance related to your practices, needs, and compliance with applicable laws.