Background checks can be one of the most nerve-racking activities related to getting a new job. In many cases, it’s not that you have anything to hide, but it’s just that the propensity for error – either by a human or machine – can have some serious ramifications.

There are companies that charge employers big money to access personal information on potential hires. But the truth is, there is already plenty of data publicly available on us all – and it’s free, meaning we can pretty much perform background checks on ourselves. Think of it as a sneak peak of what a potential employer might see when you go to apply for a job.

How to run a  background check on yourself — for free 

While we’re in an era when so many online databases are basically at our fingertips, some of the info that’s available could be totally inaccurate.

When it comes to background checks, accurate information on a person’s identity is especially crucial: Incorrectly run checks that confuse people with the same or similar names could be costing job applicants that all-important job offer.

Aside from social networking sites such as Facebook, here are some free databases that have troves of information on people are:

PeekYou.com: This free people search site crawls the web for links likely associated with you or the person you're searching for. The site will also pull information from social media.

BeenVerified.com: This site pulls a composite taken from across the web. It is pretty accurate in pinning the city a person is from or has lived in. It also features a comprehensive social search, pulling from sites such as LinkedIn, Pinterest and Facebook to identify possible relatives as well.

NSOPW: The National Sexual Offender Public Website is a safety resource that provides the public with access to sex offender data nationwide.

Credit reports: Get free credit reports from Credit Karma and Credit Sesame to what employers (who are increasingly running credit check on potential employees) might see.

RELATED: Here's how your friends could help you recover your Facebook account

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