Services are based on a contract of message exchange, and these messages have schemas. When you tackle problems in a given business domain, it's advisable to identify and apply any existing standardization in the area of these message schemas. Many industries have technical working groups assembled from industry experts that work to define an XML vocabulary and its schema for representing information pertaining to applications in their field.

All variety of applications, beyond Background Checking, that are pertinent to modern organizations' human resources departments fall under the HR-XML umbrella. Some of these application areas include résumé (CV) retention, expense reporting, payroll, and outsourcing.

Find more information and XML schema definitions for the types of documents an HR-XML service would exchange on the HR-XML Consortium Web site.