Pre-employment backround checks

wArEhOuSePuNk

wArEhOuSePuNk

Ex-Bluelighter
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Messages
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I know this question was asked before. I dont remember if it got locked or not.

Does anybody have a list of employers that dont do backround checks?
 
I can't imagine there being a universal list... do you mean corporate employers that don't do background checks ? (there can't be many of them)
 
I really doubt there is an actual list like that somewhere. I guess you can kinda tell by what the job is. Like if you are going to work at a bank or deal with lots of money there is probably going to be a background check. If you are going to work at a car wash or fast food place then chances are there isnt going to be a background check.
 
Originally Posted by Lady Chaos
I really doubt there is an actual list like that somewhere. I guess you can kinda tell by what the job is. Like if you are going to work at a bank or deal with lots of money there is probably going to be a background check. If you are going to work at a car wash or fast food place then chances are there isnt going to be a background check.
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^^This pretty much sums it up. I once asked myself the same question, "where's the list?" But after years of working in many different kinds of jobs (with painstaking attention paid to this very question every time), I can offer the following rules that largely restate what Lady Chaos said, and can be successfully used to derive your own "magic list:"

1.) Large corporations do background checks for corporate jobs.
2.) Small business entities either will or will not give a background check for a corporate-type job, it's a fifty-fifty chance, and may be dependent on how far up in the heirarchy the postion in question is.
3.) Any blue-collar job which requires state licencing will require a background check from both the company as well as the governmental licencing agency.
4.) Retail sales companies do background checks
5.) Food service companies give background checks

Each of the background checks above come with varying degrees of critical eyes, but generally just pretend 1 is the most critical and 5 is the least critical.

Regarding your situation in particular
Employers can understand someone who smoked a little pot back in the day. They can also understand that time you were drunk in public. Maybe they can understand that time you got in a fight.

But no one understands theft. By any means possible, get that charge expunged.
 
I work at a telecom company and we do background checks. We particularly frown on larceny charges.

We don't want you stealing our equipment.
 
Good information captain! I've been a felon for a few years and have found all that to be true.
 
so like on the application, when it asks "do you have a criminal record" should you just admit to it there, or take your chances hoping they won't follow through and actually do a background check???

i have a misdemeanor trespassing charge, so it's not that big of deal,
i'm just curious
 
They usually ask if you have been convicted of a felony.

If they do ask about misdemeanor charges (not very common), I would report your charge, and make sure to note that it was only for trespassing. I couldn't see many employers holding that against you.
 
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dankstersauce said:
i have a misdemeanor trespassing charge, so it's not that big of deal,
i'm just curious
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it doesn't sound like that big of a deal at all
 
^
no way of knowing that. some employers are unreasonable when it comes to these sorts of things, especially government employers. but given the large number of people who have DUIs, trespass, public urination, or misdemeanor possession somewhere in their past, it's a fair bet that admitting these things on a job app will usually not be a total bar for a private employer. but ya never ever know for sure.
 
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I don't really see the advantage of making that sort of information public from a community standpoint.

Sure, if you're a business, it makes sense - But assuming your head isn't stuffed squarely in your back entrance, you can see how denying employment to past offenders could lead to a cycle of crime and poverty.

This sort of handshaking between government and business really needs to stop on all levels.
 
^
some employers take failure to disclose a lot more serious than having a violation. it depends on the employer. no one can say for sure.
 
I would say typically you should admit any legal problems you've had. Be sure to read the wording though, if they ask about felonies and you only have a misdemeanor, you don't say anything about it.

I had a buddy who applied at the grocery store I worked at. He came in for an interview, used me as a reference, the manager loved him and everything was set for him to work except for checking his other references and a background check.

He had a felony, but lied and said he didn't, thinking that since it was a small grocery store they wouldn't follow up on it. He didn't get the job and the manager wouldn't give me a good answer when I asked why. I had no idea about the felony either until my buddy told me about it a couple weeks after he didn't get the job. So I asked the manager if it was because he lied about a felony and she said yeah. If he had listed what the felony was, which was for dealing weed, then he most likely would have got the job. They didn't care he had a criminal record so much as they were pissed he lied about it.
 
Employers should not have access to that information once your debt to society has been paid in full. I will maintain this to my grave.
 
Criminal charges and convictions have always been public information, the problem is before the internet background checks were expensive, you would also have to know the right state and county and go down to the courthouse to look at the record or call.

Now its just ten bucks to a database company for all that.

And its impossible to tell how a company will take it, they are all different.
Some are total hardasses about drug charges, some are sympathetic.
Its really impossible to predict.
 
Kyk said:
Employers should not have access to that information once your debt to society has been paid in full. I will maintain this to my grave.
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I wholeheartedly agree with you. Once you do your time you should be allowed to put it behind you and get on with your life.
 
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