Background Checks

[Marianne911]

What is the name of your state?
California

I just started a job search, and have realized that more employers are doing background checks.

Out of curiosity I ran a check on myself to see what sort of information people will see about me.

I was shocked to find out that I have one criminal record listed. I did some research and found out it was from 2002 and came about due to a ticket I got for proof of car registration. I believe it is on my record because the court did not get the verification from me in a timely fashion.

This particular year in question the DMV made a data entry error and entered my social security number incorrectly (so the one they had on file did not match my name). It took some effort to sort out, including a trip to the social security office so I could get proof regarding who I was/am.

I finally did get this straigtened out but because the court did not receive it on time it appears there must have been a warrant for my arrest (that I was not aware of). The court clerk did not tell me this when I went to the window to resolve the issue. There was never an arrest or even a meeting in front of a judge so I was totally oblivious to the issue.

Now I am worried that this issue may prevent me from getting the job I want. Can this be used against me ?

I am planning on going to the court house and meeting with a judge to see if I can get this off of the record.

In addition, I am wondering what else employers look at.

I had a few late payments (30 days past due) on my credit report but no liens, bankruptcies or anything like that. How is credit information used on a reference check ?

I am a person with lots of experience, great references and have worked for some top notch companies. But...in this current market and know hiring managers can be very picky.

How concerned should I be about all of this ? How should I handle it in an interview ?

 

[cbg]

It's not going to come up in an interview, at least an initial interview, because employers do not run whatever background checks they are planning to run until they have pretty much determined who they are going to make an offer to. I do checks on my top three candidates, after I've eliminated everyone else, and I think I'm pretty typical. It never ceases to amaze me how many people appear to think that a hiring employer has the time or the resources to run background checks or reference checks on applicants before they even interview anyone. That is NOT how an employer decides who to interview, trust me.

Whether credit information is used in a hiring decision, and if so, to what degree, is entirely up to the individual employer and the job they are looking to fill. By no means all employers run credit checks at all, and if they do, what they are looking for and why will vary. Personally, I've never run a credit check on anyone unless they were going to be handling large amounts of cash.

As far as the "criminal record" goes, I really wouldn't be too worried about it. Unless you are applying for a job that involves driving, few if any employers are going to care about something like what you're describing. However, and I can't emphasize this strongly enough, IF there is a question on any application form to which a truthful and literal answer would mean revealing what happened, TELL THEM ABOUT IT. DO NOT attempt to hide it. What you are describing is NOT something that any employer is going to be concerned about. However, NO employer will accept being lied to. If you attempt to hide this and get caught, you can kiss the job goodbye. If you are hired before they find it out, you can expect to be fired. Falsification of your application is a termination offense and grounds to eliminate you from hiring. But an employee who is honest and tells an employer what they can expect to find, often is forgiven.

If there's nothing in the application that would require you to reveal it, you don't have to volunteer it. But you MUST TELL THE TRUTH.

 

[Marianne911]

Thanks so much.

A few more questions...

I did fill out an application two weeks ago that asked if I had ever been convicted of a crime and I said no because I honestly did not know about this. At this point, what should I do with that one ?

Also, I am a Sales person so I do drive in my job....and I deal with increasing revenue but I usually don't deal with money (unless I have a very slow paying customer that needs inventory and needs me to fed-ex a check to corporate or something).

Considering this, any additional comments.

The people at the courthouse thought I should be able to get this taken off my record if I meet with a judge. I heard though that, even if I do, it may still show up on the background check. If it is expelled from the record (or dismissed) do I still need to mention it ?

I want to do the right thing. This has really been a shock to me and has been weighing heavy on my mind.

 

[cbg]

Marianne, I really don't think you have anything to worry about. First of all, every employer does not check criminal history and if they do, they are going to be far more concerned with whether you ever were convicted of drug use or shooting a co-worker, than whether or not you ever didn't pay a ticket on time. IF the employer you applied with last week calls you on the discrepancy, explain about it at the time, but I assure you that when they ask if you were convicted of a crime, they're talking about something you went to court for. If this is something you didn't even know about, you didn't actually get *convicted* of anything, right?

Likewise, they're going to be more concerned about your overall driving record than if there was one ticket (what kind of ticket, btw - speeding? Parking?) that didn't get paid on time.

Opinions vary as to whether you should mention expunged crimes. Before I offer an opinion, can I ask what the record actually say?

 

[Marianne911]

I ran the check on Career Builder. The company they use is SureCheck. The record has my name and date of birth. Under offense information it has the case number, county, and offense disposition. The disposition is as follows:

Case filing record only. Disposition not provided.

Offense description: not provided by state.

The sentence date, sentence length and offense date are all blank.

When I called the court to find out more info, they said it was a misdemeanor for "failure to appear in court" ??!!


You are so kind to help me. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your advice. I know nothing about this kind of thing.

 

[cbg]

Do you remember the incident? What happened?

(This is all connected to whether you should mention it once it has been expunged - I'm not being nosy.)

 

[SuzieWahoozie]

CBG, the OP mentions it was a ticket he/she received for not having the car registered properly (or not being able to prove that). It appears the OP submitted the information to the court proving proper registration, but not on time. This lead to the "failure to appear" warrant.

I agree with all the advice CBG has provided. And as far as the job requiring driving, this isn't even a serious moving violation like speeding or running a red light, which could cause accidents/injury.

My only concern is that the information you dug up seems a bit ambiguous. It doesn't say why a warrant was filed, etc. and unless the employer does the digging you did (calls the court), they may not find the answer. You need to be the one to be upfront about the situation if you are told they are going to do a criminal background check. They should tell you this...and you will probably have to sign a release for them to give permission for peformance of the check.

Other than that, as CBG has already suggested, be honest, but it doesn't appear you really have much to worry about if you've told us the whole story.

 

[cbg]

Thanks, Suz. The part about the car registration was so early in the thread I had lost it by the end. What I was mostly concerned about was whether or not she remembered being required to appear in court and how it happened that she missed it.

 

[Marianne911]

Thanks to both of you.

Actually, I was never required to appear in court....only to go to the traffic window (where you pay for tickets etc) and show my registration....or I could go to the police station. That is why I was so shocked.

I feel much better now. I really appreciate your input.