Women's Job List

How to Manage the Employment Background Check Process


In today’s competitive job market, background checks are becoming increasingly more sophisticated and comprehensive. A company will attempt to know everything about you before they decide to hire you. What if you have an arrest record? What if you recently received a DWI (driving while intoxicated) or DUI (driving under the influence)? What if you stated on your resume that you graduated from the University of Florida, but you were really three credits short of graduating? In order to avoid having your background check become a problem, make a full disclosure before the company decides to offer you the job. 

Brian Kirk, an executive recruiter and Principal with L.C KIRK & CO, told us that background checks have become a big factor in today’s job market. “Many candidates do not get the job because they falsely assume their past will not show up in their background check”, said Kirk. “I have worked with many candidates who have had DUI’s (driving under the influence), DWI’s (driving while intoxicated), and even misdemeanors on their record. The problem is not the offense for which they were convicted, but the non disclosure of this information before the company runs the background check.” Brian suggested that being one hundred percent truthful is the best policy. Informing the company about your past at the right time is also a factor. Being less than forthright almost cost one of Brian’s candidates the job.

Brian continued: “I recently worked with a very successful sales executive job seeker. She had a successful initial phone interview and was invited to the home office for a face-to-face meeting. She was so impressive that the hiring manager asked me why she not been employed for the last six months. Why did she leave her last job when she had been so successful? The sales executive gave me a host of logical reasons why she left her last job and why she had not taken a job in the last six months.

After the face-to-face meeting the company quickly forwarded her an employment application and told her they intended to offer her the job. It was at that point that she called me and sounded deeply distressed. She explained that she had gone through a terrible divorce. Apparently she found her husband cheating on her and this promoted her to start drinking. She received three DUI’s in the span of twelve months and quit her job. I was forced to go back to the company and explain this. It turned out the hiring manager was not upset about the three DUI’s. He was upset that she did not share this information in the face-to-face meeting.

The candidate’s position was that she wanted to put her best foot forward throughout the interviews. She decided to wait to tell the hiring manager about her DUI’s only after she knew she was going to be offered the job. She felt the company would never consider her if they had known about her three DUI’s. As the recruiter, I knew the problem was not the DUI’s or the way the candidate waited to inform the hiring manager about her past. The problem was “trust”. The hiring manager no longer felt he could trust the candidate He felt she should have been truthful right from the start. In order to repair and establish a level of trust, I suggested the candidate contact the hiring manager and explain the personal issues that led to her DUI’s. I also suggested that she tell the hiring manger that he was right and she was wrong. She should have told him about the DUI’s in the face-to-face meeting. It turns out the hiring manager became deeply sympathetic with the candidate and thanked her for trusting him with such personal information. Trust had been reestablished and she got the job.”

Many people will argue that most companies will make you fill out an application before you even get an opportunity to interview. If you indicate that you have a DUI (misdemeanor), you will immediately be eliminated as a candidate. In some cases this may happen but in most instances you will get an opportunity to interview.

Brian suggested that you find a point of contact at the company and attempt to tell your side of the story. He gives the following advice: “If you are forced to fill out the application before you even meet the hiring manager, send in the application and ask to speak to the person who is in charge of reviewing your records. Try to communicate directly with the hiring manager or human resources executive. Everyone makes mistakes, and most hiring managers are a lot more sympathetic and forgiving than you might think. If you don’t tell the truth on the application, the company will find out about your past and you will most likely not get the job.”