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background checks in finance industry

oman

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I have a friend who is joining a large IT consultancy that serves the North American financial sector. He's joining at either the director or VP level, so it's a reasonably senior role.

Here's the thing - he has a minor DUI conviction from a year and a half ago. The person offering him the job said that they'll be doing a background check - do you think this will hold him back?
 

marg

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Not ideal, but prob not a dealbreaker. Dont get any more. Cabs are cheaper.
 

oman

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Originally Posted by marg
Dont get any more. Cabs are cheaper.
agreed
Originally Posted by thenanyu
Depends, did he report this on his application? There is always a question about past convictions. Usually, they only care about felonies.
the person in question hasn't filled out any applications as of yet - this is an offer that came through his network. would you suggest i tell him to disclose it on the formal application?
 

tj100

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Originally Posted by sinnedk
Pretty sure from my past job experience they only ask about felonies and a dui is not serious enough. I hope if they asked about convictions that he disclosed it at least because if he lied then it would be worse.

Agreed; the DUI is not an issue - lying about it (i.e. not disclosing if asked) could be.
 

suited

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Most applications say something along the lines of "have you ever been convicted of a crime other than a minor traffic violation".

If he has a DUI, I would not put that on the application. Worst case scenario they do the check and find it, you could say that it was expunged and you were under the impression that you didn't have to list it. It's not the best excuse in the world, but if you're caught in a lie it's better than nothing. If the conviction was 10 years ago, you could always be upfront and tell them you made a mistake. When it comes to this type of stuff, there's really no right or wrong answer - it's really going to just depend on the person making the call.
 

JayJay

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Originally Posted by suited
Most applications say something along the lines of "have you ever been convicted of a crime other than a minor traffic violation".

If he has a DUI, I would not put that on the application. Worst case scenario they do the check and find it, you could say that it was expunged and you were under the impression that you didn't have to list it. It's not the best excuse in the world, but if you're caught in a lie it's better than nothing. If the conviction was 10 years ago, you could always be upfront and tell them you made a mistake. When it comes to this type of stuff, there's really no right or wrong answer - it's really going to just depend on the person making the call.

Very bad advice. If he doesn't disclose, and they find out, even if it's years later, it can be the basis for termination.
 

tj100

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Originally Posted by suited
Most applications say something along the lines of "have you ever been convicted of a crime other than a minor traffic violation".

If he has a DUI, I would not put that on the application. Worst case scenario they do the check and find it, you could say that it was expunged and you were under the impression that you didn't have to list it. It's not the best excuse in the world, but if you're caught in a lie it's better than nothing. If the conviction was 10 years ago, you could always be upfront and tell them you made a mistake. When it comes to this type of stuff, there's really no right or wrong answer - it's really going to just depend on the person making the call.


Depends on the jurisdiction, but in my state, you can't discriminate against convicted criminals in hiring decisions (with some exceptions). You can discriminate against someone for lying in the candidate screening process. Something like a DUI isn't going to disqualify you - but a discrepancy between a background check and disclosure may.
 

suited

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Originally Posted by JayJay
If he doesn't disclose, and they find out, even if it's years later, it can be the basis for termination.
Yes, it can be. It can also prevent him from getting the job in the first place. That was kind of what I was getting at - he's in a bad situation no matter what he does. I was giving him options as to what to say if he lies, and what to say if he tells the truth. If they're going to do a background check, they're going to do it now - probably not 2 years from now (unless something suspicious happens). If he's going to be upfront, I would never just list it on the application without giving a sincere explanation in person, not just a few sentences in the section that says "explain".
 

oman

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this is in Canada, for the record
 

suited

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Originally Posted by tj100
in my state, you can't discriminate against convicted criminals in hiring decisions
That's irrelevant when it's all said and done. The company isn't going to say "we didn't hire you because you have a DUI".
 

sinnedk

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Originally Posted by suited
Most applications say something along the lines of "have you ever been convicted of a crime other than a minor traffic violation".

If he has a DUI, I would not put that on the application. Worst case scenario they do the check and find it, you could say that it was expunged and you were under the impression that you didn't have to list it. It's not the best excuse in the world, but if you're caught in a lie it's better than nothing. If the conviction was 10 years ago, you could always be upfront and tell them you made a mistake. When it comes to this type of stuff, there's really no right or wrong answer - it's really going to just depend on the person making the call.


This person received the DUI 1.5 years ago.

He can always call the recruiter/hr rep and ask them about it. I am sure they will tell you if its something that needs to be disclosed. In addition, check your linkedin(assuming you have profile) if you have any friends that are HR or Recruiters and ask. Make some calls see if any acquaintances are in HR, the policies are pretty similar normally.
 

suited

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Originally Posted by sinnedk
This person received the DUI 1.5 years ago.

He can always call the recruiter/hr rep and ask them about it. I am sure they will tell you if its something that needs to be disclosed. In addition, check your linkedin(assuming you have profile) if you have any friends that are HR or Recruiters and ask. Make some calls see if any acquaintances are in HR, the policies are pretty similar normally.


I think it varies from agency to agency, company to company. I was told by a friend that their agency only does the background check when something is disclosed. I'm sure other employment agencies have different polices.
 

oman

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apparently this firm - again, a software consultancy - is required to do an extra level of background checks to meet the stringent security requirements of their financial-sector clients

makes perfect sense because i'm sure the role would have access to large volumes of terribly sensitive data
 

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