What does a background check look for?

Question

My husband is going through a background check in order to get a new job. He has had a clean record other than getting banned from a mall when he was 18. Do you think that will come up in the check and if so, do you think it will effect his chances of getting this new job? Thank you.

Answer 1

Different employers do different kinds of background checks. It can depend on the industry, the job, or just how that employer operates.

Typical things covered in background checks:

the person's identity and address

employment history (companies, job titles and duties, salary, and when they can get it, job performance/reference info)

education

criminal records

drug testing

credit rating and history

Some places also find all publicly-available info - so get those party pictures off of MySpace. They're not supposed to, but they will get health info when it's easily available.

Getting banned from a mall may or may not show up, depending on whether the cops were involved. Was he just being rowdy? Or was he stealing, setting a fire in the mall, harassing the customers or salespeople? If a security guard just escorted him out and no charges were made, don't even worry about it. If it's on record, he may have to explain it, but hey, we've all been 18.

Answer 2

A background check is usually to make sure he has never been criminally charged with something such as stealing or substance abuse for example. You wouldn't want to hire a drug abuser at a pharmacy, hire a thief as a bank teller, or hire a pedophile as a kindergarten teacher etc...

Answer 3

A background check is to verify your job history that you've stated on the resume and whether there were any felony charges or positive drug tests.  I don't think being banned by the mall at 18 would affect your job application unless it was just recently that it happened.