What Shows Up on a Background Check?

Many employers in the United States require a background check of prospective employees if an applicant wishes to obtain a position in a company, but what shows up on a background check? Background checks can provide a variety of information to the individual requesting one. For instance, financial information, including one’s credit rating, may appear on a background check. A criminal record may be accessed for individuals to ensure that they do not have a history of crime or misdemeanor (such as DUI offenses). Moreover, information pertaining to a person’s legal identity, including his or her citizenship status and Social Security number, may be viewed in a background check. Different employers will require different types of checks and clearances for an individual to be hired. Here are a few things that you can expect to show up in a background check.

A background check is basically a way in which an individual or organization can ensure that you are fit for a job or responsibility.  It provides information not only about who you are, but what choices you’ve made over your lifetime. 

The background check process may compile information that chronicles your life, often from birth until the present. It is a useful tool for many companies and employers because it gives them a basic idea of whether or not you are fit for the position for which you are being considered. However, a background check must not be viewed as a comprehensive, point-by-point compilation of everything, important and inconsequential, that you’ve ever done. Most employers will not attempt to access information of a trivial nature, like your grades from primary school or your history of pet ownership. 

This information does not help an employer to decide whether you are fit for a position. Laws are also in place that prevent organizations from obtaining certain information from you when they perform a background check.

What Shows Up on a Background Check? 

Most background checks will include some relatively standard pieces of information. Usually, employers will attempt to verify your education and citizenship status.  They will look to see whether you are eligible in the United States to work for their company, and they will attempt to view information relating to high school and college education. 

Oftentimes they will contact your school and ask to view transcripts. This information is used to ensure that you are qualified for the position for which you are applying—after all, no one wants to hire an individual without a GED for a position as a surgeon! What shows up on a background check is other information that relates to your criminal record. Once you are eighteen years of age, any offense however minor may appear on a background check. 

Unless it is removed from the legal record (as in the instance of some first-time offenses), any felony or misdemeanor will appear, including assault, drug, traffic, and DUI charges. There is no statute of limitations on this information; nevertheless, most employers won’t look beyond the past decade or so when conducting a background check.

Additional Information 

Although it is less common than the above, sometimes employers will require a background check of your financial status. This information includes whether you have ever gone bankrupt, what your credit score is, and whether you’ve apparently mismanaged money in the past. While this information might seem inconsequential, to many employers it is not: if you are expected to deal with a company’s finances and your track record demonstrates ineptitude at managing funds, you’re probably not the best fit for a position at the company.

Involvement with government agencies will sometimes appear on a background check for jobs that require a high level of security. Many companies delve into your personal life by checking whether or not you’ve been involved in a dispute that reached a criminal or civil court. Employment information and verification is commonly sought out by employers in background checks, but again, it all depends on the prospective employer.