It's becoming more and more common for potential employers
to check public criminal records before hiring anyone,
although this isn't always a hard and fast rule. Some
employers will do it for every employee, while others have
yet to jump on this bandwagon. How will you know if any of
your potential employers will use public criminal records
to check up on you, and what are they looking for?
Obviously the answer will be different for every employer,
but here are some common reasons.
Working With Children
Because children are so vulnerable, anyone that will be
working with them in any capacity will probably be subject
to a background check that includes any public criminal
records. You don't necessarily need to have committed a
crime against children to be excluded from this type of
employment. Anyone that would commit assault or any such
personal crime may be seen as a danger to someone that is
powerless against them. Drunk driving may be another type
of conviction that will keep you from working with
children; if your potential employer thinks that you have a
problem with alcohol consumption, this can be dangerous.
These types of charges on your public criminal record can
be a problem if you're applying for a job teaching, at a
daycare facility, or for driving a school bus. Any type of
job that involves children will make you more prone to
scrutiny.
Working With Money
When considering a check of public criminal records for a
potential employer, companies consider those who may be
working regularly with money. This would of course include
cashiers, bank tellers, counter persons, casino workers,
and anyone else that handles cash. But actual cash is not
the only concern. Anyone with access to anyone else's
financial records or to the company accounts can also be
run through these public criminal records. Even a
secretary with access to the department's checkbook can be
checked out thoroughly in this regard. A clerk that
processes orders from customers by entering their credit
card, or anyone in the accounting department might also.
Even someone working in their own church or religious group
that may handle donations and contributions may also be
subjected to a search of their public criminal records!
And it may not be actual crimes of theft that keep you from
these types of jobs. Anything that may make your employer
think that you are irresponsible or not trustworthy can get
in the way of such positions. An employer may have certain
things that they are looking for in public criminal
records, but virtually anything can be considered a major
warning sign to them.
Other Areas of Concern
There are many types of employers that will make a habit of
checking public criminal records, such as those who hire
anyone that will work inside a private home (housekeepers,
landscapers, contractors of any type, remodeling crews, and
so on), limousine or taxi companies, security personnel,
and so on. Anyone working with the elderly or in hospitals
is also going to be under scrutiny, since the ones they
will be working with are especially vulnerable to physical
attacks, scams, and the like.
There may also be some companies that just make a habit of
searching through public criminal records for all potential
new hires, regardless of their position or
responsibilities. In this day and age where lawsuits
against companies abound, many employers feel that a policy
of checking public criminal records across the board can
cut down their liability for such things.
They may also be looking for just certain types of levels
of crimes, but for the most part, anything on your public
criminal record can be a detriment to your finding
employment. You may think that a charge of petty theft or
something else that you think is "small potatoes" won't
matter, but your potential employer may disagree.
Sometimes anything on your public criminal record, even
just unpaid parking tickets, can keep you out of the
running for that job. So do yourself a favor and keep
yourself out of trouble! You hurt yourself and other
people when you do something to give yourself a criminal
record.
----------------------------------------------------
Mark Reardon is the author of this article and CEO of
Calindareview. With more employers doing a background
check, its important that the information recorded is
accurate, otherwise whilst someone may be the best
qualified candidate for a job, they may never know why they
weren't chosen for the position. Its a good idea to do your
own checks to see exactly what is on public criminal
record.
http://www.calindareview.com
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