As an interesting note: Lots of companies that do background checks aren't doing them to see if you have an arrest record at all. They are doing them to see i

As an interesting note: Lots of companies that do background checks aren't doing them to see if you have an arrest record at all. They are doing them to see if you have been honest and if you haven't been convicted of financial crimes, or computer crimes. The former is a big deal if you do credit card processing and money handling, the latter may or may not be an issue depending on what it is and who you are working for. Smaller companies give a lot of leeway to hiring managers, and there are jobs that you may be excluded from, but it isn't the end of the world. Honestly, places that believe past performance is a predictor of future results need a reality check. Peoples lives, and circumstances change enough that it isn't a good predictor of anything. As you are a CS student, I highly recommend that you start working on and contributing to open source projects and personal projects. Working as an engineer ends one of three ways... You spend your years pushing the buttons and collecting a check, you do that same thing and get lucky with an exit or you start doing your own thing. That last one gives you mastery over your own fate and destiny and is the way a lot of us are really getting ahead. It is much easier to try and fail when your young... eating ramen, working long hours aren't as rough on you and not having kids or dependents are big factors to you being able to sustain a lifestyle that those of us who are older don't have as easy of a time doing.