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>>will just encourage more people to lie about prior convictions What is the point in lying about conviction? All convictions from every location are recorded

by syshum 9y ago

>>will just encourage more people to lie about prior convictions What is the point in lying about conviction? All convictions from every location are recorded into central databases run by companies like Lexis Nexus, so unless the employer is not using any kind of quality back ground check service lying is pointless as your criminal history is about 2 clicks away on a keyboard.

lovich 9y ago
I've had three background checks and theyve come back missing information I gave directly to the company doing the background check. A lot of companies seem to be no better than 10 minutes with Google and are just for show. The only companies I know of that do actual, accurate background checks go through state services. Doing that as a regular part of your business makes you fall under extra regulations though, so many companies skip it to save money
- __jal 9y ago
  Same experience. Commercial background checks as used by companies today are useless except as checklist liability-limitation. If you actually care about finding out what a person might not be disclosing with any reliability, that costs a fair bit more.
phil21 9y ago
Most companies are not spending the thousand of dollars each on a real background check that is very likely to find "all" the things. > All convictions from every location are recorded into central databases This simply isn't true. Perhaps the overwhelming majority of cases are? But definitely not all. Plenty of court systems do not provide free electronic access, and you must show up in person to do a search. Companies of course have existed forever to do this work for you, but it's not a simple SQL query. The standard $35/ea background check is effectively a credit check. Even the next "tier" up that costs $500+ simply does a credit check to pull known addresses, and then sends someone in to those counties to check them individually. If you committed your crime in a county you never lived in, you have a pretty decent chance of it not coming up on a background check. I would say if you have a conviction in your past that is keeping you from employment by disclosing it, there really is nothing to lose by lying about it. It can really only help you. The vast majority of background checks are simply checking a compliance box using the lowest cost provider, and have a fairly high likelihood of a false negative. I assume they do fairly well at federal felonies and major crimes committed in major metropolitan areas. Beyond that it gets spotty quick.
- syshum 9y ago
  I guess that is just more reasons to live in a rural area then a Urban one then. Less likely though courts will be creating databases of ruin on their citizens
jstarfish 9y ago
You'd be surprised at the number of places that say they check but never do, especially small businesses. Some just don't want to spend the money.

by syshum 9y ago

lovich 9y ago

I've had three background checks and theyve come back missing information I gave directly to the company doing the background check. A lot of companies seem to be no better than 10 minutes with Google and are just for show. The only companies I know of that do actual, accurate background checks go through state services. Doing that as a regular part of your business makes you fall under extra regulations though, so many companies skip it to save money

__jal 9y ago
Same experience. Commercial background checks as used by companies today are useless except as checklist liability-limitation. If you actually care about finding out what a person might not be disclosing with any reliability, that costs a fair bit more.

phil21 9y ago

Most companies are not spending the thousand of dollars each on a real background check that is very likely to find "all" the things. > All convictions from every location are recorded into central databases This simply isn't true. Perhaps the overwhelming majority of cases are? But definitely not all. Plenty of court systems do not provide free electronic access, and you must show up in person to do a search. Companies of course have existed forever to do this work for you, but it's not a simple SQL query. The standard $35/ea background check is effectively a credit check. Even the next "tier" up that costs $500+ simply does a credit check to pull known addresses, and then sends someone in to those counties to check them individually. If you committed your crime in a county you never lived in, you have a pretty decent chance of it not coming up on a background check. I would say if you have a conviction in your past that is keeping you from employment by disclosing it, there really is nothing to lose by lying about it. It can really only help you. The vast majority of background checks are simply checking a compliance box using the lowest cost provider, and have a fairly high likelihood of a false negative. I assume they do fairly well at federal felonies and major crimes committed in major metropolitan areas. Beyond that it gets spotty quick.

syshum 9y ago
I guess that is just more reasons to live in a rural area then a Urban one then. Less likely though courts will be creating databases of ruin on their citizens

jstarfish 9y ago

You'd be surprised at the number of places that say they check but never do, especially small businesses. Some just don't want to spend the money.