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 ev

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.