How to Handle a Background Check Gone Wrong

How to Handle a Background Check Gone Wrong How to Handle a Background Check Gone Wrong 10Imagine you find an ah-mazing job. You go through multiple rounds of interviews, fill out all the necessary information, and provide references. You even consent to a background check because, hey, what do you have to hide? So imagine your shock when you’re turned down for the job due to some egregious error on your background report. Mistakes on background checks are surprisingly common. And when you consider that the vast majority of employers conduct some type of background check, it adds up that many innocent job seekers are not being hired because of background checks gone wrong. If you’ve been the victim of a bad background check, or just want to make sure that employers are seeing the right information on you, here are some tips: Ask for a copy. When a potential employer finds something iffy on your background check, you have the right to get a copy of it according to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. It might be that someone with a name similar to yours (sans a middle initial, for example) has a criminal history and it somehow got attached to yours. Find the mistake(s). Once you have a copy of your report, you might (sadly) find that there is more than one inaccuracy on your record. Make a note of each and every mistake so that you can contest them all at once, rather than one at a time. Understand the errors. Your mind might be swirling at the idea of having a black mark on your background check, but you need to keep your focus while reading your report. There are some common mistakes on background checks, including: Similar names. Information revealed that was sealed or expunged. A single criminal charge is listed multiple times. Offenses are mislabeled, such as a misdemeanor is listed as a felony. An arrest is reported but the fact that no charges were filed isn’t noted. Seek out the source. Your first instinct upon finding the errors on your background check is probably to call the background screening company and ask them to fix the issue. Thing is, unless the mistake was in their reporting, background screening companies are just finding the info that’s already out there and might not be able to correct the errors. So look to these public agencies as the source of the error: Credit records Driving records Military records Past employers Educational history Criminal history Fix the issue. If you have incorrect info on your record, it unfortunately won’t go away on its own. You need to be proactive and fix it. Depending on what the issue is, you should contact the public agency associated with the error. If you’re disputing a criminal error, you should contact your state’s Bureau of Identification and file a challenge to the criminal record. If a mistake appears on your background check, it could potentially cost you the job you’re currently applying for, since it can take weeks for a mistake to be fixed. But once corrected, you can rest assured that the next background check you have for a job will be clean- and correct. Interview Coming Up? Check Out These Interview Tips