Can You Really Pass A Background Check?

I recently had a candidate interviewing for a restaurant management position with one of my clients. He had taken the time to fine tune his resume and prepare for the interview. He had done his due diligence by visiting the restaurant and job shadowed with other managers just to be sure that he was the right fit for the company and that the company was a the right fit for him. He really impressed the hiring manager with his organization and preparedness for the interview and experience and skills of running a restaurant. As a matter of fact the hiring manager was ready to make an offer, but for most companies, the offer was contingent upon a clear background check.

The candidate lived in a small community and shared his common name with several other individuals. Before the interview process began I asked the candidate if he could pass a background check. He replied “yes”. As a seasoned recruiter I had to dig into his answer as I can only assume that sometimes candidates don’t think having 4-5 DUI’s or misdemeanor violence, theft, or drug charges are considered criminal, or perhaps they forgot they were arrested 15 years ago for whatever reason.

I continued to ask the candidate if they “ever” had any arrest or convictions. The candidate replied “no”. The candidate went on to say that he had never had any trouble, never a speeding ticket, and had passed background checks before with ease. Once I felt comfortable that the candidate was clean, I decided to him through to my client for the face-to-face interview.

I received a phone call from my client with the results of the background check. The client went on to tell me that my candidate had 3-4 pages of felony and misdemeanor charges and my client decided that they were unable to pursue his credentials.

My very next call was to the candidate explaining to him that the background check was not clear and that the interview process was over. The candidate said that he cannot believe that happened and went on to tell me again that his background was clear and that the information my client had was inaccurate, then he threaten to sue my client for discrimination.

My client sent the candidate a letter containing information on how to get things resolved. The candidate was instructed to contact the background check company to get things cleared up and he did. The candidate was telling the truth about his background being clean and clear.

So what happened?

Can You Really Pass A Background Check?
Part Two-
http://careerprobryan.blogspot.com/2011/08/can-you-really-pass-background-check_11.html