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I recently applied to my first job at Family Dollar and got a call back pretty soon. I went in and did a drug test, waited for the manager to call me back and she did yesterday morning. The first few times I talked to her on the phone she sounded really nice and excited to have me join, but yesterday she had a complete change in her tone. She sounded serious and sort of hesitant too. She said that she wasn't sure if she could hire me because something had came back on the background check. As of now Corporate is reviewing it and will tell her if she could hire me or not. That will take a week. This is really scaring me because the only trouble I've ever been that was serious was being suspended second semester of my sophomore year in high school, which was in 2012. I am currently in my first year of college. Not only is it scaring me, it's really worrying me. Is that enough for me not to get the job? Will I have trouble in the future when I am applying to other jobs? I have no idea what to do now and I could really use someone's help on this!
I won't ask why you were suspended, but were criminal charges of any type involved? If so, do you live in a state where juvenile records are sealed or expunged after a certain length of time?
A suspension that did not result from a criminal act should not interfere with employment, particularly since it appears you finished your HS education (GED, I assume?) and are currently enrolled in college. If your suspension did involve a criminal act, it would depend on the nature. A position at Family Dollar would involve money handling, so the background check is going to be a bit more sensitive.
Edit: And if you find that it was the suspension that caused the problem, see about getting your record sealed/expunged if at all possible. There will still be some entities that can access, but for a normal, pre-employment background check, nothing should show up.
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I suppose there may be exceptions, but high school transcripts are academic, and do not include disciplinary matters like suspensions. Typical background checks would not uncover anything like that. I wonder if there is something else you may have forgotten about. In some jurisdictions, certain traffic infractions are considered criminal, such as DUI, exhibition of speed, and attempting to elude. Even forgetting to pay parking fines can be discovered in background checks.
There were no criminal charges against me because of that suspension. The law or any higher authority was not involved in any way because of it either. I live in Georgia if that helps. The suspension didn't hamper with my education as I had to attend an alternative school during the meantime and I even completed one of my classes there. I graduated on time in high school with my diploma. I also know that it for sure doesn't involve any traffic violations because I only recently started driving.
If there was no criminal charges, it should not have shown on a background check.
Just make sure they were checking on the right person. This happened to my brother. Straight out of college and he got hired by an engineering firm. They then rescinded their offer after a background check. My brother called them and asked why and they said the background check showed he was convicted of murder and was currently serving a sentence...???
Turned out someone with the exact same name as my brother living in the same town and having the same age recently was convicted and was serving a sentence.
Did you get that? Those clowns insisted my brother was serving a sentence for gang related murder while they were talking to him on the phone.
If the background turned out to be a problem, make sure they got the right person.
I can think of no reason why the suspension should be a huge issue then. I'm not familiar with Georgia law as far as academic records are concerned, but in some states, disciplinary actions that are not rooted in criminal activity may not even show up unless the background check requires grade transcripts. And even then, what you accomplished in the meantime should offset a youthful mistake.
With identity theft so rampant these days, it might be in your best interests to obtain your credit report and run your own background check (credit reports can be obtained free at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action), I believe background checks involve a fee.
Edit: And what MetroWorld said about...make sure they ran the BGC on the right person. One wrong digit in a SSN can make a world of difference.
I can think of no reason why the suspension should be a huge issue then. I'm not familiar with Georgia law as far as academic records are concerned, but in some states, disciplinary actions that are not rooted in criminal activity may not even show up unless the background check requires grade transcripts. And even then, what you accomplished in the meantime should offset a youthful mistake.
With identity theft so rampant these days, it might be in your best interests to obtain your credit report and run your own background check (credit reports can be obtained free at [URL]https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action[/URL]), I believe background checks involve a fee.
Edit: And what MetroWorld said about...make sure they ran the BGC on the right person. One wrong digit in a SSN can make a world of difference.
I'll be sure to check on everything, running a background check and making sure they did it on the right person. These were all very helpful and I appreciate all of your responses! Thank you so much!
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You're very welcome and good luck!
