Anyone know how long and what they check for in criminal background checks?

Question

Ok to make this short and sweet , Monday i'm going to apply for a security guard job and they are required to make anyone submit to a criminal check . I've got a couple things that might hinder it , such as 8 days in another state's prison for accesory to theft as i was the owner and driver of the car . then some cigs about 10 yrs ago ,the accesory thing has since passed .Any suggestions?serious ones only please.

Answer 1

My guess would be any outstanding warrants for your arrest, maybe any criminal record and how severe it was, maybe any imprisonments, sex offenses, they may look for more severe types of records, unless you have too much repeated offenses, but then again it may vary from job to job.

Answer 2

They check your record for arrests & convictions.
What I'd recommend--before applying or authorizing a background check is to visit the court where you were convicted and ask them to expunge your records. In a lot of places, once you serve your sentence/pay your fine, you can have your arrest & conviction wiped off your record, it can only be accessed by a judge if you are charged in court again.

Answer 3

To my knowledge, most agencies only go back 7 years when checking backgrounds. In all cases, you should be honest about it, though; it means you're sincere enough to tell the truth, and they won't brush you off for it.