BB Background check

Hi all, I’ve got an offer for a role at a BB and expect a background check soon. On my resume there’s an unpaid internship at a firm which has since closed and the guy running it seems to have fallen off the face of the earth, no replies to any email or anything. I have past emails to show I worked there, but no way to show what I did and the dates etc. Would banks be bothered about this given it’s unpaid? Would they even ask me to list it for a background check form, or would they use my resume? Very scared about this and would appreciate any advice.

14 Comments
 

I submitted info about an unpaid internship during the BC (was not included in my CV but during the BC they asked for ALL experiences in the past 10 yrs) and holy shit what a mistake that was, basically the company had gone bankrupt and i was required to reach out to the founder to get a verification letter. As long as you have a certificate or similar (or can get one), you should be fine. But if you dont have anything, better to leave it off

 

Is there a hard-line that we must reach out for verification letters? I'm a bit worried because I rejected/reneged all my past internship employers, and it is so embarrassing to go back and ask for one. Can we give employment contracts or something else instead? Do we need to submit verification letters for part-time jobs as well?

 
Most Helpful

Just leave it off. HR at these places aren't trying to actively find issues, just trying to make sure they're not hiring frauds, criminals, etc. and/or people who fabricated material experiences. I think a good rule is to list proper paid internships at legitimate companies and not to embellish titles (whether on your resume or BG check).

 

This was my only relevant experience, but now I can leave it off my resume and hopefully the background check only asks for paid employment

Does an unpaid internship even count as “employment”?

 

Is this the only internship you have/the most relevant one? Which company is doing the check? I had something similar and was asked to provide all evidence (emails. it was fine.

 

Yeah, that’s why I’m concerned. I haven’t received the form yet but apparently it usually only asks for paid employment so I can just leave it off. Otherwise I have proof of a start date so I can at least show that I did do something. Hopefully it all goes okay.

 

Never done a BB background check, but have done a govt one for a TS clearance. I put everything on every form, even when I knew employers would be impossible to contact. For example, I resorted to putting the front desk phone number at one place I interned because my former manager had disappeared and I couldn't quickly get in touch with anybody else there.

My logic was that they want a glimpse into my background. It's not my fault if people in my past don't answer the phone, but it might spook them if I'm not 100% forthcoming about who those people are.

 

Wouldn’t be too worried. If it was unpaid then you can likely leave it off of the FINRA broker check.

In the event they need to verify, you should show them a formal offer letter that you had from the shop

Go all the way
 

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