Background check help!
Hey all - had a question about background checks. Got an offer as a PE associate for a fund with some pretty heavy political connections. They are hiring GDBA (Gavin De Becker Associates) to do a third party background check. I have heard it is more extensive than usual and takes 2+ weeks. I am a bit worried. I do not have any criminal history or bad credit but left my prior employment on bad terms. To be quite blunt, I resigned quickly after some personal/mental health issues. Left a very bad taste obviously in my employers' mouth but I was at a breaking point. They asked me to put down my supervisor and I opted to put down the HR head rather than my staffer who was obviously very angry with me. Not sure how else this could go down and would appreciate it if anyone has any insight.
I don’t see a problem on you putting down the HR head as a reference. My understanding of the 3rd party employment verification is that basically they will call to confirm your role, core activities and responsibilities, and dates of employment, to make sure it matches with what you provided on your CV.
I’m not sure they go so much in depth on the true reason behind you leaving the company, and the HR person will probably tell them the truth (mental health/personal reasons).
If this helps you in any way, shape or form. I managed an analyst that joined the team and resigned after a month - his reason was that he was seeking mental health help as he was on the verge of burning out. Yea, it sucked as a manager because we hired him for a reason and the team was already at max capacity but what can you do?! I think they’d probably understand (but that’s just my opinion).
Gotcha - thanks. Yeah, to be quite honest I was not transparent with the bank. I told them I was leaving for another job and not to make excuses, but I was dealing with some extreme thoughts and depressive episodes, needed to get out ASAP and predictably so, they were disappointed with how I handled it. So maybe that comes to bite my in the ass but nothing I can do about it now.
Hope you’re better now. It’s a good thing you recognise that you probably could’ve handled it better, and again, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
Good luck on your process!
I wouldn't worry about it. Depends on which state you're in for what HR/former employer can legally disclose about you, but even in that case most companies strictly prohibit commenting on anything other that dates you worked at a firm and other high level information. Usually background checks are just trying to confirm what you have on your resume/check a box. It would take an extremely vindictive former employer and a background check firm really reaching to pull up anything else and even in that case, it's hearsay. Someone not liking you at work and quitting is pretty common. Putting down someone from HR was the smartest move.
how did this go - any update, OP?
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