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they don't do background checks until the spring of your internship. If you're recruiting for 2024 summer, background checks would happen in like March of 2024. If you're recruiting for this summer still somehow, you're toast. Why are you shoplifting brother? Full transparency, it's a hard sell to say "while I am upset with my mistakes". If you're 15, that's one thing. You're 20 and a sophomore in college. Idk where you grew up but you need to clean it up man. Make a pact that if you loop this whole thing through that you got lucky as hell and someone is giving you another chance. You can have no anger if this goes sideways. I also know that the court system is still backed up from covid and that nothing is "obvious" when it comes to dates and things being off your record. Again, if you have another year until the check, I'm guessing you should be ok.

 
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Assuming you are recruiting for a soph / junior year internship, I would target LMM banks that are less likely to have thorough background checks. 

Look, you're young and made a dumb mistake, I do not judge you in the slightest. In fact, I made plenty of my own dumb choices when I was younger, and understand that right now what is important is that you show resilience. 

Yes, at any really competitive bank it will be hard for you to win a spot with a smudge on your record, but it is not impossible. However, it would be unwise to focus all your time and effort on top banks that will absolutely do criminal background checks. 

Right now, you just need to nail down any relevant internship and then rerecruit next year once your record is clean. Just as important, stay positive and focus on what you can control. Do not beat yourself up for past mistakes. I spent a ton of time hating myself for silly decisions I made when I was younger. I am now older and because I persevered and kept hustling even when I felt like the deck was stacked against me, it all worked out. 

Best of luck man

 

Sorry but Im having some difficulty fully understanding your situation. 

My suggestion is that if you are worried about any background checks being issued before the expungement takes place, you target firms that wont have rigorous background checks (e.g., LMM IBs).

This becomes trickier if youre already well underway in recruiting (Im too old to know the timelines any more) and youre working with firms that you KNOW are going to run background checks (I have to imagine MS / JPM / GS all run them). If this is the problem you are facing, you have two options: 

A. roll the dice and hope the firm understands your story or,

B. Recruit with different, smaller, firms

This is a decision I cannot offer advice on as it depends entirely on your risk tolerance

I know folks with DUIs who got FT IBD offers at strong banks for being likeable, but who knows how common this is. 

 

You walked out of a store with sunglasses on your head - how in the world did you get caught?

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
xm12

Isaiah_53_5 💎🙌💎🙌💎

You walked out of a store with sunglasses on your head - how in the world did you get caught?

Tard moment

Why didn't you just run away?

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

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