Background Check – Can I Include Family Business Experience on My Resume

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice regarding background checks.

After finishing my last IBD role in London, I’ve spent the past year working on my family’s real estate investment business outside of the UK. It’s a small, informal setup — very localized and not formally structured. I wasn’t on payroll, and we didn’t keep any employment contracts or official documentation.

Now that I’m looking to return to the industry (either PE or IB), I’m unsure whether I can include this experience on my resume. It can fill the gap since my last formal role but I’m concerned about passing background checks, since there’s no paperwork to support it.

Has anyone included similar informal family business experience on their resume? Will this be an issue for background checks, especially in London-based roles?

8 Comments
 

A friend/mentor, who is now a VP at a BB shared his old CVs and cover letters from way back 2016-2017 and it was filled with his family business-related content/experience, coincidentally, also related to RE.

What I did notice though is how it was structured extremely well to fit his strengths and show what he learned along the way.

I think if you also structure it well and don’t make things up, it’s actually a good-to-have.

 

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