Help talk me down from Background Check Anxiety

June 14, 2022 2:24 PM

Hi AskMe, I'm on the verge of landing my first full-time job after being stuck in the limbo of part-time for a few years, at a decent company but still. The background check is taking ages and my anxieties are spiking for a couple reasons. I'd appreciate some perspective.

I did not have the best college educational career, to be honest. I didn't end up finishing a degree, but moved on to do work in another field. I quite honestly wanted to just put the whole mess behind me. I've had a good run with my current part-time job, got a certification which I let lapse last year due to a combination of apathy about the certificate and some distaste about the direction the certifying authority has gone lately. I am open to working on renewing it once I get the new job, as they have what seems to be an excellent reimbersement program.

All that being said, I had two lovely interviews with the team, and they seem to appreciate my knowledge and practical experience. I in no way represented that I obtained credentials I did not, made it clear that my cert was not currently active and so on. They made me a good offer last week and I submitted a background check authorization last Thursday.

Since then, I've heard nothing from either the company or the background checking firm. The "status," entry on the check just shows up as blank, which isn't helpful for easing my anxieties. I've just been reading up on adverse action and the tendency for folks to lie about educational qualifications and so on.

If the background check is using the National Student Clearing House or something of the sort, why is it taking this long?

I'm mostly just looking for reassurance or perspective. I in no way intend to misrepresent myself to anyone and just want to give notice at my current job already, but I can't do that until the check clears. The waiting without any word is difficult.

Thanks for any advice, AskMe.

posted by Alensin to Work & Money (11 answers total)

I went through this same silent delay recently. I ended up contacting the company about it after 8 days, and they were able to tell me that it was due to delays from one specific county and offer me a contingent start, which I accepted because I knew I would have no problem there. The check ended up clearing before I started.

I'm not sure what to advise, but I think it's reasonable to follow up.
posted by michaelh at 2:32 PM on June 14, 2022 [2 favorites]

it's not unusual for background checks to require record-checking at the county level. As michaelh points out, that can cause delays. Maybe it involves a county (and there are some) that still deals in paper records. Or, maybe they're understaffed and slow in responding to requests.

There's probably nothing you can do about the delay. If it would make you feel better, you could ask for an update from your contact at the company.
posted by John Borrowman at 2:40 PM on June 14, 2022

It's only been three business days since you authorized the background check. And knowing first-hand how slow large organizations can be, especially just before the weekend, it's possible they didn't even submit it for processing until yesterday.
posted by davcoo at 2:46 PM on June 14, 2022 [2 favorites]

My last background check took like two weeks. I had a speeding ticket from maybe five years ago that held things up, it just triggered some manual check that someone somewhere had to do. I was also nervous the entire time that some dumb paperwork error would screw everything up.
posted by andrewzipp at 2:55 PM on June 14, 2022

Yes, this is definitely within normal range for a background check. Please don't worry.
posted by praemunire at 2:58 PM on June 14, 2022 [2 favorites]

Did you fill out a form authorizing any kind of educational/credential check? Most background checks, unless they are indicated as specialized (including specific wording about checking your credit or driving record) what they generally confirm is your employment history (like from IRS records most likely, possibly someone actually makes a phone call to the institutions or to one or two of them) and criminal record, which can include state/county records anywhere you've lived. It is not an investigation of your morals or work habits, and it's likely not meant to even see if you lied about your education or certifications.

"Ages" would be weeks with no communication. I've had background checks take over a week just because the employer didn't submit a form correctly, which they did not tell me until I probed which is frustrating but not much I can do about it. I would maybe send a polite query end of day tomorrow, at the earliest.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:59 PM on June 14, 2022

Best answer: In general background checks are about detecting fraud and bad intentions, not about continuing your evaluation. They know they want you, and having decided that they are predisposed to ignore things that won’t directly affect your ability to do the job — which, I repeat, they have already decided they want you to do.

Background checks can take an agonizing amount of time, but you can take some comfort that the people reviewing them want them to turn out well.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:12 PM on June 14, 2022 [8 favorites]

My last background check took two weeks and turned up the time I pled guilty to a parking infraction three years ago. I’ve been working there for three months now. I always get the back sweats but it’s going to be fine!
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 5:36 PM on June 14, 2022

I just had something similar happen! It is very likely not you or even necessarily anything particular about your background. I don't know where things fall apart within the process, exactly, but I had to send in my transcripts and a friend who got her Phd from MIT within the last decade said somehow the background verification couldn't verify THAT either (she also had to send in her own records.) Her sister (also Phd, different school) had a similar experience.

Also, I've had background checks for lower-level jobs like retail, and background verifications. If this one possibly involves National Student Clearinghouse it's probably a background verification. My background checks always came back within a few days. My background verification that dug into stuff like education took a few weeks.
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:22 PM on June 14, 2022

I am not familiar with the background check vs verification distinction--for your sort of generic private sector job (not finance, not government, no small children, etc), I think just about every company in the US uses one of a handful of providers and then it's what they want to pay for.

I just changed jobs and the background check (this was Checkr, for the record) puked on my PhD. It sent an automated email asking me to upload a photo of my diploma or a transcript. So I did. If they can't find you, they'll just ask (they=the background check company). The company I worked for the job before last is defunct. I either left the contact info blank or wrote "out of business" if there was a required field. Again, zero issue.

When I started my previous job, it was a different company and it didn't puke on my PhD. I forgot to list a community college I took a class at one summer, too, which caused me all kinds of anxiety once I realised. But, again, it didn't matter--I obviously wasn't misrepresenting myself (or they only verified what I wrote on the form!).

I actually phoned that company because they asked "what was your name when you attended $school" not "what name are the records under" and I was being anxious and wanted clarification. That's way sillier than "hey, what does a blank status mean? When should I expect it to update?", So you should totally phone if it'll help.
posted by hoyland at 7:15 PM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]

I've had background checks take 2+ weeks before, and this was pre-pandemic. Everything takes longer now.

Last time around, the background check returned with some inaccurate info, including a title mismatch for a key job on my resume. (It said I was a part-time analyst, when in fact I was full-time at a higher grade!). Various other findings were also wrong. But my hiring manager didn't even see the results - like others have said, they just saw that I had "passed."
posted by codhavereturned at 10:05 AM on June 15, 2022