In today’s Go to Greg column in the New York Post, a reader asked Greg if they have to submit to a background check as part of applying for a new job. The writer felt that a background check constituted an invasion of privacy. Greg had the correct answer to this often asked question: Yes, you have to submit to a background check as part of applying for a new job if you want that job.
The reality is the neither the employer nor the background check provider furnish any information about you to anyone else and all the employer is really trying to do is to verify that information that you have provided to them. If you state that you graduated from State with a degree in Biology, all they will do is check to see that this is true. Being honest with the employer is crucial and the company will always ask about anything they note in the background check that you did not report ahead of time. If you forgot something or they did not ask originally, just like at every other step in the process, tell the truth. As to the information the the background screening company finds, they always have to provide the source they obtained that information from, if it is erroneous, you can go straight to the source and get that information removed.