Are criminal record checks normal when hiring someone?

[yvr girl]

BTW, the job in question is a marketing job. It seems a bit over-the-top to me.

[redqueen]

1. It's becoming that way, yes.

We do those for programmers...

[Maestro]

2. In my line of work it is.

Education. But even if you have a record that doesn't automatically disqualify you.

[yvr girl]

11. I can see it in some lines of work

Education makes sense.

I'm not worried. I've had a couple of speeding tickets but nothing more.

It just seemed like a strange thing to mention in a job ad. The company in question is a Crown Corporation though, so they might have stricter rules.

[Not_Giving_Up]

3. A lot of places do them now

Of course, somehow, the sex offenders slide through and get jobs with school districts!

[achtung_circus]

4. If there is any level of trust involved

record checks are very common.

Marketing? Trust?

(JK)

[Occulus]

9. ALL employers assume too much power over their fellow man.

The use of a person's past against them in employment is morally reprehensible.

[stopbush]

5. I just had to go through one for a new job, but it's a

high-ranking job in a non-profit.

There was nothing in my record. GOD AM I BORING!!!

[Not Me]

6. I never did any when I worked in NY...but,

here in FL they seem matter of fact. (Perhaps the times as much as the place...who knows.)

[Occulus]

7. Normal, yes. AND reprehensible.

Personally- background checks in employment should be illegal, provided you have served your punishment.

[sparky_in_ma]

8. It's normal

Even for temp jobs here.

[sasquatch]

10. They happen all the time when you apply to get in the Bush Crime Family

But, you've had to of committed felonies and crimes to get in though.

[Demobrat]

12. I am in advertising. I have been drug tested once

and had FBI checks done on me twice. Both times by Fortune 500 Corporations that do it for all employees, no matter what the position is. Even though you and I may have access to nothing but paper clips, we are treated exactly the same as those with access to money or confidential files. At least that's how it was presented, with apologies, to me both times.

[ikojo]

13. Not only criminal background checks but also

credit checks. I had both when I applied for a job with an insurance company in 2001.

What I don't like are personality tests. I've had to take one of those for a prospective job. I did very well on all of the skills test for the job (a health insurance claims examiner position) but I guess I "failed" the personaility test because they never called me back.

[jmowreader]

14. This is worse...

Three of us got hired by the local newspaper to take some aerial and long-distance ground photographs of the DuPont Fayetteville Works a couple of years before 9/11. They rented us an airplane and pilot, we met at the Fayetteville airport for the aerial work, then we went to the plant and photographed the plant outside the gates. At no time were we on DuPont property and the job lasted two days. But because it's a chemical plant, all of us had to take urine tests and undergo a complete background, criminal records, and credit check. Good thing they paid good, huh?

[jburton]

15. It's more common now

I had one for a temp assignment a few years ago. A freakin' temp job! I handled no money, didn't have access to any company data, supervised no vulnerable people (children, elderly, etc) and didn't drive a company car.

I thought it was amusing that the job was so "important" they had to do a background check but not important enough to hire a real employee.

[Lindsey]

16. My experience is that it totally depends on the company....

I used to work for a computer college and not only did they do criminal background checks but they did drug testing!!!! I now work for a college that does nothing (except for the employees/students who are in the nursing programs and will be in hospitals - and that's a hospital rule).

[SOteric]

17. I can understand it if you're going to be an accountant

or a bookkeeper, or if you're working with children. But it does seem a bit much for a marketing job. :shrug:

[NMMNG]

18. Criminal background checks are par for the course now

Both of my jobs here did them when I was applying.

[xmas74]

19. Most of the jobs that I have applied for demanded one.

They also demanded a drug test, a credit check, a physical and a personality test.
It sucks to try to find a job in my region these days.

[Skittles]

20. checking for felonies, yes

quite common