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Comment by coldtea | Hacker News Reader

>Curious: why didn't you disclose to the employer up-front?

Because he didn't want his chances of getting hired drop in 1/10th what they were...

>but if I Google somebody or something comes up in a background check that's going to do more damage than if they'd just been up-front about it.

Well, then that's the same attitude as the one that doesn't give them the job in the first place. What business is of yours, their employee, if they did jail time in their past, as long as they are good at their job? Why should they volunteer that information to you, not only since giving it such kills their chances in lots of other employees, but in principle too?

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Many companies ask for past crimes . And if someone lies he has no crimes, they get terminated once a background check is done (if it ever is). Majority of the time checks are not done and they most probably never will be. If a check is not done, and it hurts your chances if a you are honest, why be honest. So the general rule is you say there are no crimes. And only get removed when they do a background check.

> Majority of the time checks are not done

In the US, nearly every job I've had (not even sensitive jobs, just plain old programming gigs) has done a background check. They even go as far as verifying attendance dates at my University, etc.

> They even go as far as verifying attendance dates at my University, etc.

My goodness thats terrifying.

I once applied for a medical license and they wanted my high school records.... Really? it's not enough they have my college, medical school, residency, board certifications, etc. They STILL required your HS records ( and they had some GPA requirements on that too, I don't recall the specifics)

If I'm hiring, say, a developer or sysadmin who will have access to private data (financial, health, etc.) for millions of people it would be irresponsible of me not to check to see if the applicant had been convicted of any financial or data-related crime.

Being good at something does not automatically make you a trustworthy person just as having been convicted of something in the past doesn't automatically make you untrustworthy.

However, failing to disclose that you've been convicted of a crime that may be perceived as a possible red-flag or risk for a job you're interviewing for does, in my opinion demonstrate a lack of trustworthiness.

Note that I'm not saying the parent poster is untrustworthy. For all I know the crime he'd been convicted of had absolutely no relation to his job and he was young and perhaps not as wise at that point. I'm speaking only about my own views when interviewing and hiring technical people.

Those employees are typically bonded. I'm sure you know this, but you don't typically run a background check via Google when bonding employees..

> Why should they volunteer that information to you, not only since giving it such kills their chances in lots of other employees, but in principle too?

Because lying on your application about past crimes will 100% get you fired but being upfront about it leaves a different impression?

But if they don't ask, then it should be ok to leave it out.

It is completely different.

If they ask you and you don't tell, it is a lie.

Imagine in a first date if you should say: I snore, every Wednesday I play soccer with my friends and arrive home somewhat drunk, and my family is full of assholes.

Imagine on a first date, your date tells you they're a convicted felon.

That may be a closer analogy. We're talking about someone's previous criminal history, not the fact that they snore.

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