US Background Check

patsfan1286

I would appreciate any advice regarding a background check by a prospective employer here in Ireland. This would be with an American multi-national bank based in Dublin and I understand they look for extensive records including bank statements, proof of education, credit check and criminal background.

I'm Irish, but lived in the US for a few years and have a conviction for DUI [drink driving]. I served a custodial sentence of 30 days. This was several years ago and I've certainly learned my lesson.

My question is, would this show up on a background check with an Irish employer? Is this a kind of conviction that a bank would look at as something to question my 'employability'?

Any experience with this sort of thing would be greatly appreciated.

tiffbunny

I work for a consultancy company with Irish and English Financial-Sector clients, and they require background checks for any employee of ours who will be working with them. The focus of these checks is very heavily aimed towards financial history as opposed to criminal, and even with financial incidents, so far they've been pretty reasonable with focusing only on what might call into question a candidate's integrity in performing their proposed role.

On the other hand, speaking as an American working in Dublin, American employers are far more interested in criminal background than EU employers, even when it has no relevancy. So if they ask you on any of their forms for criminal history, full disclosure is your friend, as you'll permanently burn a bridge with them if they discover it after the fact, and often can cite it as grounds for dismissal - at least as far as US employment law goes.

Good luck!