Advice re Disclosure for SA Forum

[Anonymous User]

So I have a misdemeanor conviction which I am going to disclose to my SA firm prior to submitting my background check paperwork, but I was wondering, do I need to disclose everything I disclosed on my law school app C&F addendum that doesn’t rise to the level of a criminal conviction? I want to be honest but I don’t want to overwhelm them with info about traffic tickets they really don’t care about.

[cavalier1138]

What are they asking for? What you disclose depends entirely on what the question is.

But you'd also be better off asking your HR contact.

[Anonymous User]

What are they asking for? What you disclose depends entirely on what the question is.

But you'd also be better off asking your HR contact.

There are no questions, just a form asking me to sign to permit them to run a background check and a form to fill out my name, identification info, and most recent addresses. I just wanted to get out ahead of the conviction in case they are concerned about it.

[cavalier1138]

What are they asking for? What you disclose depends entirely on what the question is.

But you'd also be better off asking your HR contact.

There are no questions, just a form asking me to sign to permit them to run a background check and a form to fill out my name, identification info, and most recent addresses. I just wanted to get out ahead of the conviction in case they are concerned about it.

So just to clarify: There is no spot on the form asking you to disclose prior convictions, arrests, etc.?

[Anonymous User]

What are they asking for? What you disclose depends entirely on what the question is.

But you'd also be better off asking your HR contact.

There are no questions, just a form asking me to sign to permit them to run a background check and a form to fill out my name, identification info, and most recent addresses. I just wanted to get out ahead of the conviction in case they are concerned about it.

So just to clarify: There is no spot on the form asking you to disclose prior convictions, arrests, etc.?

No there isn’t.

[stupididiot]

What are they asking for? What you disclose depends entirely on what the question is.

But you'd also be better off asking your HR contact.

There are no questions, just a form asking me to sign to permit them to run a background check and a form to fill out my name, identification info, and most recent addresses. I just wanted to get out ahead of the conviction in case they are concerned about it.

So just to clarify: There is no spot on the form asking you to disclose prior convictions, arrests, etc.?

If they dont ask, dont tell them. In various states, they actually cant consider certain information (usually expunged arrests/convictions, or arrests with no conviction, but sometimes certain convictions greater than X years old), which means they would rather not know since even knowing puts them in a bad position.
(Only exception would be if you know you will need security clearance, but in that case they would ask and it would be handled specially)

[Anonymous User]

What are they asking for? What you disclose depends entirely on what the question is.

But you'd also be better off asking your HR contact.

There are no questions, just a form asking me to sign to permit them to run a background check and a form to fill out my name, identification info, and most recent addresses. I just wanted to get out ahead of the conviction in case they are concerned about it.

So just to clarify: There is no spot on the form asking you to disclose prior convictions, arrests, etc.?

If they dont ask, dont tell them. In various states, they actually cant consider certain information (usually expunged arrests/convictions, or arrests with no conviction, but sometimes certain convictions greater than X years old), which means they would rather not know since even knowing puts them in a bad position.
(Only exception would be if you know you will need security clearance, but in that case they would ask and it would be handled specially)

Thank you for the advice. My career advisor told me to call them and tell them just to be covered but I’m conflicted.

[blair.waldorf]

I would not call. I had multiple misdemeanor convictions for things like underage drinking. No one ever cared.

[cavalier1138]

I would not call. I had multiple misdemeanor convictions for things like underage drinking. No one ever cared.

Yeah, unless the misdemeanor sticks out as something that you really want to get in front of (e.g. misdemeanor sexual assault), I don't see the point in volunteering information no one asked for.

[Anonymous User]

I would not call. I had multiple misdemeanor convictions for things like underage drinking. No one ever cared.

Yeah, unless the misdemeanor sticks out as something that you really want to get in front of (e.g. misdemeanor sexual assault), I don't see the point in volunteering information no one asked for.

It isn’t at all! I guess I was just being overly cautious.