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can you fail an employment history background check for not listing a past employer?
Posted by brian in Employment HELP on Oct 1st, 2010 | 5 responses


I was fired from my last job so I did not list them as an employer on my resume or application. I was recently hired pending employment history and background check. Will they find out when they do my employment history check? If they do will I still get the job? I have no criminal history and passed the drug screen.

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5 Responses to “can you fail an employment history background check for not listing a past employer?”

  1. Voice of Reason says:
    October 1, 2010 at 3:55 pm

    No one can be certain whether they will find out you are a liar, but if they do, you can be certain they will not hire you.

    Telling the truth is always a good idea. Lying usually brings the chickens home to roost eventually. Even if you get hired, you’ll have to perpetuate that lie for the rest of eternity. Hope you sleep well!

  2. Misery says:
    October 1, 2010 at 4:35 pm

    usually an employment history check is just calling the ones you’ve listed. and unless you were fired for theft or a criminal act, it wouldn’t be on your background check, cuz that’s really all they look at, criminal activity, that and your credit score sometimes.

  3. wings says:
    October 1, 2010 at 5:03 pm

    Unless you are applying for a Gov’t position, I don’t know how they would know you were fired from your last job. They may ask you why there is a gap between jobs though. That’s where you’ll have to come up with a good answer..& run the risk of being caught in a lie.

  4. John Bradshaw says:
    October 1, 2010 at 5:12 pm

    They absolutely can disqualify you for leaving out information. The good thing is that there is really no central database for employment history that they can search. But here is how they find out… they take your application and verify every job you list including the start and end dates. They build an employment history based off this information and look for lapses in employment. I assume there will be a period of time in which it will show you as having no job (the time you worked for the company you chose not to list). They may come back to you and ask what you did during that time. You can lie and tell them you were unemployed and it would be hard for them to prove otherwise. I am not suggesting you do that at all as it is illegal to misrepresent information on an application.

    If you adjusted your employment dates at other jobs to try and make it look as if you were never at the other job or unemployed you may be in some trouble assuming they do contact each job you listed and find out the real dates you were hired/left those employments.

    I wish you the best!

  5. Judy Michal says:
    October 1, 2010 at 5:19 pm

    If you are a US citizen then you can run background check by your own. Below is site mentioned, i was also worried about my background check, so i use this site and find it really productive, its totally free.