Coming Clean: To Tell or Not to Tell?
So you’ve got something in your past.
You were laid off. You had a tiny brush with the law. You made a mistake. You lost your job.
Something happened that was less than ideal, and now that you’re looking for a new job, you’re not sure what to do.
To answer that, let me forewarn you that at several points along the application process, you’ll be signing documents allowing us to research your background, so we encourage you to read them carefully and answer truthfully. If you come clean about those blips in your history you have a chance because we’ll consider the situation in relation to the job duties. Maybe you had philosophical differences with your last employer. Maybe a family member was seriously ill and you weren’t eligible for FMLA so you missed too much work. Maybe you were young and caused a high-spirited disturbance in Ocean City. We might be able to forgive such incidences, depending on the circumstances.
There are some things we couldn’t overlook, though, such as physical violence, mistreatment of other people, drug convictions, theft, and many more along those lines. Most definitely, if you lie about terminations or convictions and are discovered, you will not be hired. If we somehow don’t discover the mistruth until after your employment, you will be terminated when we find out.
So it’s better to tell the truth or look for a different kind of job.
What do we look for in our background check, in addition to resumes and interviews you might wonder?
Driving: Clean driving record, which is to say two or fewer minor moving violations on your three year record, zero major ones (e.g. DUI/DWI).
Criminal background: Following State requirements, we search for criminal convictions in the last seven years. We search all jurisdictions where you lived or worked during this time.
References: We carefully supervisors or other persons who can vouch for your work performance. If we can’t reach your references, we will ask you for assistance including providing other names. If we are unable to procure references, we will be unable to offer you the job. Please help us by ensuring your reference names and contact numbers are current.
I’m sorry to bring up such a heavy topic, but it’s a part of life and we need to address it. We want to be fair to our applicants, but of course we also follow State regulations and Agency policies and procedures designed to ensure that the people we support are cared for in a loving, respectful, protected way. If you love this field the way that we do, if you have a passion for enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities, then I’m sure you’ll understand.
photo by Phoney Nickle
