Embarassing question about background checks

[mrcertify]

Hello all,

Like many people in their teenage years, 13 years ago for me, I wasn't really paying attention to the world or my parents and ended up being picked up for misdemeanor shoplifting. Now I am in the Information Security world and want to get certified. How much bearing would a 13 year old shoplifting conviction have on getting the CISSP or SSCP?

Like I said an embarassing question, but I don't want to further humiliate myself by getting ready to test if I'm going to be shot down anyway...

Thanks in advance for your comments!

Chris

 

[TreyJ]

Well I believe most standard security clearances only go back 5 years. It's the major special access clearances that go back 15 years with special background investigations.

 

[mrcertify]

Hey, thanks for the information. That's a relief. I have always wondered if that was going to come back to haunt me in a significant way (besides the psychological factor) later in life, specifically in my career.

 

[wybnormal]

even with the EBI clearance, they (govt) wants to know the info to prevent you from being blackmailed etc. Not that they care alot about the "stupid teenager" that we all were Of course, it does depend a bit on how stupid we were.

MikeS


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[hdingman]

In our jurisdiction (NY) it won't show IF you were "adjudicated a youthful offender" and the courts sealed the records properly.

The bad news is, many cases were reported improperly as a "conviction" rather than a "YO adjudication" and not sealed.

"Sealed" records don't show on a "standard" employment inquiry but DO show if the inquiry is for law enforcement and similar jobs. FBI can see it ALL for security clearance background checks.

Best thing to do is tell the truth.

Then, if your case wasn't sealed properly, the employer might call you back, instead of trashing your application because you lied. Don't know whether it matters for your particular clearance, but your chances are always better if you're up-front about it than if you try to hide it.

Kids do dumb things; that's why they made YO. As long as it wasn't too bad, and was just a one-time thing.

Howard

 

[ShackDaddy]

I agree with Howard. I work for a company that does these checks for employers, and you can't assume that that nothing will be returned about a past disgression, even though searches usually only go back 5 to 7 years. The worst thing that can happen is have something come back that you didn't mention on your application. My guess is that most hiring managers won't see a one-time, youthful offense as a problem, especially if you owned up to it up-front.

ShackDaddy