In this industry, there really is no hiding from your past.  I know this personally.  When I was 18 I was pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor.  That was in 1998.  Of all things, it was a prank email spam email that contained an inappropriate joke.  Totally childish, very stupid.  Had it expunged.  Supposedly it was “wiped” off my record.  In 2003, when I was 23, I went to apply for a job as a broker at a major wirehouse.  I was told to disclose it, and it “won’t hurt me.”  I disclosed it, and was told by their branch manager the interview process was over.  The misdemeanor wasn’t “appropriate for the industry, regardless of how petty and foolish it was.”  I then went an applied at a small independent firm and I disclosed the conviction straight off the bat.  Their response “You got a misdemeanor for a prank email???”  They were cool about it and they hired me.  They ran an FBI background check for the NASD, and it came up.  But I disclosed it, hadn’t lied to them, and they were cool with me when it came up since it wasn’t a surprise.  I’ve been with the same firm since 2003, and things are going great.  I’m fully licensed, and have a book of clients.  A major firm may not hire me, regardless of my qualifications because of this misdemeanor, but i love where i’m working now and I’m happy with the money I’m making.  Trust me, just always be upfront and honest.  You may not like the answer you hear or the decision that is made by the firm you’re applying to, but you never know.  There are always smaller firms or banks that may give you a shot. 

The whole "Expunged for your record" issue is a massive problem these days.

With the whole "Patriot Act" uncovering and the advent of digitally archived convictions that were in the secret secret vaults of the FBI... Net result is that people are being called on items that were expunged due to "Youthful Offender" status in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

I've heard of people (not me, I swear it!) who have had these things dredged up and the record was supposed to have been expunged. The problem comes about when they insist that the applicant prove that the case had been expunged. You have to prove that something never happened.

Letters to those juristictions are responded to with letters stating that they have no record one way or the other (why? because the local authority had the record destroyed, like they were supposed to have.)

As to the originator to this thread. What RRBDLawyer said. I like to whack moles as much as the next guy, but you aren't deserving of that sort of behavior. There is no doubt that this is a business that takes a dim view, unless they need you in which case they'll overlook absolutely anything.

I'd blame it on sleeping pills, acknowledge that it was wrong and try to get the interviewer to see you as a sympathetic character.

Kind of the good news is that, these days, so many people are red flagging it because of their wild youths, the level of acceptance has to rise in response. It's simple supply and demand.

I got a call from HR saying they need to contact the hiring manager to find out whether they will approve a "bond waiver" (I never heard the term before).  THe HR person said they will have to inform the hiring manager that I committed a "fradulent act"  and no other details of the arrest will be given.  And, that if the hiring manager is ok with this, then the CIO of their department has to sign off on it too, before they can hire me.

Does all of this sound like normal procedure?  Should I even take the job at all now that the hiring manager is going to know about this matter? 

From my POV it sounds good. If all is up known up front and they still decide to hire you then you're good to go.

It would be less certain if they didn't know and then found out during some probationary period.

The hiring manager will ask you what happened (perhaps ex officio) and then you can go into the whole "Soon to be Ex driving me nutz, took a sleeping pill, woke up in front of the store with designer ladies undergarments stuffed down my pants" story. (Don't mean to make light, just saying that it can be seen as not so big a deal when it's not you.)

Meanwhile, I'd ask UP FRONT if this incident gives them the equivalent of a lifetime Put on your employment. If it does, then you might look at this place as a stepping stone to someplace else.

Thanks for your advice.

I don't mean to sound ignorant; however, can you explain what your statement means?:

"I'd ask UP FRONT if this incident gives them the equivalent of a lifetime Put on your employment."

BTW, the HR person did say that the information given to the hiring manager should not be used adversely against me in the future (should they decide to hire me).

Just in case any one reading my posts was curious, the job offer was rescinded, and I was told I couldn’t apply for a job at this company until the arrest record stops showing up on background checks.

I’m just sharing this information for others who maybe in my predicament now or in the future.

I am lucky to at least have my current job and all of this happened before I gave notice to my current employer.

[quote=Anxious]Just in case any one reading my posts was curious, the job offer was rescinded, and I was told I couldn't apply for a job at this company until the arrest record stops showing up on background checks.

I'm just sharing this information for others who maybe in my predicament now or in the future.

I am lucky to at least have my current job and all of this happened before I gave notice to my current employer.


[/quote]

Sorry 'bout that. I'm not surprised, though. THe days of "if they indict you, we'll invite you" are long gone.

Bummer!

Still, what the line meant is "once this is behind you does it stay behind you or could they drag it out anytime they wanted to fire you?" A put is an option contract where some one can force you to take stock at a predetermined price, even (and especially) if the current price is lower than the predetermined price.

Anyway, better luck next time. hopefully the lawyer will get the blotch permanently removed. Don't do stuff like that! (but you know that.)

Good Bye.

[quote=Anxious]Just in case any one reading my posts was curious, the job offer was rescinded, and I was told I couldn't apply for a job at this company until the arrest record stops showing up on background checks.

I'm just sharing this information for others who maybe in my predicament now or in the future.

I am lucky to at least have my current job and all of this happened before I gave notice to my current employer.


[/quote]

Sorry, I read the last posts and missed some of your intial points here.  I thought you were considering moving from an IT Project Manager job to a financial advisor job.  If you live in a right to work state, any employer can rescind a job for any reason.  However, if you feel they rescinded the job due to discrimination, then you can file an EEOC complaint. 

Since you said it was expunged from your record then doesn't seem you have an issue; however, you may have to admit you had a prior record--I'd consult a lawyer on this to find out if you have to mention this at future job interviews or on future job applications.  It seems that if it was expunged, this shouldn't have turned up on the background check and you don't have to admit to it.  You mentioned it might eventually stop showing up on background checks - are you sure of this? 

Bottomline:  if you have a job: don't give notice until you have another job: so no harm done: you still have a job and now you know how that little black mark may follow you around.  If you have this as an issue again, you might have to forget about working at these types of companies with more intensive background checks.

As a project manager and if you were not involved in changing accounts or accessing accounts or transactions, then there's no way you could "steal" at this company.  The offer was rescinded because of "character" -- you were judged and because maybe the hiring manager still wanted to hire you but he didn't want anything to come back and haunt him because of the bad mark.

If this goes off your record eventually then problem resolved; otherwise, it seems you had better keep your current job since apparently you were working there before the theft.  And any company (not just financial services) will uncover this as a background check.  Line up your references and be sure you are glowing to overcome this black mark.

At some point in time if you've been told it will drop off, then hire a company to do a background check for you so you'll have more peace of mind.    

So now you know not to apply for an fa job until your record is clean, too.  You just have to be barely breathing ... and also have a good record to work as an fa.  As mentioned, even an "assistant" has to be spotless, too. 

Goodluck.  

Thanks for your post.

I think it was bad timing because the expungement order was finalized and approved by the judge about a week before I went in for fingerprinting.  And, I didn’t have to disclose the arrest because there was only one question on the employment application asking whether I have ever been CONVICTED of a crime. So, of course I answered NO, since the charges were dismissed.  And, it still came back to haunt me.

I contacted my lawyer and he says it can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months for an expungement order to make its way through the “system”.