Both of the companies I've worked at have given me an offer prior to a background check, and included a clause that the offer could be terminated if I failed it.

Out of curiousity, what (besides criminal activity) would cause a candidate to fail a background check done by a software company?

Lying about job history. I almost failed my last one because I accidentally filled out the wrong dates for an internship.

If the job involves handling money (CFO’s office, especially A/P and A/R). Security guard and such.

Otherwise I think that they are an unwarranted intrusion, but our HR and Legal say otherwise.

Thanks for the reply, but I'm not quite sure I understand (or maybe I'm just being thick this morning). Are you saying that if you had a previous job handling money you're automatically disqualified, or are you only suggesting that if you handled money and they report something was amiss you won't pass?

I believe they're saying that you should only need to be given a background check if you're handling money. Not that past money handling is a disqualifier

That’s what I meant. Having experience in A/R is something you’d want when hiring for that position. But if the person had an embezzlement conviction I think you’d want to know!

BTW another thing about people who handle the money is that they are required to go on vacation.

Smoking pot.

I don't agree. All of my written offers have been before bg check clears. I've always signed the offer and background check paperwork in the same set of paperwork.

I'm not going to say that never happens, but it's never been the case for any of the jobs I've had. The contract I've signed commonly states words to the effect of "subject to passing background checks".

I don’t know: we don’t do the background check until the employee has said they want the job (by signing a conditional offer) precisely to avoid doing unnecessary background checks. It’s not a cost issue, but a moral one (fairness). When they sign the offer they explicitly agree to a background check.

Obviously they’d be foolish to give notice until the check comes back clean but it’s typically a same day thing.

Never had a problem with a background check that didn’t come up in a reference check anyway. Personally I don’t even care about them except for people who handle money, and would rather only do them for those jobs.

I think there's a difference between bg check and references. Most companies I have talked to, don't extend offers till they verified references. But the bg checks happen after you sign an offer and there is a clause in the contract that if the checks come out to be bad, the offer can be rescinded. bg checks usually are just a check on criminal history and whether your past work experience is what you say it is. References are usually about whether their estimation of you and your skills match up with people who know you better.

That's not at all true