Our agency performs a thorough, pre-employment background check on all candidates. What is the worst thing that will show up during your background investigation?
The interviewer asks this question for two reasons. Suppose the organization has disqualifiers for employment, such as a prior felony or drug arrest. In that case, the interviewer will stop the interview and not continue forward if you answer with an employment disqualifier. Second, if you do not meet their employment disqualifiers, the interviewer wants a heads up on the worst thing they will find in your background check, so there are no surprises.
As with any interview question, you want to focus on answering truthfully. Even if you had a prior arrest, citation, poor credit, or misdemeanor charge in the past, it would show up during your background investigation. When you explain what happened, the resolution, and what you learned from that experience, the interviewer can determine if their organization can overlook it.
You want to avoid failing to mention something that the interviewer will find out from your past. It is embarrassing to admit your mistake, but owning up to your mistake, being honest, and learning from it will show the interviewer that you have good moral character.
"I am not sure if this will show up during my background investigation, but I want to mention that my mother is incarcerated for embezzlement. Two years ago, she was convicted of embezzling 400,000 from her employer and is currently serving a 10-year sentence. As far as my criminal past and credit score, I have never been in trouble with the law, and I have a credit score of 785."
"The worst thing that will show up in my background check will be that I filed for bankruptcy 10 years ago. It has been cleared from my record, but you may still find it during your investigation. I went through a horrible divorce and found the only way to get back on my feet was to file bankruptcy. I am now remarried, have no credit card debt, and have taken out a mortgage on my house. I pay all of my bills on time and have a credit score of 800. I have never been given a traffic citation or charged with any crime."
