New Job Background Check?

[Zydebearsmom]

I am going through the hiring process for a new job at a local school system. I had my criminal background check on July 5 and I still have not heard back from the Human Resources dept. Do I continue to just sit tight with school starting in August or do I call and inquire. I do not want to be rude or sound desperate but I need and want this job. Does it normally take this long?

 

[momxx5]

Personally, I would be sweet as sugar but definately call to inquire.

Both jobs I have and ones I applied for took forever to get the background checks back. My part-time job was itching to train me but had to wait on the check.

Good luck with your job!!!

 

[casjen]

Did they offer you the job but say it was based on the background check? Or are you just waiting to see if they offer you the job? Calling or emailing and asking in a "I was just wondering when you would know the status of this position" is fine. I just changed districts and it did take a while for the position to be official. But it wasn't contingent on a background check. I've been CORI'd yearly for 15 years so they knew I was o.k. in that area. Things can move slowly in education.

 

[LisaTC]

I work for a very large Univ and hiring is contingent on background checks. Most correspondence is by email in the process. Check your spam/junk to make sure in case they are trying to email you, for one and, secondly, definitely do what the PP indicated by a simple inquiry regarding the position for which you had been submitted for background. No harm.

 

[Zydebearsmom]

Did they offer you the job but say it was based on the background check? Or are you just waiting to see if they offer you the job? Calling or emailing and asking in a "I was just wondering when you would know the status of this position" is fine. I just changed districts and it did take a while for the position to be official. But it wasn't contingent on a background check. I've been CORI'd yearly for 15 years so they knew I was o.k. in that area. Things can move slowly in education.

Yes my job offer is based on my background check. HR told me that once my background check came back they could make me an offer.

 

[WantToGoNow]

I worked for a company that did background checks and it really shouldn't take that long - we had to have all applications finished in 4 business days. I would definitely call or email to check the status.

 

[rhiansmom]

If they are using a service to finish the background check it can take up to ten business days. They do a complete history of your SSN to find out where you have earned wages in the past x (depends on the company) number of years then they will run criminal history reports fro those states and counties. Depending on where you lived it could be instant or it can be longer. Several counties do not have online databases so the service has to complete a specific form and fax or mail it to the county.

Also they may be doing a check on your employment history and sometimes that can take time. I know if I am out of the office and someone calls to verify I am the only department that can complete employment verifications.

Since it's been since July 5th I'd give a call to the HR dept and ask on the status.

 

[Cindy B]

Since its a school system, you may also be waiting for the board of education meeting so they can "finalize" the position. Sometimes you can wait almost a month for that because the board meetings are one the fourth Tuesday of the month or something like that. And with it being summer, sometimes teh board meetings aren't held until almost the first day of school.

Just call and ask nicely. I'm sure they can give you information. Perhaps the background check is done, and they are just waiting for the board meeting to finalize all the details.

 

[LisaTC]

The average it has been taking for where I work (at a public institution) is about 22 days, so if you were in July 5th, this hasn't been that long. However, I don't know when school starts for this district, so hopefully it will be sooner than later!

 

[CarlisleMom]

Here in PA, the school systems do child abuse checks with the state and there is one with the federal. This could take a couple of weeks to get back.

I would wait 1-2 weeks before checking in.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I work for a federal agency and if you are a brand new employee, background investigations can take 4-5 weeks to get back to us.

 

[AmandaRG]

I read what others are experiencing, but I have to say that for our adoption, all of our checks (including FBI fingerprint clearance) came back within days. I would think that the checks are similar to work in the school system (trust me, they checked into everything!).

I would call to check in, and ask if there was anything else I could be doing in the meantime.

 

[Arielle22]

I handle the background checks for my company and use a third party to run the checks. The wait time depends on what state you are in and what checks are being run.

TX checks are very quick, sometime immediate. MA checks take up to six weeks to process.

A polite phone call asking about the status of your hiring would be fine. If the school uses a third party for the background screening then by law, if anything is found you have to be notified that what was found is being used against you in the hiring decision.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) In the past we have done reference checks for my company.
2) We currently do reference checks for every one of our tenants.
3) Here is the usually time it takes
. . . 2-hrs -- criminal, public court, credit records (all computerized)
. . . 2-hrs -- educational
. . . 4-hrs -- previous work experience, person-to-person calls
. . . 2-hrs -- works certifications

4) For jobs, once references are done
. . . candidates are usually compared
. . . sometimes a hiring committee must approve
. . . other times, the dept manager must approve
. . . approve person must have job offer typed
5) If it has been several days, always call for progress/status.

 

[pixiewings71]

I had a background check done with my current position (never had that done before lol) and I called regularly to check in with my new boss. He seemed grateful that I kept up with him and not put out at all. Of course I only called a few times to follow up with him.