I often get questions about background checks because I have a painfully common American name and there's a few people who share this name that have been convicted of some pretty serious crimes.

On the one hand I'm not sure what this says about the veracity of background checks performed at the time, on the other hand I'm glad one job bothered to bring this up and ask "This isn't you is it?"

I ended up petitioning the state of California (a state I'd never even visited up to that point) and providing some key information to receive a letter from the state attorney stating "This isn't the dvtrn you're looking for".

The company wouldn't tell me who the background check provider was so I could try setting the record straight, and I ended up taking another job entirely in the end but it was NOT a fun experience and it's filled me with all kinds of anxiety to wonder "how many jobs and housing opportunities have I just missed out on because a background checker thought I was a felon?"

>The company wouldn't tell me who the background check provider was so I could try setting the record straight

Holy moly, this is a serious violation of the FCRA (if you're in the US)

similar here. got laid off with severance in month x. company reported employing ending month x+2, my resume says I started a new job month x+1. HR calls me in a disdained huff "Sorry Mr. Effect, but we don't handle prevarications lightly."

Holy shit, I'm surprised they care THAT much about start date/end date. Like.. seriously? WTF? That's insane lol.

wait, since when was it not allowed to have two jobs at once? at worst this should have raised a question on what you did at the old company during that last month.

You are allowed to request a copy of your background check from HireRight. Get it, save it, and use it to fill out future background checks.

Failed mine as hireright did not understand the difference between an area of emphasis and major. Had to talk to boss and hr. It was a mess.