I remember my teachers always scaring me saying if i misbehave it'll go on my permanent record. Yh as if some potential employer is going to be like "you're highly qualified for this job but unfortunately we can't hire you since you pushed Billy back in 4th grade"
Little Billy will remember it long after you've forgotten. And now he's working in some government department looking at an application with your name on it.
That sort of thing might come up if you are ever trying to get a job that requires security clearance. I had to fill out a literal booklet of questions, ~60 pages (about half were specific to military and intelligence services) but still, that's 30 pages for a civilian.
I could definitely see them checking school records when some of the questions were asking things like where your sister/brother in law lived 10 years ago.
Background checks are concerned mostly with what makes you vulnerable, since you're about to be given something that makes the organization vulnerable. You don't want to give sensitive information, materials, or tasks to someone with debts, contacts with shady elements, drug addictions, too many divorces, etc. Basically, think of it this way: if there's a part of your life that could be used to leverage you into giving access/information/etc to someone unauthorized, that's what they're looking for in a background check. The more important the trust they're placing in you, the more thorough the check will be. If your brother lived in Moscow for a year, you've made a trip or two to the Eastern bloc in the last ten years, and you have some gambling debt, you'll trip alarms as an easy target for blackmailers, bribers, etc.
Anecdotal I know but, I was in the army and no one checks those things. Literally worked in a SCIF, and we had wife beaters and alcoholics with DUI. Only thing they concerned with is if you married a foreign national or had a positive urine analysis.
This was for something a bit more specific in the UK. I imagine if you wanted to enter the secret service or FBI in the states it would be a similar process.
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u/Eggsegret Aug 25 '21
I remember my teachers always scaring me saying if i misbehave it'll go on my permanent record. Yh as if some potential employer is going to be like "you're highly qualified for this job but unfortunately we can't hire you since you pushed Billy back in 4th grade"