I have to undergo the Federal Govt’s Minimum Background Investigation and am worried about something. I had a two periods of lengthy unemployment in the last 5 years (totaling 3.5 years out of work), and am wondering how this will affect the report. For the record, this job is as a contractor for the IRS.
I know this is probably a bad idea, but if I stated on the investigation forms that I worked during these periods, how likely is it that they will actually check the companies, references, and anything else to verify my information?
Well, that is what I intend to do, I don’t have the balls to lie. I just have this feeling they’re gonna take one look at my unemployment, and that will be the end of it. Have you had a MBI done before? I know it’s not as extensive or intense as, say, a DoD secret clearance.
It’s almost a sure thing that they will check employment and education claims.
I worked for a private company that did very expensive background checks. They were also cool enough to give me a copy of it when I was hired. Some of it was interesting like the dates that I put for employment at a couple of companies was different than what I had on my resume but only by a month of two. Either their records or my recollection was incorrect. Also, I worked for one place for over eight years that went out of business. It just said on the form that they couldn’t contact the company. Things like that didn’t matter but an outright lie will sink you.
I’ve had to do this for a similar background check. They often do come back and question you about periods of unemployment and sometimes ask for you to provide a contact for someone who can verify your period of unemployment. It’s no big deal if you’ve been unemployed, you just need to be able to vouch for the timeframes, etc.
Don’t worry about the unemployment! My hubby went to work for the federal gov’t a little over a year ago, and needed a background check. At the time he started the job, he had an employment record a lot like yours for the previous four years. They didn’t bat an eyelash. However, if he’d lied and said he had been employed, and they’d found out (which would have been likely), I’m sure the job offer would have been rescinded.
I can’t go into details on exactly what work would be done on an MBI, but I will say generally: LIST THE UNEMPLOYMENT AS UNEMPLOYMENT. When the investigator comes to speak with you (as a routine part of the investigation, so don’t worry), explain why you weren’t working, how you were financially supported, what your activities were during that time, whatever they ask.
One way or another, employments get checked on most investigations for varying periods back in time, depending on the investigation type. Unemployment is in-and-of-itself not a bad thing in a security investigation. Deliberate falsification is one of the worst. Read the disclaimers at the start of the SF85P. On there you should see information about 18 USC 1001, which provides penalties for false testimony.