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Even a small mistake can hang up a background check....even if they just have to contact you for clarification on something. General rule, especially if this is a government background check, be super detail oriented. If the background investigator has half a brain, they'll figure out what Chico State is....but that's sloppy, too. Use official names of any educational institutions, work places, etc.
Even a small mistake can hang up a background check....even if they just have to contact you for clarification on something. General rule, especially if this is a government background check, be super detail oriented. If the background investigator has half a brain, they'll figure out what Chico State is....but that's sloppy, too. Use official names of any educational institutions, work places, etc.
I agree. And if you're going for a security clearance, you really need to be super accurate. The higher level the clearance is, the more detail is required. By the time I got my TS/SCI clearance even I was sweating the level of detail and I had already been with the government for over a decade. It gets hard to remember all of the people and places from your past!
I think I made a pretty big mistake on my background check forms and I'm concerned about what's going to happen next. I submitted my forms yesterday and I just realized that I didn't put down the correct name for my university. As an example, lets say I attended California State University, Chico. I only put down Chico State since that's how people often refer to the university. Would doing something like this cause problems? I assume if the background company tried to verify my degree online, they might not get a perfect match by using the name I provided. I'm really worried that my employer will get notified that they were not able to verify my degree.
No. They are looking for deception, not textbook accuracy. A "slang name" (which, to your credit, is comprised of two words that are legitimately part of the college name - you're just missing the other two).
They will circle back for additional information if they cannot find something. They will not simply auto-fail you.
I agree. And if you're going for a security clearance, you really need to be super accurate. The higher level the clearance is, the more detail is required. By the time I got my TS/SCI clearance even I was sweating the level of detail and I had already been with the government for over a decade. It gets hard to remember all of the people and places from your past!
Indeed....and even then, someone is going to come visit you and your neighbors, the whole nine yards.
And I hope the OP saved a copy of the completed paperwork. It is such a hassle to gather old info, get correct dates, people's names, etc. At least you'll have your history up until the time you submitted this paperwork.
The top Google and Bing result for "Chico State" is csuchico.edu so I wouldn't sweat it too much.
If they want to contact your university, they will have to look for the phone number, right? And they will use Google or Bing, right?
What background check paperwork doesn't ask for educational institution's name, address, and phone number....? maybe they even ask for a contact person.....
What background check paperwork doesn't ask for educational institution's name, address, and phone number....? maybe they even ask for a contact person.....
The big names such as A-Check and HireRight should have known contacts to verify such things. Else, a candidate could just provide fabricated contact info, too.
For instance, a major background check company was perfectly fine with a hi-res, color photo of my degree. They did not ask anything else about the institution other than having me type the name in a field (which auto-populates with verified names of universities).
Further, after poring over emails and pay stubs to get them the exact dates of jobs started/ended some 10 years ago, I elected to receive a copy of my report. It only verified the month and year. The report showed the day as "01" for each job, start and end date!
Right, or they never attended the place to begin with.
I had no idea until the past few years just how many applicants falsify resumes. I wonder now how many opportunities I missed because someone's false resume was better than my real resume.
I agree. And if you're going for a security clearance, you really need to be super accurate. The higher level the clearance is, the more detail is required. By the time I got my TS/SCI clearance even I was sweating the level of detail and I had already been with the government for over a decade. It gets hard to remember all of the people and places from your past!
I imagine so. When we did our global entry interview a few years ago and they asked to list every place outside the US we had travelled for X number of years, plus a bunch of other questions about last stuff it was hard enough with the pressure from all the warnings they give you. And that was just so we could more easily come back, nothing to do with our employment!
What background check paperwork doesn't ask for educational institution's name, address, and phone number....? maybe they even ask for a contact person.....
If that's the case then I don't know what the OP is freaking out about.
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