
Ask HN: Advice for passing a FAANG background check with a criminal history - criminalhistory
Hey HN (using a throwaway account for obvious reasons, but I&#x27;ve been on HN for 10 years),<p>I was just recently offered a job at a FAANG company. I&#x27;m pretty excited about the company, but the only potential issue is that I have a criminal history and I&#x27;m not sure if I&#x27;ll pass the background check.<p>For context, two years ago I was part of an animal rights group that would investigate factory farms and rescue sick, injured animals from them. The investigations were public, and I was indicted on felony burglary and theft charges in Utah for one rescue. I ended up pleading guilty &quot;in abeyance&quot; to misdemeanor attempted theft and misdemeanor riot. Because the pleas were &quot;in abeyance&quot;, the pleas are sealed as long as I don&#x27;t commit any other crimes.<p>I read up a bit about California employment law, and it seems like California companies aren&#x27;t allowed to use arrest records (I technically wasn&#x27;t arrested, but I did have an arrest warrant out for me and I turned myself in) and sealed court records against you. So I&#x27;m not sure if I should even bring it up. That said, I&#x27;ve asked a couple lawyer friends and they think I should bring it up early (though they&#x27;re not specialists in employment law).<p>Any advice or lawyer recommendations would be appreciated.
======
jpeg_hero
Absolutely would not bring it up.

California has "ban the box" and as a practical matter:

1\. most "boxes" on employment application ask about Felonies not
misdemeanors.

2\. I'm not an expert but the few times i've looked into it "criminal
background check" is nowhere near as comprehensive as people think. it
involves going to each county where you think the person resided and looking
up records there. so according to you even if they thought to look in the
county where your record is, they wouldn't find anything.

[https://www.shouselaw.com/california-ban-the-box-
laws](https://www.shouselaw.com/california-ban-the-box-laws)

California law still prohibits employers from asking about, or considering,
criminal convictions that have been expunged. AB 1008 takes the law a step
further. It bars employers from considering any criminal conviction, expunged
or not, prior to making a conditional job offer. The law applies to both
felony charges and misdemeanor charges in California.

~~~
gorgoiler
Wow, according to the shouselaw link (and I’m paraphrasing a lot here) you’ll
still need to go through the criminal record wringer if you want to be:

\- a teacher (or work with children);

\- a court worker or police officer; or

\- a farm laborer.

I wonder what the story is with that last one? Did a bunch of farmers pay for
that to be included in the list, or (less likely) is it there for some reason
to protect the laborers?

~~~
cronix
I'm guessing because of the large number of undocumented workers in farm
labor, which I think the farm would be liable for if caught. I don't recall
off the top of my head, but it seems about a year ago several large places got
busted.

Edit: [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/28/us/mississippi-ice-
raids-...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/28/us/mississippi-ice-raids-
poultry-plants.html)

------
PopeDotNinja
For background checks in general... If you have a job, tell an employer that
you are willing to start 2 weeks after the background check has been
finalized. It'd be an expensive mistake accept an offer for Job B، quit Job A,
and fail Job B's background check for reasons. Quit Job A AFTER passing the
background check. If they pressure you to move faster, tell them to (using
nicer words) get their act together and move as fast as they need to get what
they want.

~~~
dilyevsky
Someone i knew at goog got let go for not passing background check like
_months_ after start date. Just had empty desk one day with no explanation
from management. Kinda bullshit if you ask me...

~~~
harrisonjackson
Without any knowledge of this person - might have been a case of hiring regret
followed by a second look at everything that would allow the company to let
them go.

Either way, I agree with you - pretty BS.

~~~
dilyevsky
It’s possible but kinda makes it even worse

------
kinkrtyavimoodh
If I were a FAANG executive I would be more worried about hiring you not
because you have a record but because you would be at high risk of using your
job for personal activism.

~~~
forgotmylogin2
Agreed, somebody who is willing to commit a crime to advance their fringe
political views is not somebody I want anywhere near my company. I can already
imagine the headaches this guy will cause if he discovers the meat in the
cafes was not farmed to his liking.

~~~
gwbas1c
Ugh, I remember when I was at VMware someone started sending Peta
misinformation to the company mailing list. Definitely unprofessional
behavior.

------
hash872
I can't speak as to whether you should bring it up (I personally wouldn't),
but- working in an industry that's adjacent to background checks, I find it
very unlikely that this will come up. The US federal-state-county system is a
disorganized mess on multiple levels, and they don't all report consistently.
Also, many background check companies are pure BS- CYA so that the employer
can say 'well we checked'. (For example, Uber/Lyft). A good rule of thumb is
the longer the check takes, the more legit it is- companies that do 48 hour
background checks are just scammers. There's a reason a security clearance
investigation takes a long time.

FWIW, a friend I went to high school with did 19 months in federal prison for
drug trafficking, and is technically a convicted felon. He has passed multiple
background checks that show he has an absolutely clean record- two white
collar employers and one for the expensive apartment building he lives in, all
in Manhattan. (He's now a Senior VP of a company). I have no idea how this
works, but he swears it's true. For one employer he confessed everything he
did, they did a background check anyways and told him 'you don't come up in
the system' (and hired him anyways).

Honestly, coming up in Google results is tougher to beat

~~~
shaftway
I have a friend who is a software engineer at one of these 48 hour background
companies. Their own process never found his conviction for grand theft from 3
years prior.

------
burnJS
So the plea in abeyance will show up. I was fed the same line of shit by
courts. My misdemeanor, from 2016 was a plea in abeyance. I was told no crimes
for a year and it's like it didn't happen. Easy, done. And guess what? Mine
was also in Utah. Hello South Salt Lake City.

Fast forward to a few months ago, it came up on the background check. You have
to understand the charge shows up and its possible that the plea shows up.
Mine did.

The big difference is mine came up for a Public Trust background check with
the federal government. So maybe they can go a bit deeper than a FAANG? I am
sitting in limbo 5 months into this job still not knowing if I'll be canned at
any second. I had to do a full interview with an agent with the Defense
Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). They even brought up stuff
that was from beyond the 7 year window I had to declare.

If anyone knows what my chances are with that I'd love to hear. As a Public
Trustee and not touching any sensitive data I'd hope they are lien-ant for a
non-violent, non-drug offender like myself.

For you. If it comes up. I'd have the media report present to prove it was an
illegal act of activism and not showing TRUE criminal intent. But I wouldn't
try to sweep what you did under the rug either.

~~~
3131s
> _I was fed the same line of shit by courts._

Hmm... when I was a lot younger I got charged with a felony (burglary) that
was then downgraded to a misdemeanor (breaking and entering), and I was told
that it would disappear from my record completely when I turned 18. Does
anyone know if that's true? I always figured that some kind of deeper
background check would uncover it.

~~~
cornishpixels
I believe most if not all states seal juvenile records by default.

If so, then a court would have to unseal it.

As an example, in Texas, juvenile records are automatically sealed in most
cases, and can basically only be released to the subject of the record, or a
prosecutor in a future case.

------
influx
If it helps, I've seen [https://checkr.com/](https://checkr.com/),
[https://www.accurate.com/](https://www.accurate.com/) and
[https://www.hireright.com/](https://www.hireright.com/) used for these type
of checks. I don't know if you can do one-off checks, but if you can get one
done on yourself, you can see what info they are providing before you have to
do it.

~~~
amacneil
FYI cozy.co (rental property platform) allows you to run a Checkr background
check on yourself for $20 or so. Just create a property for free and then
"apply" to it.

There might be easier ways to run a background check on yourself but this is
one way to see the exact service many Bay Area employers use (not sure about
FANG).

------
gorgoiler
It’s possible you might not enjoy working in a FAANG corporate environment.

Facebook and Google both receive a lot of negative press about moral issues.
If you’ve been driven to action in the name of animal rights, in the past, you
might find it hard to stomach your employer being subjected to an endless
barrage of accusations such as: tax dodging, contract employee segregation,
psychological manipulation, algorithmic gender and racial bias, etc.

Amazon is in the news right now just as much for internal protests about
employee rights as those rights themselves.

You might think that becoming a moral insider at one of these companies will
help make a difference. That’s true in a passive sense — the more sensible
morally grounded people there are, the better the background atmosphere at the
org will be.

But unless you are hired into the “make things better” department, your full
time contract to automate the iOS right-to-left ad translation team’s bug
reporting workflow isn’t going to last long if you repeatedly stir up
centathreads on social justice issues.

Its going to be very hard to resist doing any stirring!

------
supernova87a
Some words of advice to the OP.

Aside from knowing about the OP's criminal / indicted past, as an employer if
I had the luxury of perfect information, I would be more concerned about this
OP's sense of judgement and personality, work-wise. Of course, that's tough to
tell in an interview (if you get that far), but for the purpose of this forum,
we're kind of debating also what managers should do about this person
hypothetically, to learn from this situation.

Is this the kind of person who feels so strongly that he/she must be right,
that he/she is willing to seriously break laws in service of some ideal? Does
that mean someone is good to work with, or a liability? How far is the person
willing to go in support of their own opinion even if incorrect? Has the
person matured or moved on from this or what lessons has he/she taken away
from it?

I don't know that answers to these questions, or what is right on this
spectrum. I'm posing them to OP.

OP, what would you want a hiring manager to know about these questions? Have
you addressed these questions to you, yourself, in life? Have you moved on
from this phase? Or are you still radical in what you're willing to do? Does
your attitude come into the workplace? Is a normal FAANG kind of job right for
you? What are you like to work with?

Given the kind of issues you hear about at Google (for example) with people on
both sides of the ideological spectrum, etc. the OP's own written story here
puts him/her on a far extreme. So, I would say someone like this is just a
heightened alert for a hiring manager, unless they demonstrate a real self-
awareness of what that incident meant and how they've dealt with it since.
Let's take for example, is the OP willing to put code into an app that they
believe is right for some ideological reason -- but wasn't asked for or
approved by the manager?

Again, this is in the imaginary scenario of you knowing about the person's
past. Of course, the rest of the comments here are about how to hide that past
from the hiring manager.

I would say (not knowing anything about the person in this case) that in
general it's not the criminal part that worries me (for a crime like this, not
talking about more serious crimes). What kind of person he/she is to work
with, and his/her judgement, is what concerns me.

OP, these are the kinds of thoughts that -- if you choose to reveal your past
(or if it gets revealed) -- a manager I think would want to know. So you
probably should think through some of the answers.

------
paulcole
Do nothing and let it play out.

If you’re capable of getting one FAANG offer, you’re capable of getting
another.

If this one falls through you know to say something next time. If you say
anything this time and it doesn’t work out, then next time you’ll have to
decide between saying something different or saying nothing at all. Staying
quiet now is the smart move.

------
rhacker
Don't bring it up. During the hiring phase they are looking for any reasons to
NOT hire someone. Unfortunately this post may alert hiring managers at
Facebook and try to find which application that is current probably has Utah
arrest records. Since they don't have to disclose that they looked (they can
easily have a legal firm in Utah paid by a consulting company do it). Not to
mention it would probably be easier to identify you being the one candidate
from Utah right now.

~~~
dilyevsky
Pretty lame advice. It will come up possibly after you give your notice and
you’ll be fucked. Also “the one candidate from Utah” srsly?

------
guenthert
Not sure about other FAANG companies, but Google claims that they do no
discriminate against those with criminal records (I guess the thinking is, you
did your time, i.e. have been punished already). I was a bit surprised having
seen that so explicitly stated (having worked most recently in a more
traditional enterprise which was more conservative).

Now Google writes that, no idea how it is actually handled.

------
Spooky23
Consider having an attorney in your state review the application with you when
you fill it out. Not having been convicted of a felony is a big positive. Just
be very cautious about answering the question asked truthfully.

But there are carve-outs to state law -- for example if you are working on a
product that stores data where a customer is working on behalf of, or using
data derived from the Federal government, you may be subject to their
standards and have additional background checks.

Also, in some states "ban the box" laws protect you during hiring, but not
once you are hired. If you need a separate check for Project X or Customer Y,
that could be an issue.

------
pmiller2
Not a lawyer, but it seems pretty clear based on [https://www.nolo.com/legal-
encyclopedia/california-laws-empl...](https://www.nolo.com/legal-
encyclopedia/california-laws-employer-use-arrest-conviction-records.html) that
you are correct about arrest and sealed records. There's also this bit about
how the employer has to consider the nature of the conviction versus the
nature of the job, that seems to point in your favor:

> For example, suppose an applicant has a conviction related to prescription
> drug abuse from five years ago, but has completed rehab and been sober
> since. Depending on the circumstances, the conviction might be a reason to
> deny employment for a position at a pharmacy but not for a position at a
> call center.

My advice would be to just sign and consent to whatever background check they
ask you for. Unless they provide a form that asks you to provide specific
information about criminal convictions, that would seem to be the end of it
based on my reading. If they are asking for that information, then it looks
like you're still in the clear, but a few minutes with an employment lawyer
wouldn't hurt and would probably make you feel better about the whole affair.

TL;DR: I wouldn't worry about it unless they specifically ask. Even then, I
probably wouldn't worry about it.

------
erdos4d
OP, I'm really sorry you are in this boat. My honest opinion is that this is a
bullshit charge you are forced to carry around, I wish you the best and hope
you find an employer who agrees. It is unfortunately the case that the US
grossly over-criminalizes people and has no real way of offering them a shot
at atonement. I personally do not understand what is gained by making a huge
permanent underclass, but this country seems to believe this is justice in
some perverted sense. Even if your charge wasn't bullshit, I would still wish
you the chance to get it expunged or made right in some way.

That said, I think in the current environment you should be quiet and ride it
out. Let the company get to know you and make a decision if possible. If they
love you and then find out, you will have a better chance than by poisoning
the well up front. IANAL, just a dev who has dealt with HR a few times. Best
of luck:)

~~~
kochikame
I get your point and I broadly agree, but it's a bit rich to label OP as part
of "a huge permanent underclass". He or she is applying for and may well get
an extremely lucrative role at one of the most famous companies in the world,
putting them squarely in the "1%" of humanity as a whole.

That doesn't scream underclass to me

~~~
erdos4d
OP may very well have, by benefit of IQ alone, a shot like that, but the
intention of the society is squarely to place him under the rest, without a
way to atone or make right. If he's part of the set, he's part of the set.
Whether his membership in the set does him the same harm as another in the
set, that we may debate about.

------
troyk
I founded the first web based background screening company in 1996 and I am
back in the industry today, here is what I would do:

tldr; if it is sealed, do not worry about it. If not, be upfront as soon as
possible.

Call the court clerk in the county the record is sealed in and confirm the
record is sealed; If so, when a court researcher searches for the record, it
will not appear and not be reported by the CRA (Consumer Reporting Agency is
the technical term for a background screening company).

If you have never lived or worked in this county, it may never be searched.

If somehow the county reports the record and it is sealed, and the employer
does not hire you because of the record, the employer has to do what is called
the adverse action process, which gives you an opportunity to dispute the
information before taking final action. During this time, you can have the CRA
remove the record.

Enjoy hacking away at a FAANG!

~~~
djannzjkzxn
It’s interesting that you can call the clerk to determine that a record is
sealed - it sounds like a potential vulnerability where sealed records can be
exposed by social engineering.

~~~
VLM
As a disclaimer every court in the nation can operate differently although
they're all kinda similar.

Adoption records in the USA were sealed last century. Seems to be a temporary
fad that's going away. Maybe it was a Spanish Flu thing.

Anyway if you try to pull my long deceased great-great-uncle's records for
genealogy, they simply give you a negative result to the query, although
"everyone knows" he was adopted.

------
southphillyman
If it's really sealed this may be a scenario where you'd be better off not
mentioning it. Similar thing happened to me when I went through a security
clearance for a position. I mentioned that I was arrested once upon a time and
the charges were expunged as part of an agreement. It didn't come up in their
search but since I mentioned it they still wanted to know details. Details
that were impossible to get since it was sealed/expunged. I essentially
created a problem for myself by being honest.

------
jhymn
_The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago. The next best time is now._

This also applies to getting a pardon.

Thanks for sticking up for animals who cannot advocate for themselves. I
consider you a hero.

------
jaak
Not a lawyer and not in California.

As others have pointed out, most companies don't care about misdemeanors. And,
technically you were arrested when you turned yourself in - at that moment you
were not "free to walk away" even if you weren't physically taken into
custody.

The company I work for (multi-state) does national criminal background checks
on every employee. It's been my experience that if you have a record it'll
probably come up (sealed or not). The reliable background check companies have
multiple sources and odds are probably pretty good your history will be in
some database. I would assume whatever you did is going to show up, at least
partially.

If they ask, be honest. If they don't ask, don't tell. At larger companies the
recruiters will know very well what they can and can't ask (asking the wrong
questions can result in an expensive lawsuit), so they will be very careful
about that.

At my company lying about a criminal background is not automatic grounds to
dismiss a candidate (we will still take into consideration the circumstances,
nature of the crime, and length of time since release from supervision), but
it will not impress the hiring manager if you are caught lying.

------
matchagaucho
Most likely, this is nothing to worry about.

If you passed the interview loops at a FAANG, the background check is mostly
to cover their ass to ensure you will not harm existing employees. Any past
record of physical violence is a problem.

This seems like a non-violent misdemeanor incident. As a former hiring manager
at a FAANG, I would want HR to approach me with any reports to ensure a fair
process and decision.

Maybe consult an employment lawyer if the offer process goes cold.

~~~
baron816
I agree. Hiring is expensive. Why would you decide to revoke an offer after
learning of a minor crime that's not relevant and doesn't expose you to any
risk?

------
meroes
I called the superior court of an out of state ticket I got for underage
possession of alcohol (application asked about misdemeanors and felonies) and
they said don't bring it up unless I'm applying to the FBI. So if it didn't
reach your state's or immediate next door states' databases like for a
warrant, I'd say zip.

------
igetspam
I have worse. Never presented a problem. I've had every background check that
didn't end with a security clearance and some that, had we been doing more gov
work, might have. Never once had a problem, even at a FAANG. I wouldn't worry.

------
kylek
Be honest. You even said you were guilty. Are you going to lie if (read: WHEN)
someone asks you the direct question, "have you had any felonies?"? If "they
aren't allowed to use it" then why are you worrying?

Source: worked at a FAANG and don't have an immaculate record

~~~
kaikai
It's not lying; they've never been convicted of a felony.

------
say_it_as_it_is
I think you'd be a great fit for a role that suits your disposition for social
justice. It's hard to stand up and take personal risks as you have. Every
FAANG company has its own corporate social responsibility agenda. Working with
them would help you channel that energy while benefiting the company. I assume
you're not applying for a position doing that, though.

Companies have a growing problem with employee activism. Consider offering to
sign a contract that you will not use your position to organize or pursue
social or political activism of any kind without the explicit consent of
management. Explain how you will separate your personal interests with those
at work and offer to legally commit to it.

------
throwmeaway846
My record consists of a felony drug charge from over 10 years ago.

I only ever bring up my record if I'm asked about it or right as I'm
submitting my background check forms. Seems to have worked out well so far.
Once I didn't even bother mentioning it, did the background check, no
questions were ever asked.

There was another time (7 years ago) where I was offered a job and then had
the offer revoked due to the background check where I marked the dreaded box.
This was for a public transportation authority in a major US city.

Unfortunately for you, my research on this topic seems to indicate crimes of
dishonesty (like theft) are more frowned upon.

------
drunkpotato
If they've asked you a specific question, answer honestly. Otherwise, there's
no need to bring it up. It's not relevant. I've been the hiring manager at
several companies, and not once has a problem from a background check like
this come up, nor would it have blocked employment if it did. In my opinion,
other responders here are way overthinking this. I also think most forms ask
about convictions for felonies, not misdemeanors, so you're not hiding
anything.

------
cornishpixels
> I did have an arrest warrant out for me and I turned myself in

Sounds like you technically _were_ arrested.

> aren't allowed to use ... sealed court records against you

That's... basically what sealed means.

> California companies aren't allowed to use

Generally the law applies based on the employee's state of residence, not
where the company is based.

Anyway... just answer their questions truthfully, but don't disclose anything
about sealed records. I highly doubt they'll ask or care about arrests.

------
danielmarkbruce
Why not find a really good employment lawyer, drop $5-10k (15,20, whatever)
and get a good answer? It's nothing in the grand scheme.

------
sjg007
Call a California employment lawyer. They will probably won't even charge you
if it's just a couple of simple phone questions. But you might wish to hire
them to review your new offer employment paperwork and provide say legally
binding advice. In that case the cost will probably only be a few hundred
dollars.

------
mgarfias
So, on these BG checks I always play it safe and let them know that I pled
"nolo contendere" to a misdemeanor charge and that the court expunged it, as I
have looked and there are still tracks to indicate there was a case.

Of course, "misdemeanor drag racing" isn't anything like theft/riot.

------
classics2
Go to a company that does background checks and pay for the FBI background
check. Know instead of guessing

Also make sure you’re not committing another crime by failing to disclose your
conviction.

If your employer touches certain types of personal information they may be
required report attempts to circumvent disclosure.

------
pengaru
If I were on the FAANG side and you just told me what happened, I'd value the
honest candor and consider the crime irrelevant to your employment.

If I had visibility into your post here however, I'd start having second
thoughts.

------
onetimemanytime
You should probably bring it up, especially if they bring it up in any way.
You didn't steal, or stab someone, in fact you can turn this into a positive
with the right move.

------
DenisM
Find a lawyer.

A good place to start looking for recommendations is your lawyer friends,
followed by the local board. Lawyers know who is a good lawyer.

------
thoraway1010
I do hiring.

1) Run your own background check and see what comes back. Most will let you
run your own check.

2) Don't mention this if you want the job, the the FAANGs did go through a
period where they wanted activists / not just the standard coders but I think
that might be somewhat over.

3) I would never hire someone with your record if I knew about it.

A note - use straight language if you are committing crimes for moral reasons.
For example "defends unborn children from child murders" is committing a
murder of an abortion doctor under our current laws, "rescuing animals" may be
theft or burglary. "saving the world from GMO" may be destroying a local farm.
"saving the world from gentrification" may be multiple arsons (in emeryville
for example). 9/11, the US wars in many other countries are often tied to
these ideals justify violence and killing language models.

~~~
imafish
re. 3), are you kidding me?

~~~
x0x0
I'm not saying I would or wouldn't, but consider this. I'm the hiring manager.
I know someone has committed a felony. I argue that we should hire anyway.

Guess who is putting their career at a company on the line for a stranger?

~~~
imafish
I think you are over dramatizing this. Bad hires happen. I do not see how the
manager has their entire career on the line, if they need to fire someone
later.

Should it not be possible to create trust between two people, just because one
of them has a criminal record? I do not follow that logic.

Edit: My issue is with his absolute "never".

~~~
x0x0
Bad hires of course happen. I don't think that's relevant.

Say I work at a place where (1) no criminal backgrounds is a rule, and (2) I
have a candidate we would hire except for rule (1). If I personally push for
an exception to rule (1) and the person turns out to be a bad hire -- and
particularly if the badness of the hire is related to crimes -- I strongly
suspect that will become a me problem.

------
tdhz77
Bring it up early because it lets you put it under your context, your story.
Not doing so is much riskier.

------
cbryan
I know a few people with similar histories of civil disobedience who now work
at FAANG companies. I would wait for them to bring it up.

FWIW, I'd be proud to work with you.

------
shadownite
I don't have any advice, but I just want to write that I'd be proud to work
with you. It takes a great deal of bravery to do what you think is right and
fight for abused animals. You clearly show a strong moral fortitude.

~~~
tucaz
I’m not sure the farmer would agree with you.

~~~
rl3
> _I’m not sure the farmer would agree with you._

Emphasis on _factory_ farm.

~~~
core-questions
Emphasis on the _need to feed the entire populace for a reasonable price_.

Quit anthropomorphizing cows and chickens. Their evolutionary success comes
from being good food.

~~~
rl3
> _Quit anthropomorphizing cows and chickens._

I didn't. My only point was there probably isn't a farmer in any traditional
sense.

------
dntbnmpls
> For context, two years ago I was part of an animal rights group that would
> investigate factory farms and rescue sick, injured animals from them.

We didn't need the context. Also, how about owning up to what you did rather
than virtue signaling? In your bizarre little bubble, you may be a "hero", but
to the rest of the world, all you are is ...

> and I was indicted on felony burglary

... a thief.

> Any advice or lawyer recommendations would be appreciated.

I wouldn't bring it up if you want the job. Nowadays, many companies (
especially in silicon valley ) are hypersensitive to "activist" workers
precisely because of people like you. Would you hire yourself if you were a
FAANG? Take on the unnecessary liability? It makes no sense to volunteer
information which can only harm your chances. So keep it to yourself and hope
for the best.

Also, if you get the job, I wouldn't bring up your criminal record ever to co-
workers, boss and especially HR. People like you are exactly the type that HR
was created to remove.

Also, you can get FBI history check for a few bucks yourself ( via the fbi
website ) or pay private companies to expedite the process. So you can check
what your employers would see if that helps.

