Would you pay for your own background check at a job interview?

[RedCappedBandit]

Have a few interviews lined up over the next few days. One company is asking me to bring sixty dollars for a background check. Not sure if I'm willing; it sounds shady and is a big chunk of cash to boot. What would you guys do?

[Lady Freedom Returns]

1. No, I would not.

They want it, they can put the bucks out. I won't pay for an employer to hire me.

[Paper Roses]

2. They have to be kidding. Nuts.

If this company wants your expertise, they should pay for any check needed. This is ridiculous.
No. I would not think kindly about a company which is so self centered that they feel you should pay for the (maybe) privilege of working for them.

[sharp_stick]

3. I've never been asked to do that

and I'd be pretty hesitant to do it. I'd be worried that if they're going to BG check everyone that applies there's a damned good chance you're just wasting your money and if they want only the final candidates to BG check it means they're either really short of cash or really cheap.

If it's a company you know well, like their annual reports and you know you'd fit in well and want the job it might be OK but if not I think I'd walk. I don't like the idea of paying to apply for a job in any case.

[Ron Obvious]

4. Hell no!

Think of what a company with that kind of attitude towards its workers would be like to work for.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. The apartment complex I'm looking at wants me to lay out 30 bucks...

for a BG check and credit, but It's a nice place at a good rent. I can understand it, sort of, since they don't need any deadbeats, criminals or abusers of spouses, substances, etc. and might as well clear it all uip at the application.

But, an employer? If they actually want to offer you a job, they can pay it themselves. Employers always have in the past.

What else are they going to save money on down the road?

[ck4829]

6. No.

Paying to get the chance for a job always raises a red flag in my book, tell them to take the 60 dollars out of your first paycheck. If they're not willing to take that sort of risk, then neither should you.

[Xyzse]

7. I paid for my own background check...

But not for an employer.

I just wanted to know if I had anything there for kicks and giggles.
I also had a recent speeding ticket, which I paid for.

It was during a 4 am drive to drop off my mother at the airport, I had about 15 minutes of shut eye before being told to hurry up.
Using her car, which is a Prius that I didn't know how to operate.

Yeah, she kept on goading me to speed up while bleary eyed. I was dumb enough to comply.
I guess I deserved that speeding ticket.

So no, I would not shell out 60 to pay for a background check.
If they are interested, they will do their own background check, even if you pay or not.

I'd say, "Thank you", but there is a scheduling conflict that day. I appreciate your interest, but I can not make the date.

Seriously, I don't want more companies to start requiring you to pay just to get a damn interview.
That is ridiculous, and hurts people that need jobs and don't have much money, even for that 60.

Such a practice must be cut down immediately.
In FACT! I would probably report them somewhere, and drum up opposition to that practice.

What company is that again?

[DebJ]

8. And you haven't even had an interview or a job offer as yet?

That's really way out there.
Maybe someone's brother has a background check company and needs some business.

[RedCappedBandit]

9. It sounds like a scam, so I am hesitant to go through with it.

They must get a huge volume of applicants. If each one needs to pay for a background check before even being hired, that's a lot of cash coming their way...

[DebJ]

10. I have never heard of an applicant paying for testing of any type

unless a job offer has been made dependent upon that test,
for example, a urine/drug test.

[hunter]

14. No. The employer ought to pay for that too.

For most jobs drug testing is bullshit anyways. They only want to see if they can make you pee in a bottle while someone is watching you. The results don't matter and are worthless anyways if the specimens are processed at some low bid drug testing lab.

Meanwhile the bosses and supervisors are two-drinks-for-lunch-so-their-hands-don't-shake alcoholics, but they're not trusting the kid who smoked a joint at a party last weekend to put product on the shelves?

[DebJ]

17. LOL funny but not funny because that can be so true.

I once had a boss who got soused at lunch everyday. One day he came back into the office he managed, comprised of about 12 women. He sat down on the floor, took off his shoes, and began trying on all the women's shoes. Needless to say he didn't really manage anything. He just got paid for it.

[leftyohiolib]

11. will you give them the password to your facebook account if they ask?

[A HERETIC I AM]

12. Only if it were for a certification that I could use elsewhere...

like a TWIC card, for example.


If they wanted me to pay for it then I should get some benefit regardless if I get the job.

If it is just for them, then they can pay for it.

[hunter]

13. HELL NO!

It may even be illegal.

Any employer who is screwing over their job applicants this way is certainly screwing over their employees too.

Even if it's legit, you don't want to work there .

I've had interviews where they bought me lunch, even at one of my lowest points when I NEEDED lunch, and this job wasn't anything special.

What's our world coming to?

I may die on the streets living in a cardboard box, but I'll still have my dignity.

[eppur_se_muova]

15. Absolutely not. This is their policy, their expense.

Some idiot college in our area advertised for a position and wanted to charge a $40 fee for background checks on EVERYONE who applied. They need to get their short list together -- maybe three people -- and do background checks only on those, at their own expense.

[joeybee12]

16. No freaking way...nt

[rurallib]

18. sounds like they found a new way to make a few bucks

do not believe I would.

[Skittles]

19. no, that is a scam

[Agschmid]

20. I wouldn't.

[Le Taz Hot]

21. I've had to pay for my own fingerprints

for the fed job. The first time I was hired at the Census Bureau it was for the 2010 Census and they fingerprinted us en masse for free. But when they called me for the permanent gig, I had to pay for two sets of fingerprints at $20.00 a per. The fingerprints are used to run an FBI background check.

ETA: I went directly to the Security Company for the fingerprints and I already had the job pending verification of a clean bg check, which I knew would be fine. Additionally, that was deductible from my taxes.

[winter is coming]

22. No, I wouldn't.

1) If they're asking you to pay for the background check before a job offer is even made, it's a scam. They're likely pocketing the money from several "finalists" and only doing a background check on one person, if that, and likely for less that $60.

2) If they're offering you the job, contingent on a successful background check, they should eat the cost as part of the interview process. If they can't afford to do that or are too cheap to do that, you'll likely have trouble getting paid down the road.

3) If they've truly lost that much money over the years on candidates with bad background checks, they must have a hell of a turnover (red flag!).

[IrishEyes]

23. Absolutely not. It is a scam.

I hope you find a good job at a great company soon. This company is not worth your time and energy.

[Tribalceltic]

24. For many this is not a choice

When I moved to FL The first job I could find in my field (Nurse Aide, specializing in developmentally disabled) I had to pay $35 and report to the Sheriffs office for fingerprinting. When I found a better job 4 months later,same story, same cost. Not only that but I had to take 40 hours of classes, since my experience and training in another state (NY) didn't count.
90 hours of training to start, plus 40 hours a year (All class time, not handouts) for 18 years. Did not count. I worked myself into five heart attacks and a stroke before leaving the job and patients that I had come to care for deeply.

Now Soc Sec keeps rejecting appeals and making my life as bad as possible.

Thank goodness I have the love of a good woman and two boys who have grown into gentlemen in their own right.

[RedCappedBandit]

25. Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Disregarded this interview and investigated a much better opportunity later in the day. Great job acquired with a lot of future advancement possible. One more part time gig and I should be good for summer bills until loans come in for next semester.

[newcriminal]

26. Congratulations

[Yavin4]

27. No, and it may be illegal for them to ask you.

I would check the employment laws in your state.

[orleans]

28. did you apply to a background check company & they're drumming up business? n/t