I recently accepted an internship offer from Microsoft (Tech Consulting) and completed the background check through a third-party verification company. The report has already been submitted, but Microsoft’s internal background screening team emailed me asking for clarification regarding a startup experience listed on my resume.
On my resume, under the Experience section, I listed:
Founder – Startup project
Apr 2024 – Jun 2025
The project started as an early-stage startup idea and I worked on it through research, development, competitions, and early product work during that period. The legal company entity was formally incorporated later in June 2025.
In their email, Microsoft asked me to clarify:
- Nature of the business
- Whether the company is still active
- Certificate of incorporation
- Confirmation of my employment period
- My role in daily operations
- Whether I have withdrawn from the directorship, and if not whether I intend to
- Indication of leaving the company
I responded explaining that the startup work began before incorporation, that the company was incorporated in June 2025, that I stepped away from operational involvement around that time, and that I would be willing to resign from the directorship if required before joining.
My main question is about the timeline. Since the company was incorporated in June 2025 but I listed founder experience starting in 2024, could this be interpreted as inaccurate information during the background check? Or is it generally understood that founders often work on startup projects before formal incorporation?
Would appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through a similar background check situation.
