Background check - entrepreneurship experience

Hello!

Background checks are nothing to be worried about, as long as you haven´t lied (e.g., saying that you graduated from Uni X when you didn´t, or that you worked in Company Y 2 years instead of 6 months). Minor things, such as 1 month differences, etc. don´t matter. 

Most of the times, they are done by 3rd party companies to which the job is externalized. If they find any discrepancy, they contact you first and clarify it with you. 

For instance, with the MIT background check I had the issue that the external name of my Amazon job is not the same as the one Amazon uses internally -and that was the name given in the certificated that Amazon gives oficially-. It was easily solved by an HR doc that explained that both were the same thing. 

In your case, if they do reach out, just put them in contact to whoever contracted you, and would be done. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

HI there,

I know of a similar case and it was no big deal. The purpose of the background check is to make sure of the following:

• You're 'clean' and nothing you have done in the past can come back to MBB (have no criminal record, no dealing in bad faith, etc.) 
• Your claims about any institutions are truthful (you have the degree X from university Y that you claim, you did hold position A at company B that you claim) 

The moment you don't invoke third parties e.g. companies, universities, because you did something entrepreneurial, it's really not that much of a priority to confirm all the details. Maybe they'll ask for a couple of emails here and there but that should be it.

Hope this helps. Best of luck!

Hi there,

Congratulations on the offer!

I don’t think you have to act now in any particular way. As Ian said, you may have to send the docs later if they ask for information on the job they won’t be able to verify.

All the best for a great start!

Francesco

At MBB background check is mostly focused on your education credentials and criminal records checks. 

In other industries though the agency doing background check might ask you for references in your last two or three firms and contact them to check if you have worked there. 

Thanks

Ashwin 

Hey there,

Good answers here already, so just on more to ease your mind.

Don't worry! Based on what you describe this is a non-issue for two reasons:

1. It's not one of the core items that they are checking.

2. You can explain it if it should pop up.

All the best and enjoy your time at MBB! :-)

Cheers,
Florian

Hi there, 

I wouldn't worry so much about it. 

Even if they do ask, try to provide as much information as you can. It's more of a formality than a stage that can lead to a no-go decision. 

Best,

Cristian

Hi there,

Congrats on the offer!

You should be just fine. The worst case scenario is the background check comes up blank and you have to prove you did that work. That could be emails, etc.

The background check will focus mostly on verifying the degree that you have and any criminal checks / bankruptcies etc. They definitely won't go into the details of how your previous start up was billing.

Best not to take any action. If they contact you then you can provide supporting documents as required.

One option could be to talk to your hiring manager and explain the situation to them. It also depends on whether your entrepreneurship experience is relevant towards MBB in general and was something discussed specifically as part if your interview process. It is a slightly generic response but I think these situations are very case dependent.

Possibly the worst case could be the third party may flag it as a red flag and then you may have to explain to the hiring team.