How long does a background check take?

[Night Elf]

My dd19 was supposedly hired at The Disney Store during an interview on November 10th. They told her her they needed a background check before it could be finalized. There is no way a background check could show anything on my dd19, she's never done anything. It will be 2 weeks tomorrow since she has talked with them. She has a chance at another job and doesn't know what to do. I suggested she call but she's at the point where she would rather do this other job anyway. What do you think? At this point, I feel like they aren't going to call. I've never known a background check to take more than 2 weeks? And they obviously don't need her for Black Friday since they haven't called.

[Annie G]

I think her paperwork was lost in the shuffle somewhere. A background check is fast these days. I'm guessing the background check came back quickly but wasn't matched up to her other paperwork, so it might look as if they're waiting for something.

[Truscifi]

If she has already been offered the other job, she could accept it and just call the first one to decline the position. Even though she already accepted it I think it would be okay for her to back out because of their delay. I don't know that I would give up on the first job without being certain of the second one in this economy though.

[AlmiraGulch]

Background checks can sometimes take more than 2 weeks, even if there are not "hits" in the results, depending on the counties the background check company has to check. While most records are online these days, some actually require a person to physically go to a courthouse to pull records, and that takes forever.

 

I'm guessing the latter is not the case for you. In my experience (I used to manage the background check administration for a large company, and now I work closely with the implementation of that type of product for my current company), 2 weeks is unusual.

 

I agree with the previous poster who said she should just accept the other position. If her off with Disney Store isn't firm until successful completion of a background check, then there is no foul in her accepting the other role.

[annandatje]

My dd19 was supposedly hired at The Disney Store during an interview on November 10th. They told her her they needed a background check before it could be finalized. There is no way a background check could show anything on my dd19, she's never done anything. It will be 2 weeks tomorrow since she has talked with them. She has a chance at another job and doesn't know what to do. I suggested she call but she's at the point where she would rather do this other job anyway. What do you think? At this point, I feel like they aren't going to call. I've never known a background check to take more than 2 weeks? And they obviously don't need her for Black Friday since they haven't called.

 

If I were her, I would accept the current job offer.

 

After dropping off application at NY Suit Exchange, my 19 year old daughter was called in for an interview. The assistant manager told my 19 year old that she was hired and that he would call her the following Monday to give her her schedule and get her paperwork handled. Monday came and went. Her calls to asst. mgr. went unanswered. Finally, when she stopped by in person, store manager told her that asst. mgr. was mistaken and that there was a hiring freeze.

 

Meanwhile, she had turned down a job offer from Office Depot because she thought she had the Suit Exchange job.

 

Fortunately, she landed a seasonal job at Old Navy.

 

Based upon other retail hiring stories I have heard, it is not all that uncommon. There was nothing in her background check that would have been negative either.

[Night Elf]

Thanks ladies! She didn't get a second job offer but has been pursuing some leads. Unfortunately, nothing has panned out just yet. She is going to head back to the mall and try at some other stores. The opportunity she thought she had was at a bakery owned by one of her friend's family. They had an intern leave and my dd wanted to work there. They haven't yet made up their mind. I'm worried it will be tougher to find a job now that Black Friday is over. Seasonal jobs might not want to hire just for a month.

[gardenmom5]

depending upon the quality of a background check, they can take six months or more - but those are very thorough background checks and usually invovled with security clearences.

 

disney store for a 19 yo isn't a "career" job. So, which one is a better work environment/interesting, convienent for commuting, better pay, schedule, etc.? the fact they haven't called her back after two weeks doesn't sound like they're that interested in her.

 

she should call and ask - and unless it wasn't done promptly, a basic background check should be done by now. (teens and children are the latest class of ID fraud targets/victims as people are less likely to notice, so it is possible they found something. in which case, you'd want to know.)