Levitt & Levitt | Because Experience Counts
Levitt & Levitt | Because Experience Counts
Serving Tennessee and Northern Georgia
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Can I get a job with an arrest on my record?

On Behalf of | May 30, 2017 | Sex Crimes

If you have been arrested in Tennessee whether or not your were eventually convicted and it is now time for you to look for a new job, you understandably may feel concerned about your past arrest potentially getting in the way of you finding the work you want. As explained by Monster, not every arrest might actually show up on a pre-employment background check, especially if you were not ultimately convicted. However, that does not mean you can guarantee that it will not be included so you should be prepared just in case.

One thing to consider is telling the employer about your experience before they conduct the background check. This gives them a chance to hear about things from you first rather than being surprised and potentially feeling blindsided. It also gives you the opportunity to put a little context around the situation and even to explain how you perhaps either learned from the event or have made changes in your life. For example, if you were arrested for reckless driving, but you have since completed a safe driving course 10 years ago and have since remained committed to always driving the speed limit as a result, that could end up reflecting positively on you.

The other thing that may be important is whether or not the arrest might at all be related to the type of work you would be doing for the company. That reckless driving arrest would have less impact on your application to work in the billing department than would an arrest for suspected theft or emblezzlement.

This information is not intended to provide legal advice but is instead meant to help give Tennessee residents who have been arrested an idea of how they might approach their future job searching efforts.

 

State Bar of Georgia
TBA | Tennessee Bar Association
CBA | Chattanooga Bar Association

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