So, I have been hearing a lot of fuss about this whole background check. I was wondering if any of you guys have been through Kroll check? What all schools use these checks and how do they go about approaching the background checks?

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KRoll background check

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jb32

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21 Mar 2008, 15:22

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prospective mba

Prior to graduating from undergrad in Dec '05, I spent a semester abroad. Five to six months after I graduated, I worked at my parents' business. I secured a job that was supposed to start May '06, so instead of bumming around or traveling, I decided to help run my family business, and in return my parents helped pay off my expenses I incurred abroad, school loans and a down payment on a car. Long story short, I was never on their payroll, but there's no doubt I worked for them full time. My question is, would I have to explain this prior to submitting my information with Kroll?

You don't have to report this, it's not like Kroll is some omnipotent God that knows everything you have ever done. They verify past employment because you tell them who you worked for in your application and resume. They call the companies you listed. There is no DB out there that contains all of your past employment data or anything like that. So if you don't want to mention it, then don't.

kryzak

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25 Apr 2008, 17:05

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BTW, my kroll check (for Haas) went through in ONE day. I faxed it in Wednesday after hours, and I got an email this morning saying it's complete! I didn't even tell them my company's phone number or include a W-2 form... not sure what they checked. My boss was on travel last week (and they definitely did not have his cell number).

Very strange... not that I'm complaining :wink:

altaurus1

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27 Apr 2008, 16:18

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From my background check by kroll for employment, I don't think it's too much of an issue. It's just administrative stuff on their part. I am actually surprised that they also do it for MBA admits (and with credit check as well!!!)

bewakoof

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05 May 2008, 10:35

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does anyone know if ucla/duke do background checks?

kidderek

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11 Jun 2008, 18:04

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Has every school moved to doing Kroll or some kind of background check? I think Wharton started the trend and it was followed by CBS. I see more and more schools doing it. Is it a Northeast thing?

Are there any schools that don't do a background check?

pelihu

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11 Jun 2008, 18:27

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I believe the trend started 5 years ago or so, when Haas and Wharton identified some applicants who had lied on their applications. I'm trying to recall off the top of my head, but there was an article in BW not too long ago. I think the problem was that some people lied on their applications or resumes about work experience; people who had been laid off during the tech downturn fudged their histories. I think a Haas representative was quoted as saying those students would have been admitted anyways because the school was well aware that a lot of people were affected by layoffs, but their admits were rescinded because of the lies. It stated with just one applicant, but when they discovered the problem they went back and identified a bunch more; something like 5% of admits had discrepancies. Since then, I think most top MBA schools now conduct background checks, either internally or through an outside source.

I have heard similar stories about job recruiting as well; where people had offers rescinded because they lied or failed to disclose things that would have been alright if properly explained. This is especially true in regulated industries like securities and law.

Certain background items can be explained, but lying (and getting discovered of course) is death.

RVD

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15 Jun 2008, 23:25

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Kroll is a pain and it's the source of a lot of anxiety. Everyone says that you have nothing to worry about if you didn't lie on your resume and application. That's true, but the source of anxiety comes from a bunch of hypothetical "what if" type scenarios that go through your head. It also looks like all major schools are using Kroll now (including UCLA, Berkeley, and Wharton in my experience).

In my case, one of the companies that I worked for went eventually went out of business. I left before they went out of business but I still had no HR phone number to provide in my application so I just wrote "N/A company went out of business".

When you fill out Kroll, you want to make sure that you write exactly the same info as you wrote in your application. Any changes and it's a red flag so I made sure that I did exactly that.

I filled out Kroll right away and they called my current employer about an hour after I filled out the web site (yes, they are fast!).

About a week later, I received mail from Kroll with their results saying that they couldn't get in touch with that company that went out of business. They also stated that all phone numbers on public records were incorrect since they were out of business. But they didn't explicity write that it failed or anything like that.

Everyone around me was telling me that it's probably not a big deal and I didn't think it would be either (after all, I had a plausible explanation). But it could be a pain to verify my salary at the time and bonus received, etc. if I have to try to dig up old tax returns or paycheck stubs, etc.

The problem in my case was that my school didn't notify me of the results for like a month! I know that I could have contacted them but I also didn't want to sound like I did something wrong (because I hadn't). But I was sweating bullets because it was taking so long. In they end, I didn't hear anything other than a simple "You passed the Kroll background check" and it ended at that about a month after I started the whole Kroll process. I heard cases where it was confirmed in a day or in a few days, etc. so it was making me more nervous. My recommendation for all schools is that if you're going to use a background check as the final hurdle for a student to get in, you should give your feedback to the student ASAP since this is such a topic of anxiety. I actually had about a week of sleepless nights over this because I was going through the whole scenario of "what if i fail? how am i going to explain this to work and everyone who thinks i'm going to business school, etc..."

RVD.

kidderek

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16 Jun 2008, 05:50

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RVD

I was going through the whole scenario of "what if i fail? how am i going to explain this to work and everyone who thinks i'm going to business school, etc..."

RVD.

Ughhh. I have a friend who was "let go" because he incorrectly added three months to a previous experience. It didn't materially affect his resume/application, but that didn't matter.

I'm assuming background checks are done after you give your deposit? Does that mean they keep your deposit should you fail the background check?

RVD

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16 Jun 2008, 09:20

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Yes, the background check was done after the deposit was paid. I actually have never heard of anyone failing the background check other than maybe a couple of students that are always mentioned from Wharton in various forums. I don't know how it works if you fail the background check (whether you get your deposit back or not).

I would have thought that minor discrepancies (typos, etc.) would be ok as they really wanted to filter out people who blatantly lied (say you went to Harvard when you didn't, or say that you worked at McKindsey when you didn't, etc.).

For most programs, they verify just a few things:
1) college degree (you got a degree from the school you say that you did) and maybe your GPA.
2) last 2-3 jobs were accurate. by accurate, some just check that you worked there but others may check your title, salary, and bonus pay with HR.

that's about it. i have never heard of them doing an exhaustive check for things such as extra-curriculars (were you really the president of the chess club?), hobbies (are you really a karate black belt), sports (are you really an avid golfer and skier), etc.

RVD.

nick_sun

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16 Jun 2008, 15:09

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Ok, clubbers, here is what you might find interesting - see pages 21-23 (https://www.bitsinfo.org/downloads/Publi ... bcheck.pdf) :shh

pelihu

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16 Jun 2008, 22:06

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Yes, I agree that the stress and timing can really suck.

The only thing I've heard about that trips people up is lying about work experience. Standard job search practices seem to encourage people to push the limits when describing work experience, and some people just go over the line. I've never heard of anyone lying about school experience, because frankly that would be stupid. Everything is contained in one tidy place (your transcript), and you need to provide an official copy once accepted. You'd have to be colossally stupid to lie about that.

Application background checks are nothing compared to what investment banks put you through; you'll definitely have to pee in a cup, among other things. The difference, of course, is that banking is a heavily regulated industry. It makes sense for schools to do some type of background check, because it hurts their brand if employers later find problems with the profiles of their students.

RVD

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16 Jun 2008, 22:39

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oh yeah...they also check for police records. if you have some speeding tickets and stuff like that you should be fine but anything more serious and it probably could be trouble.

i also think it serves fairly well as a deterrent. if the prospective applicant knows that there is a background check he/she will be less likely to lie or embellish.

anyway, good luck everyone with your background checks.

RVD.

fooFighter

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06 Aug 2008, 00:59

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I didnt pass the cfa level one exam the 1st time. I'm planning on giving it in december. if I dont mention failing once, ut mention giving the exam, does that matter?

As well do the schools that perform Kroll; checks do it on all students or a few randomly.

RVD

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06 Aug 2008, 12:25

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fooFighter

they check all students (not random checks).

i dno't think they'll care about your cfa exam.

sudden

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06 Aug 2008, 12:45

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fooFighter

I didnt pass the cfa level one exam the 1st time. I'm planning on giving it in december. if I dont mention failing once, ut mention giving the exam, does that matter?

I wouldn't do either. You are not required to mention you failed. Bringing attention to it makes them wonder why you failed. CFA 1 is a fairly difficult test, but a lot of their applicants will have passed one or more of the levels. Do you want to be known as the guy who failed? Instead just say that you are a L1 Candidate for December. That sounds a lot more positive.

kidderek

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06 Aug 2008, 12:52

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fooFighter

I didnt pass the cfa level one exam the 1st time. I'm planning on giving it in december. if I dont mention failing once, ut mention giving the exam, does that matter?

I'm not sure why you'd want to put that on your application. I can understand if you've passed Level 1, and you're an L2 candidate. But if you haven't passed any levels and failed one time, I would just not put anything regarding the CFA.

fooFighter

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07 Aug 2008, 00:36

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yeah all good points. thanks for the tips guys. +1s

georgious

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15 Jul 2009, 12:58

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Hello all -

I have a question - on my NYU app I put 80k for my salary, but it was a projected salary based on a raise i never got (because I'm leaving). Now my current salary is about 20k below that and I'm freaking out that Kroll will tell me that I purposefully lied.

Will I have problems with the acceptance?

Thanks

Raabend

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15 Jul 2009, 14:14

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Kroll will report the discrepancy to the school and in turn the school should contact you directly to explain it. I believe that a school will always allow for the accepted student to defend him/herself.

georgious

djhouse81

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15 Jul 2009, 14:33

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georgious

You will be fine. The salary area varies at so many firms that is is hard to decipher whether someone was lying. For all they know, HR did not take into account the $20k in options. If they are really put off by it, they will ask you about it--they will not jump to conclusions by any means. Plus, I doubt they accepted you based on $60k vs. $80k. In so many words, don't worry.

For future applicants, I would put what you currently make. If you are pretty sure about your annual raise or bonus, you should mention it in the optional essay because it is important. As I said, the salary situation is different everywhere, and admissions do not have a crystal ball for how every firm does their comp. Some might not give bonuses at all, and that is also worth mentioning somewhere in your work history or optional essay. Think about Google. If you worked there pre-IPO (even post-IPO), your salary might have been very little, but your options made you a very high paid employee!