I interviewed this past week at one of the regionals and got the offer of employment pending the background check, drug test, and such. My only concern is that with the overwhelming stress of the interview I forgot to mention my shady college career, where I ended up dropping out/flunked out before starting my flight training.

Is this something that pops up on their background checks? If it does, is it something that could cost me the job? Should I call the HR lady that did my interview on monday and explain so they know I'm not trying to hide it? I've talked to some friends about it, and they seem pretty divided on if I should be worried or not...

 

BS meter just registered a slight bump

Is there a gap in your resume? I assume not, or you would not have gotten the interview. I don't know what investigative tools the airlines use, nor if your college "sold" your registration info to anyone.

My completely uneducated SWAG is that you're ok. If you're into any social media, I'd make sure it's locked down and that there are no references/pictures of your college career.

Go to www.spokeo.com and put your info in. You will be shocked at what's out there for free. My age, gender, hobbies, marital status, AND a picture of my house with it's estimated value popped up!

Best of luck!

 

You should be worried, because there is no way to ever be certain this will not come up.

As long as you have no significant gaps in employment post-HS, it was never mentioned on your social media, and previous employers and references know nothing about it then they will probably not find out during the background check.

If they do find out and don't hire you, no big deal, lesson learned for your next interview.

But there are two big problems here...

1. They will likely not complete the background check until AFTER you start ground school. If they find out then, you will be pulled out of class one day, taken to the HR officer, and fired on the spot. You will have to take a cab to the airport and buy a ticket home. You have now been fired by a 121 employer for lying and will probably never work in the business again.

2. They don't find it on the background check but somehow it comes to light years later. End result, see #1. This is unlikely but it will still be hanging over your head...guess it all depends on how well you will sleep at night.

Also...social media is archived by various services. Just because you sanitized facebook yesterday does not mean an old copy of your stuff is not available somewhere.

You probably have to decide whether to even accept this job now, in my opinion doing so would be a significant career risk (depending on how secret you kept your college career). It's too late to go back and be honest with them, and odds are good that they will not complete your background check until you are in ground school.

This should be a wake up call. This industry does not tolerate dishonesty (unless you are a senior manager) and it's really hard to hide anything these days.

 

Did you write on an application that you had graduated from college? Or tell them you had a college degree? If so, then you might be in some trouble. I knew a guy who wrote on his application for a major airline that he had graduated from college when he actually hadn't. The airline (after the interview) did their diligence and discovered he did not have a degree. They basically told him if he had not lied, he would have gotten the job.

I'm pretty sure your background check is for criminal records. However, I would expect them to research and check up on all of your educational history. So if you didn't lie about a degree or GPA or whatnot then I would assume you would be okay.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone..it really was an honest mistake. I even had it in my mind the morning before the interview, and thought about it as soon as I was filling out some paperwork post-interview.

I know you guys, and the HR dept will think it's BS that I claimed to forget, but from what you said, Rick, it sounds like I should call and be honest before getting into class and having the chance of being fired.

I did not claim to have a degree of any kind on my resume..and on airline apps, I said I was in college for 1.5 years (which is true) and I checked that I did not graduate. I guess my next question is if my transcripts/grades are soemthing that is given out to these background checkers. Or if they see dropping out of college as something to rescind the offer.

 

If you DID tell them that you attended college, gave them the correct dates, and did not claim an unearned diploma, then you should have no problems at all. Lots of kids drop out of school.

If they didn't ask for more details or transcripts, then you were not obligated to provide any. You gave them enough info.

Your first post made it sound like you did not disclose the fact that you attended college at all, since they always ask for your education history we assumed that there was a gaping hole in your background...