Employment History

The applicant's employment history will be examined during the background investigation.  Derogatory information such as, but not limited to poor performance, poor attendance, disciplinary actions, and reason and terms of dismissal normally will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

The employment history portion of the investigation is used to determine the quality of the candidate’s work record as well as assess the candidate’s past employment performance. The applicant will be required to report places of employment, length of employment, reason for leaving and whether any disciplinary action was taken against the applicant while employed. The investigator may contact past employers and question them regarding the applicant’s behavior and performance while at work, how he/she interacted with other employees and/or the public, whether there were any problems with the employee among other things. 

Some police departments only investigate the previous ten years of an applicant’s employment while others require all employment the applicant ever held. It is suggested that the applicant research previous employer’s addresses and telephone numbers prior to providing them to the background investigator. This is advisable since many employers change addresses and telephone numbers, or simply go out of business, and it would be very inconvenient to the investigator, as well as show a lack of preparation on the applicant’s part, if he is provided information that is not valid. Another consideration to keep in mind is that if an investigator is provided faulty employment information, and he/she is unable to complete the background investigation because of that, the chances are good that the applicant will be disqualified.