Significance

• FBI background checks enhance the security of a workplace as well as allowing authorities to understand the main points within a person's history. According to the FBI, background checks are vital to the safety of government agencies and volunteer networks as well as providing detailed information about a person who is a suspect in a crime.
  
  

Features

• An FBI background check consists of several parts, which include criminal records, credit records, education verification and driving records. Detailed background checks require more in-depth research, which would include interviewing relatives, neighbors and friends concerning your history. Fingerprints, DNA and other personal information is required to perform an FBI background check as well as any criminal convictions, or charges and arrests that did not lead to a conviction.
  
  

Considerations

• If you have had any charge be expunged from your record, meaning that it is no longer an active charge or conviction, you will need to obtain a copy of the expunged record. The FBI can contract a private company to run your name in criminal systems, and even though your record has been expunged, the company will provide the FBI with this information. Inform the FBI of all past criminal charges, even if they have been expunged.
  
  

Benefits

• If an employer or a government agency is hiring an employee who will be handling money or sensitive information, a detailed FBI background check will reveal any past charges or concerns. Hiring the correct individual will keep a company from having a high turnaround rate and will also eliminate any possible confrontations and unwanted situations. Safety and security are the main purposes for an FBI background check.
  
  

Misconceptions

• FBI background checks do not include international crimes within their reports. While the standard for negative information to be erased from your record is seven years, bankruptcy and other information that rests over a certain dollar amount--such as insurance policies and lawsuits--can be active on your record for 10 years. Criminal records can be reported for your entire lifetime. You can fight against a conviction that has been overturned by a judge, which would require you to show adequate paperwork proving this.