Question: I had a criminal record (an assault charge) sealed a couple years ago. I am interviewing with a financial services company that told me their background check would reveal any criminal record, expunged or not. Are they right? Do they have special privileges to obtain sealed record info because they are regulated by the SEC?
Answer: If it was truly and properly sealed, and if the background check companies are obeying the court order, the charge should not appear.
Don’t let them bully you into admitting something you have no obligation to report. If worse comes to worst, you’ll discover a flaw in the sealing process and be able to correct it for the next time, if this company is too short-sighted to see beyond a past mistake.
Good luck.