There are plenty of reasons a person may not pass a background check, including criminal history, education discrepancies, poor credit history, damaged driving record, false employment history, and a failed drug test.

California’s ban the box law prohibits employers from inquiring into an applicant’s criminal history before making a conditional offer of employment. This state law applies to both felony convictions and misdemeanor convictions in California.

For example, it is generally illegal to rescind a job offer after a background check if a candidate of one ethnicity has a criminal history, but to hire a candidate of a different ethnicity with the same criminal background.

Many job applicants wonder if their job offer is set in stone once it has been extended. Unfortunately, the answer is no. For the most part, employers can rescind a job offer for any reason or no reason at all, even after you’ve accepted their offer.

Keep your job search going even after you’ve accepted an offer if you don’t believe the company you’re about to join is stable. Keep your job search going if you took the job out of desperation and you can already tell the company you’re going to start working for does not take good care of its employees.

Job offers can be made in two ways; verbally and in writing. Verbal job offers are as binding as written offers so where a verbal offer is made, and verbally accepted, a valid legally enforceable contract of employment is formed even though there is nothing in writing.

While most employers would say that the interview-to-offer timetable is anywhere from two to four weeks, one thing the common candidate will tell you is that it nearly always takes lots longer.