The Student Room Group

Reference/Background Checking by Investment Banks

I just realised something about an offer I accepted. They will be reference and background checking me in the summer. Basically:
I was made to list all my modules and for every module I got lets say a decimal point of 0.4 or below I lowered it, whilst every score of 0.5 and above I raised it.
For example: I made 67.4 a 67 but made a 68.5 a 69. Will this cause a problem? Do they check every single grade/module or just that you graduated and the overall classification.
Finally--I listed 4 work experiences on my application. 3 of them are 100% true in every sense. The 4th one listed as 6 years ago is well---I exagerrated the length, position and role of it significantly. And as luck would have it, have lost touch with the person I worked for--they all left the firm. It happened 6 years ago, I am going to join a graduate program. Will they actually check work experiences going back 6 years?

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Reply 1
1 )Grades: don't worry about them.
2) Background check: Banks usually outsource them to brainless monkeys, therefore refer to point 1)
Reply 2
szeles
1 )Grades: don't worry about them.
2) Background check: Banks usually outsource them to brainless monkeys, therefore refer to point 1)


Your module marks are only off by 1/2% and its not like you passed a 2.1 off as a first. Since they only ever care about your average being >=60 and you are truthful of whether you get a 2.1 or 1st it doesn't seem like a problem at all.
i asked this in another thread but hopefully someone here can help me out (as the thread i butter suited to the question) :smile:.......

in regards to a-levels and gcse's do banks (or whom ever they pass the checking onto) check the grades themselves through exam boards or do you have to send in your certificates?

as if it is the former i will save nearly 200 pounds :biggrin: (as i lost them whilst moving house a while ago)

if it is the latter, can you ask them to check with the exam boards instead lol?
Reply 4
Ok, actually I attended university overseas where we dont have 1st/ 2:1's etc but rather module percentage scores. I did raise some 0.5% but then again I also lowered some grades by upto 0.4%.
My overall percentage score without the raising/lowering was 72.48% which I made 73%. (my explanation would hey 72.48% becomes 72.5% which I made 73%

Any ideas on that reference check--the one going back 6 years. If someone actually has filled in such a form--they told me it will be 22 pages long I'd been very eager to learn if they went back 2 yrs or 5 yrs. Note, none of the honest 3 work experiences were paid (though they all will provide good references)
Reply 5
Hmm..possibly, you sure they will even want GCSE grades?
From my understanding, you might save the 200--certificates can easily be faked cant they? Infact, people get real certificates from fake schools and such
So either way they would want to check with the school or board. You wouldnt be the first person to have lost their GCSE/A-level results--they do thousands in a year and a large minority would have misplaced it
Reply 6
background checks are serious. I had all my extracurriculars checked. Never ever lie on an app.

In the op's case, you are fine - exaggeration is fine so long as it sort of happened.
Has anyone heard of anybody ever being rejected due to a bad reference, are or references not that important?
Reply 8
yes, we have rejected people b/c of bad references. References are important.
DoubleThePrice
Has anyone heard of anybody ever being rejected due to a bad reference, are or references not that important?


Absolutely. I have rejected seemingly good candidates after taking up references. And I have done the same after talking to people that I know whom the candidate has claimed to have worked with or know (their claims did not match up to reality, and once caught lying, never trusted at all).
Reply 10
How do you mean a bad reference? Do you mean unimpressive (i.e not a great worker, bit sloppy, not punctual) or truly terrible (i.e. he stole/was grossly incompetent/regularly failed to show up)? Or is it more if they misrepresented their experience/role?
Reply 11
any of the above. If the reference is poor (he's not driven, interested or easy to get along with - that's not good). Pick your references wisely.
jf87
How do you mean a bad reference? Do you mean unimpressive (i.e not a great worker, bit sloppy, not punctual) or truly terrible (i.e. he stole/was grossly incompetent/regularly failed to show up)? Or is it more if they misrepresented their experience/role?


I can't speak for all firms, but any hint of dishonesty or immigration problems means a speedy trip to the file labelled "W" for that application, no matter how attractive the candidate.
rboogie
yes, we have rejected people b/c of bad references.


How common would you say it is?

It's a bit annoying how banks wait until the summer to do reference checks even if an offer was accepted last year - if I'm going to fail my background check I'd rather fail it now so I can look for another job then fail it in the summer which means I can't apply to any more grad. schemes!!
Reply 14
look man, I don't know what to tell you. Usually for grad schemes, they check before they hire you.
Reply 15
rboogie
background checks are serious. I had all my extracurriculars checked. Never ever lie on an app.

In the op's case, you are fine - exaggeration is fine so long as it sort of happened.


how do they check your extracurriculars?
rboogie
any of the above. If the reference is poor (he's not driven, interested or easy to get along with - that's not good). Pick your references wisely.



not all banks care about references. i was never asked for any.
Reply 17
intern or full-time? That's surprising, most good banks ask for references. We don't hire anyone without references.
Reply 18
akademic
i asked this in another thread but hopefully someone here can help me out (as the thread i butter suited to the question) :smile:.......

in regards to a-levels and gcse's do banks (or whom ever they pass the checking onto) check the grades themselves through exam boards or do you have to send in your certificates?

as if it is the former i will save nearly 200 pounds :biggrin: (as i lost them whilst moving house a while ago)

if it is the latter, can you ask them to check with the exam boards instead lol?

Most places do both, they want to see the certificates when you start and also use someone like verifile to check via the exam boards before you start.
clanvin
Ok, actually I attended university overseas where we dont have 1st/ 2:1's etc but rather module percentage scores. I did raise some 0.5% but then again I also lowered some grades by upto 0.4%.
My overall percentage score without the raising/lowering was 72.48% which I made 73%. (my explanation would hey 72.48% becomes 72.5% which I made 73%



I think you will be fine. I don't think you misrepresented your module scores, you rounded them up/down in accordance with convention, so this is not even a small misrepresentation - it is not a misrepresentation. I do think rounding 72.48% up to 73 is a misrepresentation but it's small and you will get away with it ...I think you KNOW that it is too, you can't really buy that logic can you?! Otherwise on that basis you could say 64.3% becomes 65% which rounds up to 70...:rolleyes: