I am struggling to find the right price for my passion.

Dear Caroline, 
Six years back, as a student, I was arrested for trespassing by Kampala Capital City Authority. I stayed in jail for a day. I remember filling a number of documents, helping the authority with some manual works, and later released. Today, I have a job and it seems all of a sudden, they want to do a background check. Am I supposed to get worried about that awful day in jail? Patrick

Hello Patrick,
Conducting reference checks on potential employees is a required process for any organisation. The purpose of reference checking is to validate your curriculum vitae content, your interview/ assessment performance and your employment track record.  

In the past, these checks would be focused on previous employers and or people who you’ve stated on your CV. However,  with the changes in the  world of work and the nature of work, reference checks now go further and may  include security, legal  and financial checking. 

Depending on the organisation and role, some employers will check if one has been arrested, and or imprisoned for a crime, if you’ve been convicted for financial fraud or are associated with a known terrorist group.  

In this regard, I can appreciate your concern given you were arrested while you were a student. While it may seem overwhelming, I would advise you first reflect and contextualise the arrest and the final outcome.   

Please don’t forget that you were student at the time. The fact that it happened while you were a student, and you were not jailed, suggests that charges were dropped. My advice is to look for any documentation that you have surrounding the arrest and the later events. 

This documentation may include any letters, copies of statements, communications with the police/ law etc.  If the charges were dropped, then you may want to investigate how you can get an official communication about the outcome. 

The documentation is important evidence about the situation and will speak to the context of the arrest and what happened next. My advice is to speak with your new employer and alert them of what happened in the past.  

Share the documentation that you have.  It speaks to your character, credibility, and integrity. Coming out and sharing the information is always the better situation to be in, as opposed to having your employer finding out as they conduct their references. Good luck

Caroline Mboijana,
Managing Director,
The Leadership Team (U) 
[email protected]