Fifteen years of proof
The candidate had already completed multiple onsite interviews and discussions with a well-known technology company. Only then did the background check reach 15 years into their employment history.
The company wanted old offer letters and work records. It also wanted a paystub. But time had changed the places that could have supplied them: one former employer had been acquired, while another had shut down.
The company stayed unnamed. The question now was whether a candidate could prove a decade and a half of work to an employer asking only after the interviews.
A 15-year lookback assumes former employers are still there to answer. When no one remains to verify employment, the burden shifts onto whatever records the candidate filed themselves.
The age of the records made the demand harder to satisfy. One former employer had been acquired and another had shut down, so the candidate’s ability to document the past depended on records they had kept themselves.