Ok here is my situation. I was 17 and stupid I was fired from a job with retail theft. The day they fired me I was pulled into the office and accused of stealing $50 out of a cash register and stealing from the company. I told them I didn't take any money out of the register except for when I got change from the manager on duty. They said the had "video survailence" for proof of me stealing. And yes I was stupid and did take a couple things but then I didn't realize how stupid I was being. I was forced into a situation to either admit I stole and sign or plead not guilty and go have this turned into the police and court and everything else. At that moment I knew I was guilty and turned myself in. So will my stupid moves follow me in my background check for life or will it have been removed when I turned 18? I now find myself struggling to find a job. Could it be because of my stupid moves when I was 17 and stupid? If anyone has answers please let me know thanks.

Hi Brian,

From reading your post it implies that rather than go to court you admitted the theft and were therefore fired.

If there was no court hearing then it will not be on police records,unless you were given a caution.

I imagine you are not successful in gaining employment because of your last employer.

Usually new employers, will ask for a reference from your previous employer, which of coarse will not be in your favour, hence the reason for not getting a new job.

Alternatively if you were caution and the theft still remains on record,when asked for a crb check it will show up.

If the police did not caution you, it was just a case of you losing your job ,then you need to use another person for a reference, otherwise this will continue to happen.

You could always come clean about the whole business, saying it was a very stupid thing to do and hope your honesty will carry you through and your given a second chance by the new employer.

I am not sure how long your crime will remain on record, I can only speak from a UK point of view where at one time it used to be 7 years, however that was sometime ago and I suspect it has changed over the years.

Why don't you pluck up the courage go in the local police station and ask...

I was not given a caution. I was fired for Retail theft and told never to come onto their property or go to the store ever again. I was banned from their grounds/premises, IF I was to go on the property again I would be arrested for Trespassing. I walked out of there on my own. And this job was my first job. So any advice on what to do with references or should I leave it off applications? I just don't know what to do here.

Hi Brian,

So basically you were fired and banned from the premises, in which case you were not prosecuted in a court of law, therefore you will not have a police record.

Usually when you apply for another job you are asked about previous employment, if you mention that you worked in this store, the next question will be, "why did you leave".

I would always say tell the truth, but in this case, if you do, you haven't got a prayer.

The moment you mention anything to do with theft... guilty or otherwise... you will not be given a chance,you won't even get to the interview stage.

Your only option is to keep quiet about this job, not lie exactly but evade the truth.

When your asked to give a reference, just say that you haven't really had a job for any length of time, so would it be OK for you to give references from maybe two other professional people ie; your Doctor or perhaps a teacher, that kind of thing.
They may even accept people ( not relatives )who have known you for a long time, in which case you will be fine.

You will have to give your back ground, starting from when you left education,totally omitting the job experience.

Hopefully you will be successful in finding new employment, where you will be given every opportunity to prove yourself,once you are confident that you have been accepted then it will be up to you whether or not you choose to tell your co-workers about your past.

If sometime has past, you get on well and you have become a valued member of staff, it might be that they give you the benefit of the doubt and are now quite happy to keep you on.

If however you choose not to tell them,remember it will only take a customer who you have served in the previous retail job to recognise you, in which case be ready for that situation.

It sound like you don't have any criminal record.Your name might be in some retail theft database.You should consider to apply to jobs outside of retail. I agree with the other person you have no criminal record,so just don't include your previous job on your resume.Try to get any job and work there a bit to gain some references and experience.

Good luck

It should not normally show up, I will say with today's computers, there is ability to find all sorts ot things, so could it ever appear, yes, will it most likely ever show up, NO.