Misdemeanor convictions

I was recently invited to a UP interview. Six years ago i was camping with a friend who was 6 months younger than myself and i was ticketed by a park ranger for contributing alcohol to a minor. I diclosed this on my application and was still invited. Does this mean i will most likley not have a chance at this job and if so why would they still invite me to the interview? Any resonse would be great. Thank you.

This all depends on UP's actual "standards" Generally, misdemeanor convictions are not a disqualifying factor for most kinds of employment. To be on the safe side for the future, I would look into your state's laws regarding expungement of conviction and/ or arrest records. Some states offer misdemeanor offenders who don't become repeat offenders a chance to have these records expunged (eliminated). Obviously I don't know whether you would qualify ( and it is really none of my business) but it is worth looking into.

cty wrote:I diclosed this on my application and was still invited.

This is most critical. What really hurts is when an applicant fails to disclose such an event. UP almost always finds them, and then there is little chance for recovery and subsequent hiring.

At least they gave you a shot, here. I hope it works out for you. If you had lied/omitted, you'd have very little chance at a job.

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Excellent advice!

All of the advice given so far is excellent. You must disclose these kinds of things where they exist. Not only can failure to disclose keep you from being hired, it can result in immediate "for cause" termination if you are hired. My earlier advice regarding expungement, at this point, would be for the future, but it should not be interpreted as suggesting that convictions, as long as they remain on the record, should not be disclosed.

Thank you all for your input. Up asks for the prior 7 year criminal history. If i would have applied 6 months from now i would not even had to disclose this citation. Is that true with most railroads or do they check even beond this 7 year time limit? Thank you.

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Note that ordianary traffic violations, e.g. speeding, are *not* crimes. Moreover, crimes are under most state laws either felony or misdemeanor level, but there is also a third and lowest tier called something like disorderly persons offenses (e.g., spitting on the sidewalk). Read carefully what any application asks for to see if everything or only more serious history must be disclosed.

Cover your ass and disclose everything that you've been ticketed or arrested for. Failure to disclose even the minor stuff may disqualify you when it's uncovered in a background check.

If you've been arrested so many times that you've lost track of it all, don't even bother applying.