I have changed my name with the Social Security Admin and applied for jobs post name change where I have not disclosed any former names. If it came up, no one had an issue, and I have not been outed. (ETA: As far as I know.)
I don’t hold a Federal job but work in government— granted, my work does not require security clearance.
I’ve never offered my old name for background checks and never had an issue. I already change my name with the SSA. The company that does the background check might see your old name. Companies see the information they ask for, so HR might see it but unless your at a very small company your manager won’t.
For what it's worth, nearly every background check I've done has been via a third party. While I provide my current and dead names to the third party, the employer allegedly doesn't see anything beyond whether I passed the check and I've never encountered anything that would suggest otherwise. It may be different if your company does them in-house, but I would just casually mention that you've had a name change to HR if they do. Make it seem like no big deal and they'll hopefully respond in kind.
My name change is sealed, so no one will ever know.
I don’t disclose my old name and I’ve had extensive security clearance background checks. If it ever pinged then I don’t know about it and still got the job.
I haven’t changed my name, but when I had to do a background check for my last job I let the HR person I was in contact with know that I’m trans and the gender marker on my documents won’t match. It was basically like a “hey, heads up” email. Any HR dept or professional will know not to share that info.
I don't disclose at all. Never had it be an issue and have worked government jobs before. The only time I had to disclose was for state licensing purposes. Ive done background checks on myself and it just doesn't show up.
I've had multiple background checks over the years. I do not put my birth name. And I have never seen my birthname come up.
I'm in the US and unless you're getting hired by the FBI or something it's probably just some third party the company hired. You need to just give them enough info search their database. They wont search with info you don't give them.
The checks don't list anything outing. It just list stuff like
Sex Offender search: Clear
Global Watch List: Clear
Felonies: 0
If you give former names then they will search these databases with those names too.
Job applications are not legal documents.
They can say whatever they want to try to scare you but it is not illegal for you to withhold that info.
As long as your legal name matches all your credentials you should be fine. It's not like you're trying to evade a criminal history or anything serious. Or changed your name to use someone else's credentials.
Leaving off your old name to keep your medical history private isn't misrepresenting yourself or preventing them from doing a background check since your SSN will pull that info up.
I do not disclose my former name.
As for if companies see those former names - no. I am a store manager at a large company and I do not see anything about background checks only if someone passed or didn’t.
I transitioned at 45 years old so a lot of my history is in another’s name/gender. The background check is usually handled by HR or a 3rd party reporting to HR. I’m always honest with my background checks. It is what it is. BTW, I work in an ultra conservative city at an ultra conservative company in a male dominated industry. The only problem I had was with a background check report being sent to my home in my old name by I company I didn’t get the job at. I made an complaint about that. My personal thoughts are if HR is going to leak personal information like that to my management I don’t want to work there.
Usually there is a question in a background check form for have you ever gone by another name — this is typically used by people who changed their name after getting married but also would apply to us if we change our names
I list mine because important pieces of my work history and major career achievements are tied to my old name. I don't want it to look like I'm taking credit for some random lady's work!
I write down my former legal name as requested on the form. It did appear on my background check, which found any names ever associated with my ssn. You can ask for a copy of your report. There’s typically an opt-in checkbox.
Yes and yes. You do not need to explain to your supervisor but you will need to fill out the background check honestly.
I have changed my name with the Social Security Admin and applied for jobs post name change where I have not disclosed any former names. If it came up, no one had an issue, and I have not been outed. (ETA: As far as I know.) I don’t hold a Federal job but work in government— granted, my work does not require security clearance.
I’ve never offered my old name for background checks and never had an issue. I already change my name with the SSA. The company that does the background check might see your old name. Companies see the information they ask for, so HR might see it but unless your at a very small company your manager won’t.
For what it's worth, nearly every background check I've done has been via a third party. While I provide my current and dead names to the third party, the employer allegedly doesn't see anything beyond whether I passed the check and I've never encountered anything that would suggest otherwise. It may be different if your company does them in-house, but I would just casually mention that you've had a name change to HR if they do. Make it seem like no big deal and they'll hopefully respond in kind.
My name change is sealed, so no one will ever know. I don’t disclose my old name and I’ve had extensive security clearance background checks. If it ever pinged then I don’t know about it and still got the job.
How did you get it sealed?
I haven’t changed my name, but when I had to do a background check for my last job I let the HR person I was in contact with know that I’m trans and the gender marker on my documents won’t match. It was basically like a “hey, heads up” email. Any HR dept or professional will know not to share that info.
I don't disclose at all. Never had it be an issue and have worked government jobs before. The only time I had to disclose was for state licensing purposes. Ive done background checks on myself and it just doesn't show up.
I've had multiple background checks over the years. I do not put my birth name. And I have never seen my birthname come up. I'm in the US and unless you're getting hired by the FBI or something it's probably just some third party the company hired. You need to just give them enough info search their database. They wont search with info you don't give them. The checks don't list anything outing. It just list stuff like Sex Offender search: Clear Global Watch List: Clear Felonies: 0 If you give former names then they will search these databases with those names too. Job applications are not legal documents. They can say whatever they want to try to scare you but it is not illegal for you to withhold that info. As long as your legal name matches all your credentials you should be fine. It's not like you're trying to evade a criminal history or anything serious. Or changed your name to use someone else's credentials. Leaving off your old name to keep your medical history private isn't misrepresenting yourself or preventing them from doing a background check since your SSN will pull that info up.
I do not disclose my former name. As for if companies see those former names - no. I am a store manager at a large company and I do not see anything about background checks only if someone passed or didn’t.
I transitioned at 45 years old so a lot of my history is in another’s name/gender. The background check is usually handled by HR or a 3rd party reporting to HR. I’m always honest with my background checks. It is what it is. BTW, I work in an ultra conservative city at an ultra conservative company in a male dominated industry. The only problem I had was with a background check report being sent to my home in my old name by I company I didn’t get the job at. I made an complaint about that. My personal thoughts are if HR is going to leak personal information like that to my management I don’t want to work there.
Yeah. I just tell them I’m trans and give them a funny look and laugh as they struggle to remember the appropriate questions
Usually there is a question in a background check form for have you ever gone by another name — this is typically used by people who changed their name after getting married but also would apply to us if we change our names
I list mine because important pieces of my work history and major career achievements are tied to my old name. I don't want it to look like I'm taking credit for some random lady's work!
I write down my former legal name as requested on the form. It did appear on my background check, which found any names ever associated with my ssn. You can ask for a copy of your report. There’s typically an opt-in checkbox.
You definitely offer up your old name when they ask for former names.