Usually when a company is ready to make a job offer, they ask a specialized firm to do a background check on you. Or they might do it themselves using information they can find online as well as from your references.
Did you lie on your resume or application about work history or accomplishments? Is there anything else you haven’t told them that can affect their decision to hire you? Do they get a negative feeling from any of your social media posts or affiliations?
While most companies only go through this process for their preferred candidate, sometimes they do it when it’s down to 2 or 3 candidates. The background check can seal or break the deal for you. Even things like credit history or misleading dates.
So if there’s something you need to tell them in your own words (rather than having them discover it during the check), find a way to tell it to them to your best advantage. If they only find it during the check and you’ve never brought it up, you may never get a chance to explain.
⇒ Why You Should Contact References in Advance
Best advice for a background check?
Take care of as much of it as possible in advance of your job search. Even online reputation can be cleaned up with some useful googling help. Don’t let things you can improve or reveal in a more favorable way come back to bite you!