Suitability Adjudications
Questions and answers
Having a criminal record is not an automatic bar to holding most Federal jobs. The agency considers a person’s whole character and takes into account other aspects of their background, positive and negative, in considering the effect of an issue on their suitability or fitness for a job. The agency considers how the conduct relates to the job the individual will hold and may also consider things like the seriousness of the conduct, the specific circumstances surrounding it, how long ago the conduct occurred, or what the individual has done since.