Not long ago, I was listening to BaD Radio, a local sports talk radio program, interview someone who was just released from the federal prison in Seagoville, Texas. He had served time for arson and insurance fraud (he helped his boss burn down the bar he worked in). At one point, he said that he didn't expect to have a problem finding a job because most employers don't check federal criminal records. What's sad is that he's right.

I believe that if I had to choose a jurisdiction in which I would receive a criminal conviction, it would likely be a federal district court. These court’s records are virtually invisible to most employers who think they are doing a good background check.

If information is the currency of the modern economy, the ability to sell the same information over and over is the ability to print money and it looks like Reed Elsevier intends to build a mint.

Over the last three years, I've conducted five of my employment background investigations seminars. They've all been sell outs (the seminars - not me) and I always enjoy doing them.

I've scheduled my next seminar for April 12th and 13th in New Orleans, immediately preceding the annual conference of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners, on whose board I serve. National Background Data (providers of what I consider the most robust multi-jurisdictional database) and Tazworks (providers of the software platform we use) are sponsoring lunch both days.