I understand why organizations want to perform background checks on incoming employees as part of the hiring process and I fully support that effort; however, I wholly disagree with their use. Background checks should not be used for hiring decision making, they should be used to better enable an employee to succeed. But that argument is not the intent of this post. All too often people point to their past accomplishments as a sign post for potential future successes and that is total junk. The past successes people have experienced were not in isolation and almost never mention the support, training, teamwork, and other contributing factors. In addition, having a (connotatively positive) status label (such as veteran, police officer, politician, clergy, manager, hacker, etc.) does not absolve a person of current wrong-doing. You may have been a leader in the civil rights movement but if you are now a paid talking head you are a paid talking head not a civil rights leader. If you were in the military and are a veteran but now you use your special job training to undermine the constitution to which you formerly swore allegiance, you are not a hero you are a criminal. If you were a highly visible politician but now undermine the political freedom of citizens you are not a national leader you are an aspiring totalitarian. Hitler was an artist and philosopher before he became a genocidal political leader, he is not remembered as an artist and philosopher he is remembered as a genocidal political leader.
disclaimer: none of these comments are referencing any specific person(s) and any similarities that may be construed between the characters and names listed in this post are coincidental and should not be considered as representational of any similar counterparts that exist outside the bounds of this post.