Yes, they do. However, you know they’ve hired felons in the past, so it’s not likely going to be a deal-breaker.
Here is some information you might find helpful about background checks:
For one thing, there are a number of states that will only check back up to seven years. This means if you have something on your record from eight years ago, Caterpillar won’t learn anything about it at all.
- California
- Colorado*
- Kansas*
- Maryland*
- Massachusetts
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Hampshire*
- New York*
- Texas*
- Washington*
There are also a number of states that don’t mention cases in which you were found not guilty.
- Alaska
- California
- Hawaii
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- New York
Unfortunately, there is also a healthy chunk of states that look at your whole record, including not guilty verdicts.
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- DC
- Delaware
- Florida
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Jersey
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Company ratings
We also researched how people who work at Caterpillar feel about the company. To do this we took to the internet and looked at what Glassdoor.com had to say.
The ratings we found were pretty positive. The company had an overall rating of 3.6 out of a possible 5 stars. The lowest rating was a 2.9 out of 5 for feelings towards upper management.
However, for the most part, people are pretty satisfied with their Caterpillar work experience.
What felonies Caterpillar will not hire
There’s no known conviction that will stop you from being hired, but that doesn’t mean your record won’t play a part.
What felony convictions might have a hard time getting hired here?
Generally speaking, some felony convictions are considered more harshly than others during the hiring process. From what Caterpillar’s HR rep said to us, your skills will ultimately matter more than your record. That said, there are some offenses that may keep you from getting hired.
It is good to keep in mind general hiring trends. People with substance abuse related offenses may have trouble getting hired for the factory positions. This is because a lot of heavy machinery is used.
People applying for customer service jobs might have a problem getting hired if they have a record of violent or sexual offenses.
Does Catepillar hire sex offenders?
This is an interesting question because Catepillar hasn’t made this known to us at all, either directly or through their online reputation.
Does Caterpillar drug test?
Caterpillar does drug test. As one would imagine, sobriety is very important for positions that involve machinery.
Have you applied for a job or worked here? Share your experiences!
If you have experience with Caterpillar we would love to hear about it. What was your time with the company like? Let us know so that we can improve our information.