If you receive a DUI conviction in Virginia, it could well cost you your job. At the very least, it could severely hamper your chances of future employment.
Professional licensing
For one thing, as Findlaw explains, if you need a state license to practice in your chosen profession and are currently a post-grad student obtaining your professional education, the licensing board responsible for issuing your license may refuse to grant you one after you graduate when it discovers you have a DUI or other criminal conviction in your background.
Background checks
Even if jobs you eventually apply for do not require a professional license, a DUI conviction can still come back to haunt you. How? Because virtually all employers nowadays conduct a background check on their job applicants. If your background includes a DUI conviction, your prospective employer(s) likely will be able to get the following information about you:
- Court records from the court that convicted you of DUI
- Incarceration records from any jail or prison in which the court sentenced you to serve time
- Driving records from the state in which your DUI conviction occurred
- Court, incarceration and driving records from any other state in which you received a DUI conviction
- Driving records from any state that suspended or revoked your driver’s license due to any traffic-related conviction
In addition, should the job for which you are applying require you to have a CDL license, your DUI conviction will preclude your getting one for years to come.
Whether or not the job you want requires a professional or CDL license, few employers want to hire someone with a DUI or other criminal conviction on their record, especially if they have other applicants who can do the job but have no such criminal history.
This is general educational information and not intended to provide legal advice.
