11+ year old mistake and non-senstive postion

Hello everyone,

I had a few question that I would so grateful if someone could help me to answer. I’ll try to be brief so it not too long of a read.

When I was younger 17-21, I did a little too much partying and manged to get a DUI at age 19 and again at 21. Since then I have corrected my behavior and stayed out of trouble. I will be finishing my PhD next year at age 33. I would like to apply to a job with federal government. On USAjobs the types of positions I will be applying to list “Position Sensitivity and Risk” as non-sensitive or moderate risk and “Trust Determination Process” as Credentialing or Suitability/fitness. The security clearance is listed as not required. Some of these positions also require use of a government vehicle.

The plot thickens a little bit because the other day I received a letter from the state where I received the DUI that I had an unpaid fine of ~1,500. I was unaware this fine still existed. I paid the fine immediately after receiving the letter so its gone now.

Will my past stupidity prevent me obtaining these type of positions? Will the random fine I did not know about play a roll in anything now that it is paid off? Will two 11+ year old DUIs prevent me from being able to drive a government vehicle?

Thank you very much for your help.

You’ll be fine. The amount of time that has passed is significant. The fact that you had two isn’t great but again, the amount of time with no issues is a big mitigating factor.

Depending on the type of access you end up applying for, you may or may not have an interview where you’ll discuss the details but it’s relatively unlikely.

The most important thing will be to know all the exact details of the incidents (even if that means pulling the records yourself ahead of time) and reading every question on the form slowly and carefully as to not miss/misread something. The fine may not even come up.

Not sure about driving a government vehicle as I have no experience with that, but maybe others can chime in there.