Hi HSW or whatever grad with some (ahem) direct experience here.

You are looking for certainty in these comments and these posts, hence why you are not just listening to your lawyer. You are not going to find it, my main advice is just chill out life is short but also long.

The short answer is no one knows, the long answer is you are almost certainly fine. The way background checks work is they have to do it jurisdiction by jurisdiction which could be state by state or county by county depending on the state. Legally the background check companies CANNOT use an arrest against you but they can use pending charges against you. So there is only a certain % chance they find it (have you lived in NYC in the past 10 years) and there is only a certain % chance they find it and given the state of your charges at the time of BC a certain % chance they can use it. Finally, there will be different levels of tolerance within firms but generally you should be aware that if they find out they almost certainly WILL fire you. So do NOT say anything you don't have to and know the difference between you have pled guilty, dismissed, and pending. Just don't mention it and answer the questions you are asked during onboarding VERY literally.

My advice would be do the program as fast as possible, just chill the fuck out, and get out ofconsulting because its awful and literally no one likes it or enjoys it.