In the fall of 2011, I was about 19 years old, fairly new in college, and seriously confused about what I wanted to do in my life. I got into an arguement with another classmate about a paper we were writing. The arguement eventually escalated into a small fight, he "bucked" at me, I responded with hitting him once. I immediately realized the mistake I made and apoligized profusely, at that time the student said it was okay and walked off. A day later I was summoned back to campus, turns out he pressed charges on me. I was completely honest to the police about the situation and cooperated to the fullest extent. To the point where I would even incriminate myself.
Anyway, I showed up to court about a month later, still, unknowing the consequences of my actions. I was a broke college student, seriously lost in life. I didn't have a lawyer, and plead guilty out of the remorse I had for my actions. I didnt recieve any punishment, aside from a $200 fine. No jail time what so ever. I've never done anything bad before in my whole life, no fights, no arrests all up to this point. It was my first mistake.
The result, I was convicted of a misdeameanor Assault and battery. that was about 5-6 years ago, and it still follows me every where I go. I haven't had problems getting jobs because of it, because I normally am very honest to the employers interviewing me.
I moved on with life and literally became a much better person than I ever was, my grades rose dramatically (3.79 GPA) and now im apart of the Accounting honors program at my university. I am afraid my one mistake, my first fight, will destroy my career.
My concern is, I recently applied for an internship position. I interviewed, and recieved offers from 3 of the big 4 firms: PwC, EY, and KPMG. I accepted an offer at KPMG (super excited to join!) but I know they will eventually conduct a background check, and the weight of that past convinction is really dragging me down. How do the big4 view people with prior convictions? Should I just give up? is my professional life over? these questions have haunt me for the past 5 years.