How can I get hired in this unjust system?

So I just got an offer for a job that required working with Windows 7, and I was willing to take it, even though it was only $14/hour, but even though I'm well qualified for it, they won't hire me because of my past run in with the law... This system is really screwed up, because they are missing out on a lot of good employees, because for one reason or another, even if it is a false conviction, they will not hire anyone with past felony convictions. Are there still companies out there that don't look at the so called criminal history and credit records? What is the best way to get hired if one has bad credit or a conviction on their record? How is one supposed to repair their credit or work history by being discriminated against by the companies who refuse to hire them...

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Comments

mokaiba

Was it a drug or other type of conviction? Sometimes what the conviction was for matters to an employer.

edit:
Some info on it: Getting Hired With an Arrest or Conviction Record | Nolo.com

Because employers could have perfectly sound reasons for wanting to exclude applicants with certain types of offenses, the EEOC has provided a three-part test employers can use to make sure that their criminal record exclusion policy screens out only those who pose an unacceptable risk. The EEOC instructs employers to consider:
the nature and gravity of the criminal offense or conduct

how much time has passed since the offense or sentence, and

the nature of the job (including where it is performed, how much supervision and interaction with others the employee will have, and so on).

Depending on the crime and how long ago it was you may be able to get it expunged if it is affecting you from being hired.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/expungement-of-criminal-records-basics-32641.html

edit2:
If all else fails, petition the governor for a pardon. You would need to make a very convincing case though. Probably would need to include the following topics in it: How you realize it was wrong and you learned from the mistake, How it is affecting you from advancing your career, If you have a family, how your past wrong is preventing you from improving your families financial future due to you not being able to get hired for higher paying jobs, etc etc, appeal to their humanity.

colemic

Tough situation... I would think you would have better luck with smaller companies, who tend to be more sympathetic to those kinds of things, than bigger organizations who simply make it a checkmark pass/fail on the screening.

TomkoTech

Offenses that deal with violence are pretty much no goes for a lot of companies. Offenses with drugs and alcohol are no goes for a lot that have to insure you for driving purposes.

Technoracer

mokaiba wrote: »

Was it a drug or other type of conviction? Sometimes what the conviction was for matters to an employer.

It was a drug conviction. But I was pressured, by my lawyer, to take the plea bargain. It is still on my record, though, and most employers won't hire anybody with a felony, even if it happened years ago.

networker050184

colemic wrote: »

Tough situation... I would think you would have better luck with smaller companies, who tend to be more sympathetic to those kinds of things, than bigger organizations who simply make it a checkmark pass/fail on the screening.

I agree here. You are probably better off getting with a smaller organization that would make a character decision themselves rather than a corporate check box.

TomkoTech

Your only other option(granted you have been completely on the straight and narrow since) is to hire an attorney and petition a judge to expunge the conviction.

ande0255

They also only go back so far in most situations, my brother also had a drug felony when he was 18, but employers told him even when applying for a job (that he got) they only screen like 7 years back. If it's really thorough maybe 10 years, but it will eventually go away.

cyberguypr

I don't blame the employers. They have to protect their interests in whatever ways they deem appropriate. Your best bet will definitely be smaller companies that may be more lenient.

Plantwiz

I agree with TomkoTech, this is a viable, and timely, option, but one you need to look into.

The other question then becomes, how do you answer, "were you EVER convicted of 'x'" and frankly, if it EVER happened, the answer is 'YES'.

It is unfortunate, but that is how the laws are written today. I find this equally unfair to young men (and it is typically young men) who get nailed for a s3x crime, but it was nothing more than 'peeing in public' grouped under indecent exposure and these guys are denied gainful employment, pretty much forever. I had a neighbor who had a past like this, and he's been paying for his crime for the past 19 years, and will continue to pay for this crime, despite being free from any transgressions since.

So, plan to go to battle and work the system with the tools you have available to you today, and work to change the laws for the future.

I do empathize that is difficult to not be bitter about the system as it currently is, but I would recommend you take care before posting or saying too much (such as the title "How can I get hired in this unjust system? "), because a number of people voted to have these laws in place. Slowly, folks are realizing there are 'exceptions' to the law and not all past felons are 'evil', but this will take some time to change and teach people that young people make mistakes, big mistakes, and can learn from them. The short of what I wanted to convey, is that if you ask (a viable question) with a chip on your shoulder, employers will see that chip and simply pass on your application...Simply too big a risk to employ someone who is bitter about something.

Smaller employers are definitely the place you will need to check into, or become self-employed, which you can write your own hiring rules. Most of the large corporations I am familiar with have policies in place to screen out and limit their risks after an employee is hired. Any employee with any blemish is too risky when there is a pool of candidates without a blemish on the market and ready to go. Yep, it stinks.

White Wizard

colemic wrote: »

Tough situation... I would think you would have better luck with smaller companies, who tend to be more sympathetic to those kinds of things, than bigger organizations who simply make it a checkmark pass/fail on the screening.

This.

Unfortunately given your situation, I say its best for you to seek employment with small or local businesses.

You should be upfront and honest about this as well so it does not appear that you are trying to hide it. Others may have a different opinion on this but I feel that stating this upfront shows that your are honest, not trying to hide anything, and that you recognize you made a mistake and are trying to move on to better things.

shodown

Thats the way the game is and its rigged. Your best is to contact one of the non profits who specialize in getting convictions overturned. I'm not gonna lie your case will not perk up the intrest of many lawyers but its worth a shot. Also you have to have to really look at what happend. Did you get caught with a hand to hand, or a sale to an informant. If you have any of those forget about it, if its he said she said, or caught in your possession you may have a shot if you can prove your rights were violated.

Other than that you need to setup your own company and try to find IT work. That will require that you have to find what the market is looking for in your area and try your best to win that business. Nobody ever ask me for a criminal background check when I sign a deal with them.

Xyro

Sorry you're going through this. It's a tough time to get employed. There are so many judgement calls. Like another poster said though, try to remain positive.

Technoracer

shodown wrote: »

Thats the way the game is and its rigged. Your best is to contact one of the non profits who specialize in getting convictions overturned. I'm not gonna lie your case will not perk up the intrest of many lawyers but its worth a shot. Also you have to have to really look at what happend. Did you get caught with a hand to hand, or a sale to an informant. If you have any of those forget about it, if its he said she said, or caught in your possession you may have a shot if you can prove your rights were violated.

Other than that you need to setup your own company and try to find IT work. That will require that you have to find what the market is looking for in your area and try your best to win that business. Nobody ever ask me for a criminal background check when I sign a deal with them.

I guess I will try to get my conviction overturned. I got pulled over for speeding, and end up in jail for someone else's drugs, who was the passenger in my car. Good thing people are waking up, and getting wrongful convictions overturned. From what I experienced it seems the law enforcement is there primarily to generate revenue for the state, not to serve the public.

Here is a good link I found: Push by prosecutors to find wrongful convictions leads to new high in exonerations | Fox News

Params7

cyberguypr wrote: »

I don't blame the employers. They have to protect their interests in whatever ways they deem appropriate. Your best bet will definitely be smaller companies that may be more lenient.

I feel strongly otherwise. What is the use of a rehab or punishment system when all it does is stamp the human being as someone non-employable for life? Environment, luck, circumstances (along with other aspects) play a big role in crime. But we have a judicial system that takes care of that. Employers should try to open up to see if the person has made significant effort to turn his or her life around. They need some hope and light at the end of the road, and in turn we will actually see them turning into very productive people of society.

I really commend how people with felonies end up earning degrees and certifications. I'd be too demoralized given how the system is set up currently to even make it through a single chapter. Compared to me, they're already better.

stryder144

Keep your head up, Technoracer. I know of at least one individual that I work with who did jail time for a felony and was hired by my company. There are opportunities out there, even if it seems like there aren't. As several have said, be upfront about what happened when talking to employers and try to pursue getting either a pardon or an expungement of your record.

Good luck!

Plantwiz

Params7 wrote: »

I feel strongly otherwise. What is the use of a rehab or punishment system when all it does is stamp the human being as someone non-employable for life? Environment, luck, circumstances (along with other aspects) play a big role in crime. But we have a judicial system that takes care of that. Employers should try to open up to see if the person has made significant effort to turn his or her life around. They need some hope and light at the end of the road, and in turn we will actually see them turning into very productive people of society.

I really commend how people with felonies end up earning degrees and certifications. I'd be too demoralized given how the system is set up currently to even make it through a single chapter. Compared to me, they're already better.

This is what I'm talking about too, it will take re-educating the population to understand that once the sentence is served, the penalty paid, the 'punished' should be permitted return to society. Otherwise, what is the point? And this topic is one that is catching a little light in the local legislatures, but not a lot (IMO).

The change is coming, but it is taking a long time, and has a long way to go, and probably won't happen in my lifetime, maybe, but I doubt it.

There are ways to make things work, it takes some creative thinking and I do believe always being up-front about a past that could cost a business relationship later. So long as both parties know where the other stands...it can work out.

cyberguypr

Having spoken with big people who make these decisions, they see everything as a function of risk and liability. They simply mitigate the risk by not hiring those with convictions.

Unfortunately a lot of companies work under what I call the "once a hooker, always a hooker" mentality. They think you making a mistake at some point in your life somehow makes you prone to do it again. They make no distinction between a person with one incident 20 years ago and a career criminal with a 2" thick criminal record. Made a mistake? let's label you as an untrusted outcast that will be the demise of the company.

I understand, Params7. Don't get me wrong, I don't support what they do. People learn form their mistakes an reform, but not everyone values that. Keep up the good fight.