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Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

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Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#131

Post by dfansteel »

He seems like a real self starter. If he has an aptitude for programming I'd recommend getting into mobile development as an independent contractor.

I'm not saying it would be easy. I started teaching myself iOS at the end of my sophomore year (4 years ago). In six months I felt comfortable accepting contracts off of elance. By the time I graduated I was employed full time as a contractor. It's just gotten better from there.

Mobile is one place where your past doesn't really matter. You either can or you can't. And your past doesn't matter much.

Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#132

Post by syedkarim »

dfansteel wrote: post #131

He seems like a real self starter. If he has an aptitude for programming I'd recommend getting into mobile development as an independent contractor. I'm not saying it would be easy. I started teaching myself iOS at the end of my sophomore year (4 years ago). In six months I felt comfortable accepting contracts off of elance. By the time I graduated I was employed full time as a contractor. It's just gotten better fro…

Why/how is mobile any different from regular web development?

Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#133

Post by dfansteel »

syedkarim wrote: post #132
dfansteel wrote: post #131

He seems like a real self starter. If he has an aptitude for programming I'd recommend getting into mobile development as an independent contractor. I'm not saying it would be easy. I started teaching myself iOS at the end of my sophomore year (4 years ago). In six months I felt comfortable accepting contracts off of elance. By the time I graduated I was employed full time as a contractor. It's just gotten better fro…

Why/how is mobile any different from regular web development?

A few reasons... 1) Mobile is hot right now and skilled developers are still hard to come by. Employers who need a mobile developer are in a sellers market. 2) High quality apps can be built with a single skill set, if you know your SDK. The good web guys I know need to be experts at multiple languages, architectures, and services. I have one skill that I'm good at, but because no one else has it my career has gotten a nice jump to it compared to my classmates. 3) There is room to be disruptive. The web is 20 years old. iOS development is 4 years old and Android is three. There's a lot less baggage in mobile and a lot more room for a small team of developers to impact the platform. 4) It's cheap to get started with. For under $750 you can put together a serviceable lab to work in.

The bottom line is there are low barriers to entry and a high rate of return.

Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#135

Post by rdl »

check33 wrote: post #134

Obviously an 18 year felony is much more serious but I wonder how tech companies view misdemeanors such as DUI, Possession of Marijuana, Domestic Battery, etc?

Tech companies in the bay area would probably wonder WTF you got arrested for marijuana or other minor drug offenses.

DUI I think would be a more serious issue, depending on the area. In the Bay Area, DUIs are pretty frowned upon, since there are other transportation options. I think they're much more accepted in rural areas.

I know plenty of tech people who have convictions for assault (bar fights), drugs, computer crime (particularly as kids), etc.

Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#136

Post by check33 »

check33 wrote: post #134

Obviously an 18 year felony is much more serious but I wonder how tech companies view misdemeanors such as DUI, Possession of Marijuana, Domestic Battery, etc?

I wonder if tech companies in general would be more tolerant since they tend to have more laid back cultures compared to corporate environments.

Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#138

Post by Pwnguinz »

s-v wrote: post #125
Pwnguinz wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if someone can pull up a study showing that prison sentences don't have any deterrent effect over other forms of punishment then I'd accept I'm wrong... Certainly: http://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/e199912.htm This is not some joe-schmoe study either, from the executive summary: "Fifty studies dating from 1958 involving 336,052 offenders produced 325 correlations between recidivism and (a) length of time in prison…

That study only looks at the deterrent effect on existing criminals, not the general populace. I think there is confusion about the word "deterrent". I always thought about 'deterrent' in this context as: "Prisons are a deterrent.. just the thought of serving time in jail will deter anyone from committing a crime." Whereas the study you linked reports: "We have found that criminals who serve longer sentence are no mo…

Fair enough. There are plenty of studies out there regarding this topic, though a definitive conclusion is probably beyond any one single study. See papers Justin McCrary have published (he's done quite a bit of work in this area).

One such paper takes an interesting approach, combing the criminal records to see if the fact that deterrence is stiffened after 18 has an deterrent effect on crime rate by comparing juvenile offenders that are months pre-18 and 'adult' offenders that have just recently turned 18. The finding is 'surprisingly' a negative. Only very minor drop off rate is seen.

You can read the paper here: http://www.nber.org/papers/w11491.pdf

Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#139

Post by BrandonBradley »

qes wrote: post #121
hndude wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You said you were a good software developer before prison - was your crime a white collar one? Do you mind sharing what you were convicted for?

Drugs, I had a brief encounter with methamphetamine in my late teens that landed me a hefty sentence for selling small amounts to support my habit (12 year sentence, though between normal parole time and early release via prison boot camp for drug offenders I served about half that).

I have a friend who is in a halfway house after finishing a two year sentence for manufacture. He's lucky, and I hope to get him working soon. He's made emulators since he was 12 (now 28). Good luck and god bless.
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