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Ask HN: Any felons successfully found IT work post-release?

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Re: Ask HN: Any felons successfully found IT work post-release?

#301

Post by justsomeoldguy »

dharmab wrote: post #185
justsomeoldguy wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

sounds reasonable, but I can't tell you how combative it is if you're applying for a job in a state that forbids them from asking if you have any felonies, and there it is on the job application, staring you in the face. so what are you going to do, tell them no? you won't get the job. tell the truth? you won't get the job. sue them? good luck. you'll need it and that does not get you the job and the settlement, if y…

No need to sue. You can notify the state Department of Labor and move on.

Didn't know that. Also was too emotionally distraught to really deal with it in a logical manner. I had a lot of stuff going on, I was about to get off parole 3 years early. I absolutely needed a job. Anyways, I found a good one after. And it was good for 2 years.

Re: Ask HN: Any felons successfully found IT work post-release?

#302

Post by btilly »

busyant wrote: post #160
gwbas1c wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> [edit: after reading felonintexas let me update this. If someone point blank asks, tell them. Don’t volunteer this information. There is nothing to be gained] My Fraternity's cook, when I was in college, was a former fellon. He worked for us for a few years before he told me about his background. I don't remember the details, but we had a conversation where he mentioned he had experience in IT. Eventually he very b…

> the super-illegal (but "grey morality") thing he did I'm curious to know what he did given your description. I can think of examples of the reverse: quasi-illegal, but quite immoral.

I indirectly know someone who fits this description. (Friend of a friend, wouldn't be able to track down.)

Was part of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Chanology, got caught, went to jail. Yeah, super-illegal. But was it immoral?

If you don't know anything about the shady stuff that Scientology did, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QsCrFANMzc is a great video to start with.

Re: Ask HN: Any felons successfully found IT work post-release?

#303

Post by [deleted] »

sneak wrote: post #205
kypro wrote: post #147

I know this is a controversial view, but I think employers should not be allowed to run background checks unless important for the role (government work, access to children, etc) and where it is important for the role it should only return the criminal convictions that might be relevant to the role. If you were arrested for robbery when you were younger perhaps because you had a drug addiction then that person should…

I think crimes of violence are relevant to any/all roles. I don’t want to hire or work with anyone who has ever at any point in their life used violence to attempt to solve problems. I am fine with a percentage of human beings being blacklisted permanently from access to much of society. Violence has no place in our world. I won’t even hire former cops. It is, unfortunately, illegal in the US to explicitly avoid hiri…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Any felons successfully found IT work post-release?

#304

Post by justsomeoldguy »

jfray2k22 wrote: post #118
justsomeoldguy wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had four great tech jobs since I paroled ... I'm old. You want windows 3.11 for workgroups, or you want server 2019. you want *nix, you want macos, I'm into it all. kubernetes, virtualization, hell I used to run vmware GSX for companies before ESX existed. My resume is very strong, and my skills are good. and.... it isn't enough. not so far. it's going to take someone who knows from the start, somehow. I've made…

hello fellow excommie!

haha. nc1895 here. I was hella late to the game. but you may even remember me, I ran abuse@netcom.com and ix.netcom.com. I am keman-the-klueless, anti-spammers once called me. I went to abuse@home.net after ICG bought us out. Then after @home went under, I went on to abuse@exodus.net. Back in the spam fighting days before adaptive intelligent filters, it was all hard work of reading email headers, tracing things back, finding the user, and closing out their account.

Re: Ask HN: Any felons successfully found IT work post-release?

#306

Post by severalFelonies »

Multiple felony convicted drug offender. Several arrests, several stints in jail.

Sysadmin/Linux with a little Dev and a little ops

I tell the truth; tell them I’m in recovery and it’s a big part of my life (which is true). Nowadays everyone has a friend/brother/sister/uncle/parent where they’ve seen the horrors of addiction (and pop culture is educating people as well) and most people see it (recovery) as a positive thing. Leadership/managers either already know or learn quickly that I’m not going to drink too much at a work event and embarrass them nor will I ever not be able to work due to a hangover. I’ve been turned away from several jobs with my honesty but welcomed at others, from startups to national corporations.

With my record, I have to look at it as a “meant to be” sorta thing. If they turn me away after I share my past and what it looks like now, it just wasn’t the right place for me and I have to keep looking.

Re: Ask HN: Any felons successfully found IT work post-release?

#307

Post by bsdpufferfish »

Biganon wrote: post #265
bsdpufferfish wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have a lot of faith in public opinion. What would your family and friends think if they found out a teacher at your child’s high school had done 20 years?

Who cares what they think; would a judge consider me liable because I hired the ex felon? If so, aren't they admitting that the criminal system shouldn't be trusted?

You’re talking about the criminal system, I’m talking about civil suits.

Re: Ask HN: Any felons successfully found IT work post-release?

#308

Post by grinfield22 »

SoftTalker wrote: post #224
NegativeLatency wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it really depends. Someone who had an a assault conviction at say 18 and is now 40, is a different situation from someone who very recently assaulted someone (but also how could you expect someone to change if they're never given a chance). There's also the negative case of someone who has assaulted someone but was never caught, you can't safely eliminate that because there's no record of it.

Assault is also not always what you might imagine. It doesn't require physical harm or even contact. Just putting someone in fear of harm can be assault. E.g. a disagreement getting heated and someone saying "I'm going to kick your ass" is technically assault. As is brandishing a weapon or making other threatening gestures even without physical contact or harm.

Technically, sure. But you're not going to sit in prison for years such "technical" cases. So, somebody who did sit must supposedly have done more than that.

Second, I rather not have colleagues who are making threatening gestures or threaten to kick someones ass. I'm slightly appalled by the normalization of this kind of behavior.

Re: Ask HN: Any felons successfully found IT work post-release?

#309

Post by grinfield22 »

phpisthebest wrote: post #248
300bps wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An assault charge is likely relevant for most positions. If I hire a convicted felon with a track record of assault and they end up assaulting another employee or customer, I’d feel responsible. The victim would probably hold me legally responsible. I’d feel more comfortable hiring someone with a 100% track record of never having been convicted of assault. If you disagree, is there any number of assault convictions t…

Based on your response you most likely are not using Assault in the legal sense but in the Common Sense, but given the topic is legal in nature we should be using legal definitions. Assault act of causing someone to reasonably fear imminent harm, what most people think of Assault they actually mean what the law calls battery which is actually causing physical harm. Further I am not sure why we are focusing on Assault…

> Further I am not sure why we are focusing on Assault or battery, the OP said that was not the charge they were convicted of

The OP is inconsistent with their information as they write that they were literally released on assault charges:

> I have been looking for work since I was released for an assault charge in November 2022.

Re: Ask HN: Any felons successfully found IT work post-release?

#310

Post by grinfield22 »

phpisthebest wrote: post #237
kypro wrote: post #147

I know this is a controversial view, but I think employers should not be allowed to run background checks unless important for the role (government work, access to children, etc) and where it is important for the role it should only return the criminal convictions that might be relevant to the role. If you were arrested for robbery when you were younger perhaps because you had a drug addiction then that person should…

That would create a complex regulations where everyone if fighting over what is "required for the role" The better, faster and easier solution is a path to quick expungement, this also has the added bonus of offering people an incentive to no re-offend. IMO once you have completed all active punishment (ie you are no longer on parole or probation) your record should be sealed. >>If we're so concerned about employers…

> offering people an incentive to no re-offend.

Um, that "incentive" is called not going to jail. Or more generally, behaving like a moral citizen. Just like for everybody else, ex-convict or not.

Just because you've been convicted before doesn't mean morals don't apply to you and you need extra candy to behave well. These kinds of arguments are making the case weaker to hire fellons, not stronger.

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