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Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

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Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#151

Post by manquer »

spyder wrote: post #60

Why don't they do the background check before the interviews so they don't waste eachother's time and money just to later have a background check fail. Does a background check costs more than an interview and paying for the flights?

Not a for a single candidate, if you however need to do it for all candidates before they are evaluated it will be much costlier :). Doing it after the interview for few candidates is much cheaper.

Also it may take weeks to do the full check, you will loose the candidate if you wait for so long to do the assessment .

Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#152

Post by serge2k »

DominikR wrote: post #110
sdrothrock wrote: post #12

In his case, it sounds like the problem isn't homelessness itself, but: 1. A crappy background check system that reports him as an ex-con/drug dealer when he's been exonerated. 2. Companies using those systems and judging him without giving him a chance to speak up.

The other side of the coin is that a manager of a company that allows an ex-convict to work in sensible areas can and will be held accountable if something goes wrong. If you were a person that has put 20+ years of hard work into your career at some company would you be willing to risk it all (and by extension the life you built for your family) to put someone who as been convicted for hacking or fraud in the past in…

He's not an ex-convict.

Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#153

Post by serge2k »

FireBeyond wrote: post #42
erdojo wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but they expect you to pay and they'll reimburse you. Not saying it never happens any other way, but that's the only way I've ever seen it done.

I have friends who work for Amazon (AWS). When relocation was discussed, they were just cut a check for the expected costs (and then some).

I got the option to get a check or just get movers (plus some other stuff). Same as the above person I was on the hook for repayment for 1 or 2 years.

Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#155

Post by micwawa »

raverbashing wrote: post #43
kiba wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're too old. You have a criminal background. You're too overeducated. We think you'll sue. You're too young. It seemed that companies are loathed to take risk on employee. At the same time, lot of environments contained toxic working conditions, so it's not clear if their choice of employees matter much. But people must find a job to keep themselves afloat or depend on someone having a job. It didn't matter if you…

At the same time, there are a lot of employees suing companies "just because", so the feeling has some justification.

A lot of places expect this, and my observation is that it fuels even more twisted behavior by the companies. For example, in Academia, it's not uncommon to sue over a failed tenure case. I know of a colleague who was terminated the year before tenure review, because (from what I gather from scattered conversations) his case was expected to be controversial, and it was much easier to fire him now, where the process is not well-defined and not transparent, instead of going through the whole process and having everything scrutinized in courts.

Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#156

Post by sean2 »

neoeldex wrote: post #56
hueving wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Likely the department of corrections number somehow coming up so it shows that he spent time in prison. Even if it shows he was exonerated, many people will sadly lose interest right then because they get a vibe the applicant is 'in with the wrong people'. The US is terribly cruel to people that have done prison time, regardless of whether or not they were supposed to be there.

Too bad it's only almost 1% of the total population.

Yes indeed. And that's only the current percent in prison (something like 0.9%) over 3% have been to prison. If you start counting the number of people accused of crimes, but later exonerated, like this guy, it's probably pretty large.

Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#157

Post by lflux »

erdojo wrote: post #31
ShellfishMeme wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many companies offer relocation packages including travel costs and temporary accommodation.

Yes but they expect you to pay and they'll reimburse you. Not saying it never happens any other way, but that's the only way I've ever seen it done.

Amazon paid for my entire move (Europe to SF) without me having to incur any expenses beyond the taxi to and from the airports.

Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#158

Post by lloyd-christmas »

sdrothrock wrote: post #12

In his case, it sounds like the problem isn't homelessness itself, but: 1. A crappy background check system that reports him as an ex-con/drug dealer when he's been exonerated. 2. Companies using those systems and judging him without giving him a chance to speak up.

Not to say that the system is working correctly, but from a quick glance to the comment section of the article, I'm not really sure if either of these is the real deal breaker. If it actually is him responding in the comments, he seems incapable of writing basic sentences. He also plays the race card several times in his commentary. For someone struggling to get a job, I find it utterly mind-boggling he would attach his name to comments like:

> ,,And ME thinks ,,,That maybe YOU should THINK !!! LOLOL

> Again ,,,Your Kind ,,convict MY kind ,,,ALL the time !!!!!

> You probably have a hard time accepting anything from a Black Person

There are countless more. From my perspective, most (definitely not all) are in response to non-inflammatory commentary. If I were HR and a basic google search turned this up, I wouldn't touch him with a 10 foot pole, let alone even bother with an actual background check. I use full sentences and am reasonably respectful with my username as "lloyd-christmas". If I used my real name, I'd likely be even more PC/respectful/cautious.

For someone that has first hand experience in regards to the impact of background checks, he's sure not making it any easier on himself.

Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#159

Post by DominikR »

serge2k wrote: post #152
DominikR wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other side of the coin is that a manager of a company that allows an ex-convict to work in sensible areas can and will be held accountable if something goes wrong. If you were a person that has put 20+ years of hard work into your career at some company would you be willing to risk it all (and by extension the life you built for your family) to put someone who as been convicted for hacking or fraud in the past in…

He's not an ex-convict.

It was a general statement not targeted at a specific person. The parent of my comment mentioned ex-convicts as well in a general statement.

Re: Being homeless a struggle, even with a $100k job offer

#160

Post by tene »

buro9 wrote: post #109
DanBC wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I ask: What would have helped? And what would help now? Homeless people and people who are vulnerably housed in the UK have pretty lousy treatment from "services", a lot of which is provided by faith and voluntary groups. There are huge amounts of stigma, and a lot of misunderstanding of alcoholism and drug use and mental illness.

Small, safe spaces. That is... I went onto the streets to escape poverty, violence and sexual abuse. For me a hostel was not a safe space, so I didn't even successfully make it onto the first rung of support. It was hostels that distributed information on where to get food and such, so I missed that too. So there needs to be a better support system for those sleeping rough, and that needs to recognise the flaws in th…

One thing I'm curious about, if you're willing to share, is what makes hostels and shelters unsafe. There are several people on here who mention hostels or shelters not being safe for them, and I've never quite understood what would cause that, given that the entire point of a shelter is to offer a safe space, isn't it? What are the common failings there? What makes the safety of a shelter vary between different people?
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