281–290 of 541 posts
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You are so right on all your comments. Soon we'll be re-doing the entire site. Perhaps we can talk in several weeks?
I'd add that framing the hiring decision as charity ("giving someone a second chance") could be improved. I'd go for more of a "diamond in the rough" angle. "Find talent everyone else is missing."
Former career criminal here. Spent 19 years of my adult life in a combination of jail and prison. Longest stint was for 14 consecutive years. Been working in IT for the last 17 years, mostly as a developer. Had a very hard time getting my foot in the door; was denied employment more than once because of my record. Not sure that my current employer is even aware that I have a record, and to be honest I have no plans t…
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In addition to the above great ideas, here are some stats for you: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/04/... The US has about 4.4 percent of the global population and about 22 percent of the global prison population. The numbers are more startling using a different measure in the report: the prison population rate. Criminologists say this is a reliable way to compare incarceration practices betw…
>In other words, don't tell them "give a criminal a second chance." Tell them that many people with criminal records simply shouldn't have them... That's a very interesting approach, but I believe a hard sell to potential employer. As true as it may be, an employer is more likely to appreciate the individual who says this is my background, this is what I learned and this is my vision of my own future...rather than, i…
As long as they aren't an ongoing threat to anyone, they deserve a job. In fact, having a job will make most of them less of a threat to society. "I need my job" is an excellent reason to behave. "The system has fucked me and it makes no difference what I do, I remain fucked" is an excellent reason to quit bothering to try.
Just curious, how do you know that the job postings you're listing accept those with criminal backgrounds? Is this a list of curated companies? Or is there something that you're parsing out that denotes this acceptability?
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>In other words, don't tell them "give a criminal a second chance." Tell them that many people with criminal records simply shouldn't have them... That's a very interesting approach, but I believe a hard sell to potential employer. As true as it may be, an employer is more likely to appreciate the individual who says this is my background, this is what I learned and this is my vision of my own future...rather than, i…
Not everyone in prison is there because of violent crime.
Former career criminal here. Spent 19 years of my adult life in a combination of jail and prison. Longest stint was for 14 consecutive years. Been working in IT for the last 17 years, mostly as a developer. Had a very hard time getting my foot in the door; was denied employment more than once because of my record. Not sure that my current employer is even aware that I have a record, and to be honest I have no plans t…
What kind of crimes were you committing?
This presents an interesting dilemma here for an ex-con. Most people can eventually get their records expunged after they're out for a while, at which point we as a society demand that they start responding "no" to the questions about having a criminal record during the interview process. It's dishonest but it's how the legal system works. If you're an ex-con who will eventually get his record expunged, is there any…
Former career criminal here. Spent 19 years of my adult life in a combination of jail and prison. Longest stint was for 14 consecutive years. Been working in IT for the last 17 years, mostly as a developer. Had a very hard time getting my foot in the door; was denied employment more than once because of my record. Not sure that my current employer is even aware that I have a record, and to be honest I have no plans t…
I'm sorry to hear of the issues you had getting employment. Must have been awful getting a job, hell when I left my last company with few references it was hard enough... I can only imagine how tough it must have been getting out of jail!