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My friend starts her job today, after learning to program in prison

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Re: My friend starts her job today, after learning to program in prison

#481

Post by meddlepal »

yreg wrote: post #479
BlueGh0st wrote: post #472

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How? I read so many felon success stories but I'm a non-violent felon and I can't even get an entry-level interview in IT. I'm multiskilled with a huge focus on security but despite the demand, I've had so much trouble. In fact, in one very sad case, I showed up to my first day of work as a sys admin and was walked out after 2 hours because the HR department neglected to go over my application and see the felony chec…

In what situations do US employers/clients ask about criminal history? Can't you freelance or start as a contractor?

Background check process will uncover it. If you're not upfront with it early in the process it will come up in background check and usually disqualify you.

Edit: background checks are standard practice for employees and contractors usually.

Re: My friend starts her job today, after learning to program in prison

#482

Post by BlueGh0st »

5thaccount wrote: post #475
BlueGh0st wrote: post #472

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How? I read so many felon success stories but I'm a non-violent felon and I can't even get an entry-level interview in IT. I'm multiskilled with a huge focus on security but despite the demand, I've had so much trouble. In fact, in one very sad case, I showed up to my first day of work as a sys admin and was walked out after 2 hours because the HR department neglected to go over my application and see the felony chec…

Have you tried doing freelancer stuff? When no one will give you a chance, giving yourself one is probably your best bet. I have no idea how well that would work, but it seems like the only variable you can control.

I have been able to do just a handful of freelance-gigs outside of my desired field but between bad experiences (payment was 6 months late once) and life kicking me while I'm down, I've just been seeking some stability.

Re: My friend starts her job today, after learning to program in prison

#483

Post by oopsiforgot7 »

BlueGh0st wrote: post #472
anon55555 wrote: post #69

Hey, posting anonymously here since this hits close to home; as I'm also a felon. I learned to program _after_ all my legal troubles started, and my sentence wasn't _nearly_ as long as this (6 months, drug crime). I 100% honestly feel like tech saved my life. My first job immediately gave me hope that I'm not defined by my past. Went from working in a factory making $7/hr (about 10 yrs ago), to now grossing well over…

How? I read so many felon success stories but I'm a non-violent felon and I can't even get an entry-level interview in IT. I'm multiskilled with a huge focus on security but despite the demand, I've had so much trouble. In fact, in one very sad case, I showed up to my first day of work as a sys admin and was walked out after 2 hours because the HR department neglected to go over my application and see the felony chec…

> security

That might be your problem. From what I heard it's a more sensitive role so they will take a stricter stance.

Re: My friend starts her job today, after learning to program in prison

#484

Post by dj_mc_merlin »

larrywright wrote: post #395
tomjen3 wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hard disagree on that. As a programmer we have access to more than most accountants. How hard would it be for most programmers to put in a backdoor they could later claim was a bug? Criminal convictions are perhaps not the best measure of trustability.

This is why all non-trivial applications need to have a code review process and a CI/CD pipeline that ensures that no application goes into production except via that pipeline, and that all code is reviewed prior to deployment. It’s not a guarantee, of course, but it’s a start.

How do you hotfix production? Do you have a special "go fast" flag in the pipeline?

Re: My friend starts her job today, after learning to program in prison

#485

Post by ry454 »

anon55555 wrote: post #69

Hey, posting anonymously here since this hits close to home; as I'm also a felon. I learned to program _after_ all my legal troubles started, and my sentence wasn't _nearly_ as long as this (6 months, drug crime). I 100% honestly feel like tech saved my life. My first job immediately gave me hope that I'm not defined by my past. Went from working in a factory making $7/hr (about 10 yrs ago), to now grossing well over…

On paper, I'd be a felon for serious offences on at least 4 episodes. If the law was followed to the letter, and if somebody nosy had enough access and time to inspect the past 15 years of my life, I'd be serving at least two life sentences. The smallest offence is carrying a hunter's knife in my car: that's a 3rd degree felony as I'd discovered recently. In practice, though, if the law was followed to the letter, 90% of males would be serving life right after high school for reasons I probably don't need to explain.

Re: My friend starts her job today, after learning to program in prison

#486

Post by throwaway_45 »

BlueGh0st wrote: post #472
anon55555 wrote: post #69

Hey, posting anonymously here since this hits close to home; as I'm also a felon. I learned to program _after_ all my legal troubles started, and my sentence wasn't _nearly_ as long as this (6 months, drug crime). I 100% honestly feel like tech saved my life. My first job immediately gave me hope that I'm not defined by my past. Went from working in a factory making $7/hr (about 10 yrs ago), to now grossing well over…

How? I read so many felon success stories but I'm a non-violent felon and I can't even get an entry-level interview in IT. I'm multiskilled with a huge focus on security but despite the demand, I've had so much trouble. In fact, in one very sad case, I showed up to my first day of work as a sys admin and was walked out after 2 hours because the HR department neglected to go over my application and see the felony chec…

Are you white? I think Race has a big part of if you make it or not especially if you have committed a felony.

Re: My friend starts her job today, after learning to program in prison

#487

Post by saagarjha »

ponker wrote: post #201
luckylion wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Germany, that would Intensivtäter (literally intensive perpetrators). It's not rare to have young men with dozens of convictions for assault, breaking and entering, mugging etc. They typically don't get any jail time and will collect more indictments between being arrested and seeing a judge. For Berlin they're having a list of 500 people, almost all male.

I wonder how much better you could make society if you managed to take the worst 1% of scumbags and remove them.

Significantly worse, I'd say.

Re: My friend starts her job today, after learning to program in prison

#488

Post by doopy1 »

oopsiforgot7 wrote: post #483
BlueGh0st wrote: post #472

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How? I read so many felon success stories but I'm a non-violent felon and I can't even get an entry-level interview in IT. I'm multiskilled with a huge focus on security but despite the demand, I've had so much trouble. In fact, in one very sad case, I showed up to my first day of work as a sys admin and was walked out after 2 hours because the HR department neglected to go over my application and see the felony chec…

> security That might be your problem. From what I heard it's a more sensitive role so they will take a stricter stance.

Only if you work for fortune 500 or a company that has government clients. Lots of boutique security companies probably don't care if you are otherwise qualified.

Re: My friend starts her job today, after learning to program in prison

#489

Post by qes »

iguy wrote: post #102
rdimartino wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure your statements about prison time are accurate, at least in the US. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 46.2% of inmates are in for drug offenses[1] and there is definitely disagreement about whether that should be a crime, let alone an extreme crime. Additionally, 78.6% of inmates are serving sentences longer than 5 years[2], which by necessity means that a large portion of those are for drug of…

But only about 10% of prisoners are in Federal custody. Among those in state prisons, drug possession is about 3% of cases (about equal to DUI plus fraud cases). Other drug charges make up about 10%.

> in state prisons, drug possession is about 3% of cases

You're going to need to source that unbelievably low number.

In my state, drug crimes represent the second largest proportion of prison inmates - a bit fewer than criminal sexual conduct a bit more than homicide: https://mn.gov/doc/assets/Adult%20Prison%20Population%20Summ...

Re: My friend starts her job today, after learning to program in prison

#490

Post by ganoushoreilly »

yreg wrote: post #479
BlueGh0st wrote: post #472

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How? I read so many felon success stories but I'm a non-violent felon and I can't even get an entry-level interview in IT. I'm multiskilled with a huge focus on security but despite the demand, I've had so much trouble. In fact, in one very sad case, I showed up to my first day of work as a sys admin and was walked out after 2 hours because the HR department neglected to go over my application and see the felony chec…

In what situations do US employers/clients ask about criminal history? Can't you freelance or start as a contractor?

Anyone doing work that could be state, federal, finance, healthcare, related to children, etc. Will always have background checks, with many industries requiring them. That said, there aren't rules that say you can't hire someone with a felony, it's more up to the company, the crime, the disposition of the case, and what they'll be doing.

There are always waivers so to speak. I've hired people that have had bad pasts, as long as they've shown they're on the right path. If we're not going to give people opportunities after they've completed what we as a society have deemed as recourse for their actions, what's the point in it all.

You may not be able to get a clearance or work in some finance positions, but there are ways.

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