Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Overcomming a federal conviction (computer fraud) for decent job?

pastebin.ca

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 182 posts

Re: Ask HN: Overcomming a federal conviction (computer fraud) for decent job?

#131

Post by tptacek »

clicks wrote: post #119
tptacek wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why have interviews at all? You're an immensely capable person who clearly knows what's best for your prospective employer. Just hire yourself for them!

Way to miss the point, very impressive indeed! michaelochurch brings up a great point that having even the most minor slip in your records will too often result in a disproportionately, unreasonably unfair reception in the job market: I don't know the details and I'm not a felon, but I think it is pretty fucked up how any felony leads to long-term economic disenfranchisement, so I sincerely hope this advice helps. Th…

He is incorrect about the job market for former felons in our field, but that is orthogonal to the subsubthread we find ourselves on now.

Re: Ask HN: Overcomming a federal conviction (computer fraud) for decent job?

#132

Post by orangethirty »

I'd say start doing contracting. Given market demands you will get land a contract quickly. Some contracts end up being fu time jobs without benefits. So it might play out better for you. You could also do security work. God knows that there is always work on that market.

Re: Ask HN: Overcomming a federal conviction (computer fraud) for decent job?

#133

Post by jeltz »

0x00_ wrote: post #115
felonyquestions wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm east coast, have extra work (not security unfort), and won't run a background check on you. Are you trying to stick with security? Or does any development work suit you?

Depends on language and the type of work. Shoot me an email?

He posted his address above in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5433215

Re: Ask HN: Overcomming a federal conviction (computer fraud) for decent job?

#134

Post by sr3d »

0x00_ wrote: post #123
alt2319 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can "ditto" most of that. I've had a federal felony conviction for computer fraud (against an ex-employer) for over 10 years now and have been employed for most of that time. I was terminated as soon as my case hit the news media, but I was able to find contract work with friends before my sentencing. I was able to pay my restitution in full, which really sucked financially, but was a great feeling and something I'…

:) These are the types of posts I was hoping for when I created this thread. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this -both of you. It's just been really shitty to think about lately as far as my future is concerned. I am at a point where I'm beginning to question whether or not the choices I am making now are worth the investment of time (or not) before it's too late to change course. your experiences giv…

I feel your case and I can't imagine how hard it is. Though being a developer gives you more opportunities and freedom than you think you have. All you have to do is to be amazing at what you do. You made the mistake once, you paid you dues, so life goes on. I agree with the parent post -- you should build a great online presence to bury the past, to prove that you are a new person.

I once worked with a friend I made online. He's a great designer. I refered him to another good friend for some work, and this other friend found out the designer had been on the news for a felony a few years back ( long story short, he pretty much used his design/photoshop skills and got into trouble with the laws). His case got cleared afterward, but searching for his name on Google still returns the articles from the past.

My other friend didn't work with the guy because of this, but in the end, my designer friend is still happy because he got his life in order. He's a great guy and he didn't let his past impact him too much. He even helped me when I needed some money to survive, he was there to send me some work for the badly needed few hundred bucks.

Good luck. Life is too short to worry too much about the past. Learn new skills, make new friends, become an awesome developer to create more values for society. Look at rappers like JayZ or 50Cents for inspirations. They were put in jails, shots multiple times, and yet they are hugely successful entrepreneurs now.

If you're good, people can't ignore you for long. Email me your resume, I always look for good developers to connect.

Re: Ask HN: Overcomming a federal conviction (computer fraud) for decent job?

#135

Post by clicks »

tptacek wrote: post #131
clicks wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Way to miss the point, very impressive indeed! michaelochurch brings up a great point that having even the most minor slip in your records will too often result in a disproportionately, unreasonably unfair reception in the job market: I don't know the details and I'm not a felon, but I think it is pretty fucked up how any felony leads to long-term economic disenfranchisement, so I sincerely hope this advice helps. Th…

He is incorrect about the job market for former felons in our field, but that is orthogonal to the subsubthread we find ourselves on now.

> He is incorrect about the job market for former felons in our field

I recall that you are in the security field. Naturally some of the best workers in the field very well might be individuals who got into trouble in their teenage years for hacking offenses -- I think you're operating on certain assumptions that are valid indeed only for that niche security field. I can tell you from my experiences in the corporate IT world that the situation here is the opposite to the one you speak of, employers come down hard on folks with the slightest slip in their records, and will absolutely use that bit of information to discriminate against them in hiring decisions.

I agree with michaelochurch when he points out that getting a job for a couple years, building up savings, and then getting fired... is probably better than not getting any jobs and being long-term unemployed in most scenarios.

Re: Ask HN: Overcomming a federal conviction (computer fraud) for decent job?

#136

Post by 0x00_ »

vellum wrote: post #127
auctiontheory wrote: post #4

Now, more than ever, you don't need to work for someone else (as an employee). If you have the skills, you can do very well as a freelancer/consultant. The pay can be good, the work can be interesting, and they won't run a background check on you.

Try going to some meetups in a big city. There's a lot of work out there and if you mention you're looking for a gig, and you seem knowledgeable, people will probably refer work to you.

Social anxiety. Embarrassed by the stigma and reputation, don't really want to bump into or be noticed by any LE who may be present. Frustrations like that tend to work against me when considering doing this.

I'm slowly -very slowly and cautiously- approaching the local infosec community. For me to do that it has to be piecemeal.

Re: Ask HN: Overcomming a federal conviction (computer fraud) for decent job?

#137

Post by tptacek »

clicks wrote: post #135
tptacek wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He is incorrect about the job market for former felons in our field, but that is orthogonal to the subsubthread we find ourselves on now.

> He is incorrect about the job market for former felons in our field I recall that you are in the security field. Naturally some of the best workers in the field very well might be individuals who got into trouble in their teenage years for hacking offenses -- I think you're operating on certain assumptions that are valid indeed only for that niche security field. I can tell you from my experiences in the corporate…

That's an easy statement to agree with because it is obviously true. I agree with it too! Who wouldn't agree with it? The problem is, that advice came packaged with another piece of advice which was much worse.

Re: Ask HN: Overcomming a federal conviction (computer fraud) for decent job?

#138

Post by yep_throwaway »

tptacek wrote: post #108
michaelochurch wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The major consequence of "termination for cause" is that you don't get severance, and the company will probably fight unemployment claims. I grant you that if he gets fired over this, he shouldn't expect a package. His life is already in a state of fucked-up-ness that is beyond worrying about that he might get fired without severance. He needs to get a job, first and foremost. Severance is almost a Maserati problem,…

You are providing what I believe to be --- pragmatically --- terrible advice in this thread. It is not impossible to find employment in tech with a felony conviction; in fact, by all outward appearances, the opposite is true; people with CFAA convictions are employed at a rate higher than that of the overall population; they are, as a general rule, employed. What you're saying is that you think the job market is so i…

> It is not impossible to find employment in tech with a felony conviction

Perhaps not in the Valley, but I don't believe the OP provided his location.

I'm not in the Valley and I speak from experience when I say that it is extremely difficult to find employment in any industry w/ a felony conviction.

Due to the nature of the information we sometimes have access to, it is (in many cases) more difficult to find a job in the tech industry.

Re: Ask HN: Overcomming a federal conviction (computer fraud) for decent job?

#139

Post by rwhitman »

0x00_ wrote: post #88
rwhitman wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Put a way to contact you on your HN profile. You are on the frontpage and will probably get a few leads. Don't waste the opportunity to score freelance clients out of your post...

Oh? The front page? Whoo hoo! (is that hard here? it's hard on reddit) I've gone ahead done that just-in-case. I am not really here looking for active leads (though I certainly wouldn't throw away an opportunity if it presented itself as a result of this posting), but some of these responses have been really uplifting. I am really here pinging this community for people that have been in or have dealt with the circums…

Pretty hard yea, especially with an "Ask HN" post

Re: Ask HN: Overcomming a federal conviction (computer fraud) for decent job?

#140

Post by coopdog »

losvedir wrote: post #14
michaelochurch wrote: post #2

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT legal advice. I am not a lawyer, and there's a hell of a lot of risk in what I'm going to tell you to do. When I was a teenager, someone I knew did something nonviolent but pretty bad (severe academic dishonesty) and had a non-empty answer to the "Discipline Question". You might judge me negatively for keeping such a person as a friend-- and I shouldn't have, but that's another story-- but at…

That's an interesting story. As a counterpoint, since we're all just dealing in anecdotes here, I had a non-empty answer to the "Discipline Question"; I was suspended for "hacking", albeit after voluntarily telling my principal about it. I disclosed it on my applications, while my high school did not. I was still accepted to MIT and Stanford. I later learned that MIT actually called my high school to get clarificatio…

I guess with cracking the intent is crucial. Ie were you just curious and forgot to respect the boundary, or were you in it for personal gain. The first would make good NSA agents once set straight, the second much harder to trust.
Post reply on HN