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Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

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Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#461

Post by RBBronson123 »

iandanforth wrote: post #137
RBBronson123 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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."

Thank you for this great message. It so simply expresses a very basic, affirmative goal to which we aspire. With your permission, I will incorporate it into our site's narrative.

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#462

Post by riffraff »

this is great stuff, I wish you success.

One minor suggestion: review the assets on your website, the second background image[0] for example is 12 megabytes, you can probably compress it to much smaller size.

[0] https://jobboardhq.blob.core.windows.net/assets/prod/2ttp/sh...

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#463

Post by dang »

brooklyn_ashey wrote: post #449
hueving wrote: post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably your definition of white is the convenient one that includes Asian people, right? Tech hiring has jack all to do with racism when the big companies are matching the ratios coming out of uni with CS degrees.

That was James Baldwin speaking. I figured he had enough gravitas to present an idea, but even James Baldwin gets pushback on hacker news!

Would you please stop posting these cheap meta snipes to HN about HN? It's tedious, plus it's incongruent to diss a community while you're participating in it.

If you have a substantive point to make, make it thoughtfully; otherwise please don't comment until you do.

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#464

Post by vacri »

adventured wrote: post #77
RBBronson123 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right you are. The US has 5% of the world's population, and 25% of the world's incarcerated population. Per capita, more than China, Iran, N Korea.

In fact they're not right. The parent is confusing criminal record with incarceration duration. The UK has nearly just as high of a criminal record ratio among adult men for example. The difference is the US assigns far longer incarceration times for the same crime vs the UK. Further, Europe as a whole has a higher crime rate than the US does. [1] 70 million jobs has plenty of room for international expansion accordi…

Yes, that happens when you lock up five times as many people per capita, crime goes down a bit. Hardly surprising, there's nothing mysterious as to why.

Keep in mind that the exploding US prison population started in the 1990s; 'thirty years ago' is before this happened.

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#465

Post by drewmol »

logfromblammo wrote: post #267
QuotedForTruth wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its a listing that excludes candidates with felonies on a job board specifically for candidates with felonies.

The OP specifies only "criminal record", which may include both misdemeanors and felonies, with varying degrees of each. Some employers care about any criminal record at all, while others care about felony convictions only. The website itself only mentions "criminal record" and "formerly incarcerated". Perhaps it would be prudent to make filtering easy for "misdemeanors only" jobs and "former felons wanted" jobs?

Many employers make a distinction between felony and misdemeanor convictions. I encourage more dissection than that. Anecdote: I once stood in front of a Judge who had recently gotten so drunk-->Then decided to drive-->he fell asleep in the middle of a busy intersection (misdemeanor dismissed, "improperly calibrated" portable BAC). I was represented by an attorney who was on probation for a misdemeanor at the time of my sentencing(obstruction of justice, helping facilitate the attempted payment of hush money to a rape victim).

It made my 1.5Lb sale of marijuana (felony) not seem so harmful.

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#466

Post by RBBronson123 »

RonanTheGrey wrote: post #379
newsreader wrote: post #233

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 really love that you shared your story.

Thanks-it took me a long time (15 years) before I could talk about my past. A combination of shame and fear of doors shutting in my face. When I began opening up, I discovered, counter-intuitively, that people responded with kindness and understanding. I gave them the opportunity to be humane, and almost uniformly they gave me back understanding and support. In a way, I've been very lucky.

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#467

Post by wutbrodo »

Mz wrote: post #351
wutbrodo wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also: I did not suggest a man call himself a homemaker. So, I am not sure what the point of your comment is. Uh, I'm not sure where this hostility is coming from. Just because someone responds to your comment doesn't mean they're disagreeing with you. I was just adding the context for anyone who sees your comment and interprets it narrowly as thinking that putting 'homemaker' on their resume gap is a useful way to…

I don't see why you are calling that hostility. You could have made the point you made here without implying I was suggesting that some man should go with that framing. I am quite open about my gender. Lots of people recognize that I am female. Those that don't can easily determine my gender by clicking into my profile. I have zero reason to believe people will interpret my remark to mean that men should call themsel…

> I don't see why you are calling that hostility.

Claiming that "I don't see the point of your comment" isn't hostile is just disingenuous.

> You could have made the point you made here without implying I was suggesting that some man should go with that framing.

> I have zero reason to believe people will interpret my remark to mean that men should call themselves homemakers.

No such implication was made. I liked your comment and was adding context that I thought was relevant. I also didn't claim that you were hiding your gender? I don't check everyone's profile on the off chance that it has the relevant information about them that I'm about to ask them. If you're not mature enough to handle someone _agreeing with_ and trying to expand on your comment without imagining yourself under attack by implications you pulled out of thin air, this conversation is a waste of both of our time.

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#468

Post by RBBronson123 »

Fjolsvith wrote: post #440

Richard, another thought I had: There is a tax break for businesses that hire a new parolee. Something like $4-5k tax credit for the first year of employment. Would be good to find out about that and let employers know - help encourage them to hire criminals.

Yeah, agreed, they're called WOTC's (Work Opportunity Tax Credits) and they are significant tax benefits. Some municipalities will also kick in money towards initial salaries, so there's compelling reasons to hire this population.

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#469

Post by RBBronson123 »

Fjolsvith wrote: post #436

Richard, a suggestion: Have a way for parole/probation officers to search for jobs nearby for their charges. My PO was actually a helpful guy, as he figured if I was working, I was more likely to stay out of trouble. Just have some way for them to engage and provide assistance to new parolees.

Another great suggestion. We have begun working with parole/probation offices who frequently are incredibly passionate professionals committed to making a difference. At some point we'll offer a white label platform for them to track employment opportunities, employers, etc. Many still operate off of an excel spread sheet.

Re: Launch HN: 70MillionJobs (YC S17) – Job board for people with criminal records

#470

Post by RBBronson123 »

escapetech wrote: post #444
RBBronson123 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are so right on all your comments. Soon we'll be re-doing the entire site. Perhaps we can talk in several weeks?

Also, please reconsider your decision to feature Google and Facebook as prominently as "featured employers". If it's for security, maintenance, and janitorial work, it's more practical to list the agencies that they hire temps from. Otherwise, look no further than nearby East Palo Alto and one will find that neither company particularly cares about rehabilitating ex-offenders or people from at-risk communities for an…

Thanks for the good advice. I'm learning fast. But I have found some truly righteous people here, so I remain hopeful.
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