I have a 2003 felony conviction ; I just recently graduated from truck driving school. I did not know it would be this hard to find a job. Most companies are looking for individuals who have not had any convictions within five years or more (thats not my case). Are there any suggestions on what I should do?
I'm a felon also. Not sure about the term "ex-felon", maybe ex-convict or ex-inmate, but still a convicted felon. My felonies stem from over 10 years ago but I'm turned down for most every job I try to get once (and if) they run a criminal background check. I've got 3 felonies involving burglary and grand theft. I was charged with 4 prior but all dropped and reduced to a misdemeanor for lack of evidence and plea. Don't think those show up though and also a different state. But I live in Virginia and they allow criminal checks past 7 years and pretty much any charges you've ever had. I hear some people say lie on your application and I believe it depends on the job. For example, I was a truck driver for a few companies and I know they will check it, so lying will only make you look bad. The more they stress criminal check the more they probably mean it, and you can take an educated guess that if you are trying to work at a bank or dealing with company funds, they are going to check. I'm pretty sure that being honest for a job I just recently tried to get, turned me down because I admitted it, and looking back on it, I would have at least had a damn chance if I didn't tell them. Trucking companies don't care much about having felonies as long as they aren't recent. It's one avenue that most felons could do. Swift Trans will train anyone but be honest, they will check. Can't have numerous recent reckless or speeding tickets either. One post mentioned sales. That's not a bad occupation, and I've done it before. Most don't even run background checks or even check previous employers. Which leads me to my 2nd to last idea for others. Many of us have trouble getting decent jobs, fact, and because of this we tend to change jobs because under paid or completely unhappy. I make up a resume, depending on certain categories of jobs I'm tying to get. Like one for sales, one for warehousing, dispatching, technician, etc. Each sounding good for that job and employer. Some info is true but I alter to make sound better. One trick that I have actually used is, for whatever reason or time-frame, I use my own cell phone number as one of the jobs. Best for last job because you can make up your own company sounding answering voice mail and either you call back to verify that work history or have someone else read the dates and title and answer basic questions. A good thing is that because of privacy laws you don't have to reveal much or anything past dates of employment, although some co's will press knowing that. End call and you just verified work history for years with whatever job title you think you can pass for. Hint: don't get far fetched, you may have to walk into that expects you to pass that off. My last thought.. (drum roll) is you can't just walk on into Canada and start over. I keep reading that bs on this site. Hot Tip: if you walk into Canada and don't already have permission from Canada from the office in DC, because of your felonies, you can be re-charged with your American felonies and put into jail in Canada and do more time. AND if you do get permission from Canada and pay the few hundred bucks for permission and move there, you are still a damn felon. Your record doesn't just disappear. Most, if not all saying that have never tried it. Good luck to all out there and don't let this world decide your happiness. Until next time,,,
I believe that there should be an American networking organization for ex-felons. I am proposing such an organization: The National Society of Ex-felons (NSE). To join NSE the person must be an ex-felon. We (ex-felons) are of our own class. We are no longer distinguished as blacks, whites, Hispanics, others. We are ex-felons searching for equality in America. This is why we must network amongst ourselves. We must network with other ex-felons because we understand us.
Ex-felons can help one another. There are millions of us in America, and America’s political and economic system is not designed in our favor. America is not going to just give us what we want- economic independence, equality, a prideful restart in society. Higher education will not help most of us overcome the discrimination against us. Higher education may help us to expand our minds, but to a great extent not our pockets. We must become owners, both internally and externally.
I request your support to contribute to the formal start of NSE. I believe NSE will help us (ex-felons) become proud as a class, a class that does not necessarily depend on those that do not understand us.
Thank you for your time, consideration and your support
good morning. I have some answers for you. Convicted felons can work almost anywhere as long as the emplorer is willing to hire you. There are some exceptions however, such as if your crime involved money then you are considered an employment risk to a bank or other financial institution and can not work there. If your crime involved drugs eith dealing or manufacturing then you can not work in a hospital or as a pharmasist. Other than that if you are not arisk factor pertaining to the type of job your are trying to get then it's really just up to the emplorer as to whether or not they want to hire you
I work with a community action program. I am a federal ex-felon with an above average education and work resume. Without this job I would be in deep do-do. I was willing to take a little less to get in some time on the job. I was lucky. I had some friends that were willing to take a chance on me. Being an older guy doesn't help either. You may have to be a volunteer at first. But look at the non-profits. Many have low paying jobs but there are other benefits.
Czech, try USA Trucking. They are probably the easiest to get hired by in trucking. Most co's don't care about felonies as long as not new, but unsure how many years they have to be. I know you better not have anything the last 3 years any company, but some may say only after 5 years, some never but that's trully only a minority of the co's.
Hi!
To find companies hiring felons in your area, go to http://www.governmentjobs.com and find your local employment office.
They should be able to put you on the right track to finding a job. I've also heard that United Way and the Salvation Army will employ those with felony records.
Good luck!
I have 21 years driving a truck in august I moved from IN to NC have been trying to find a job but because I have a feleny conviction from 1980 no one will hire me even some of the companies that I worked for before (TRANS AM,Heartland,etc) say iam unhireable what is a person to do.?
In the US,it is practically impossible to find a decent paying job if you have been convcted. The only easy solution is to move to Canada;Europe or any other british former colonies: in the Caribean like Bahamas,Barbados,Guyana,or Bermuda .
You can work for me. I need a rubber monkey catcher. If you have experience catching rubber monkeys that run through the house ou got the job.
http://yourgrantdollars.com/letter/index3.php?key=School%20Grants%20For%20Felons Try this web site
