Preparing for the Job Search, Connections 2007 and The Job Search (NYPL)

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Correctional Library Services > Connections 2007 > The Job Search > Preparing for the Job Search

Preparing for the Job Search

A wealth of useful information for the ex-inmate can be found on the web pages of the National H.I.R.E. Network, established by the Legal Action Center. Though it is not a job-placement service, the goal of this organization is to increase the number and quality of job opportunities available to people with criminal records by changing public policies, employment practices, and public opinion. Visit www.hirenetwork.org and then click on "Resources & Assistance" for information on rap sheets, one's rights as an ex-inmate when applying for jobs, and a list of helpful agencies by state.

What You Can Do Before Leaving Prison

Take Advantage of Pre-Release Programs in Your Facility
Many of the pre-release units in prisons have specially trained staff to help you plan your re-entry into outside society. Most pre-release units maintain updated listings of governmental and community-based agencies which can be of help to you in finding a job, locating an appropriate drug program, or addressing any of a multitude of needs. If you plan to return to, or remain in, New York City after your release, you may want a copy of this booklet for yourself. Copies of Connections can be obtained, free of charge to New York State residents, by writing: Correctional Library Services, The New York Public Library, 455 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016. You might also encourage your pre-release center to invite in, as some already do, representatives from community agencies or private companies that do a large amount of hiring, to give presentations.

Gather Together the Documents That You Will Need
In order to apply for jobs and be eligible for most private or governmental programs, it is mandatory that you have available certain types of documentation. If you begin to collect what you need now, a lot of valuable time and much frustration will be saved. At the very least, be sure to have a Social Security card (sometimes a number alone is not sufficient) and proof of identification (a birth certificate, baptismal papers, driver's license or non-driver's photo ID, for example). Each agency has its own requirements as to documentation, but the following are commonly required, or may help in increasing your chances for eligibility:

Military Discharge Papers
Alien Registration Card (for non-U.S. Citizens)
Prison Discharge Papers (given to you upon release)
Proof of Education (college transcripts, or GED certificate, for example)
Working Papers (required for persons under 18 years of age)
Proof of Functional Disability
Certificate of Relief from Disabilities
Certificate of Good Conduct

Of course, not all of these documents can be obtained easily, if at all, while you are in prison, but collect what you can, and remember that, in some cases, a family member or friend on the outside may be of help.

Personal references are also required in applying for many jobs, or getting back into school. So start building yourself a file of recommendations from persons for whom you have worked in the past, or of people who can testify to your character. A letter from a member of the clergy in your neihborhood, a former employer, or a teacher may one day prove valuable in providing the necessary proof to a prospective employer that you have been rehabilitated and are ready to take on the responsibilities of a job.

Visit www.hirenetwork.org/publications.html for the Legal Action Center's brochure "How to Obtain Important Documents." Topics include: Social Security Cards, Birth Certificates, Naturalization Cards, Voter Registration, Driver's Licenses, Non-Driver ID, and Passports.

What You Can Do Upon Release

Restore Your Rights
As a result of a felony, or certain misdemeanor convictions, you may have lost your right to engage in certain types of employment, or apply for certain types of licenses. In some cases, you may be prohibited, legally, from applying for certain civil service positions, which are classified as public office, such as fire fighter; also working in a liquor establishment, or being licensed as a barber or cosmetologist, real estate salesperson, pharmacist, notary public, security guard, etc.

To restore your rights, it is necessary to obtain:

a Certificate of Relief from Disabilities, for which you are eligible if you have been convicted of only misdemeanors and not more than one felony, or one felony only.
a Certificate of Good Conduct, for which you are eligible if you have been convicted of more than one felony.

WHAT CERTIFICATES ARE
Certificates are an assumption of rehabilitation and evidence employers and licensing agencies must consider when licensing or hiring.

WHAT CERTIFICATES CAN DO
Certificates have the power to remove any legal bar or disability imposed on you as a result of having been convicted of the crime(s) specified on the Certificate. If you have a Certificate, not only do you become eligible to apply for positions you might otherwise be barred from, but the Certificate informs the employer that the State or a court assumes you are rehabilitated, and that the employer should take this into consideration. Remember that under State law, it is illegal for an employer to deny someone a job based on his or her conviction, unless the employer can demonstrate it is job related. The law says that in deciding whether or not a conviction is job related, the employer must consider a number of factors including evidence of rehabilitation (a Certificate). With a Certificate, then, the burden of proof is on the employer to demonstrate that hiring you would be a risk to people or property, or that your conviction is directly related to the job for which you are applying. (A former bank embezzler, once released, would have difficulty getting a job handling cash at a bank, for example.) A Certificate is not a pardon and you would still be required to disclose your conviction record if you are asked about it.

Remember that some occupational licenses may be denied you for certain employment, such as with security firms, unless you have one of the Certificates.

APPLYING FOR A CERTIFICATE
You may apply for a Certificate of Relief from Disabilities, which is granted to persons without multiple felony convictions, immediately after your conviction. If no State time is served, you may apply at the court at which the conviction took place. If you have an out-of-state conviction or a federal conviction you have to apply for your certificate from the New York State Division of Parole.

To apply for a Certificate of Good Conduct, which is granted to persons who have multiple felony convictions, you may have to wait three to five years after completing your most recent sentence depending on the severity of your most serious conviction. For example: you may have two felonies, a class E felony from 1980 and a class B felony from 1990 and you were discharged from parole in 2002. Since your most serious crime was a B felony you would have to wait five years from the completion of your most recent sentence (2002). Therefore, you would not be eligible to apply for a Certificate of Good Conduct until 2007.

To request an application form for a Certificate of Relief from Disabilities if you have served State time, or for a Certificate of Good Conduct, write:

The New York State Division of Parole
Certificate Review Unit
97 Central Avenue
Albany, NY 12206
518.485.8953

Application forms are also available at the New York State Division of Parole website at www.parole.state.ny.us/ParoleCert.pdf.

For more information, contact your parole/probation officer, or The Legal Action Center, 225 Varick Street, NYC 10014, telephone: 212.243.1313. The Legal Action Center also has a brochure for formerly incarcerated people entitled "Certificate of Relief from Disabilities and Certificate of Good Conduct: What You Can Do About Criminal Convictions When Looking for Work," available at lac.org/pubs/gratis/certificates_of_rehabilitation.pdf.

Certificates generally take one year to be processed.

Remember, you are eligible to apply for the Certificates even if your convictions took place outside of New York State.

Clean Up Your Rap Sheet
All too often, arrests that should be sealed (arrests not leading to convictions, youthful offender adjudications, or convictions for non-criminal offenses) remain open (unsealed) on your record, and available for potential employers to see.

You should assume that every employer will ask you questions about your arrest and conviction record. Employers who can legally fingerprint you and get from New York State a copy of your rap sheet are: civil service employers; banks and financial institutions; bonding agencies; hospitals; museums; child care agencies; home care agencies; mental health facilities; school bus driving companies; security guard companies; and law enforcement agencies (who are entitled to see sealed information as well). It is to your advantage, then, to clean up your record, and to have sealed whatever errors or unnecessary information may appear on it. Try to correct these mistakes before you begin to apply for jobs.

REVIEWING YOUR RAP SHEET
If you are currently serving a sentence in a New York State prison or in a county or city jail, you will be sent a copy of your rap sheet free of charge. You must include your name, any aliases, your date of birth, your DIN, and state how long you will be incarcerated. The Division of Criminal Justice Services will not send you your rap sheet if you will be incarcerated for less than 45 days. Send your request to:

State of New York
Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS)
Record Review Unit
4 Tower Place
Albany, New York 12203–3764
518.485.7675 or 518.457.9847

If you are not incarcerated, or if you will be incarcerated for less than 45 days, you can receive a copy of your rap sheet by sending to DCJS a form called "Request for Record Review." Obtain this form by writing to:

State of New York
Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS)
Record Review Unit
4 Tower Place
Albany, New York 12203–3764
518.485.7675 or 518.457.9847

Once you have filled out the form, there will be a $50 fee for processing your request. Only Western Union, U.S. Postal Service, American Express, or bank money orders will be accepted. Money orders must be made out to "N.Y. State Division of Criminal Justice Services." Do not send cash or any other form of payment. The $50 fee may be waived if you can supply proof of financial hardship, such as evidence that you currently receive Public Assistance or Medicaid (be sure that the card is signed). If you are not incarcerated, your attorney may request this information for you; however, you must supply written, notarized authorization for him or her to do so.

Legal Action Center or your local office of the Legal Aid Society can also assist you in obtaining your rap sheet.

NOTE: The Legal Action Center (225 Varick Street, New York, NY, 10014) has available for ex-offenders, upon request, a booklet entitled "How to Get and Clean Up Your New York State Rap Sheet." The publication is available on the Internet by visiting www.hirenetwork.org/publications.html

To obtain a federal rap sheet, you must write the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). State that your request is under the Freedom of Information Act, and send (1) a signed written request stating what you are requesting with your complete mailing address,
(2) a full set of prints (available at any police precinct for a fee) with the date, your name, and your date and place of birth,
(3) a money order or certified check for $18 made payable to the Treasury of the United States. Send all of the above to:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation
Criminal Justice Information Services Division
Attn: Record Request
1000 Custer Hollow Road
Clarksburg, WV 26306

Many employers are not authorized to get a copy of your rap sheet from DCJS. So you may find that a prospective employer will conduct a criminal background check using a consumer reporting agency. Both the Federal and New York State Fair Credit Reporting laws require that an employer get your permission before they conduct a background check using a consumer reporting company. There are a great many companies that provide this service to employers. You should get a copy of your consumer (credit) report for yourself as you prepare to look for a job. These reports are often incomplete or innacurate and may require you to spend some time correcting the information. Usually there is a fee to get your credit report. However, three major credit bureaus will supply one free credit report per year. Visit www.annualcreditreport.com for more information.

Remember that all of these procedures (obtaining and cleaning up errors on your rap sheet, sealing arrests not leading to convictions, etc.) will take time and cost you money. So start the process now, so you can be ensured that prospective employers do not see any unnecessary information or errors when obtaining access to your record.

In a like manner, upgrading a less-than-honorable military discharge can be advantageous to your future. To obtain an application, call or visit the New York State Division of Veterans Affairs, at 245 West Houston Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY, 10014. Telephone: 800.827.1000 press 0 then ext. 4877; 212.807.7229 ext. 4877.

An employer or individual may also get a copy of your criminal record from the Office of Court Administration (OCA). This is the agency that keeps all court information on file. An OCA background check costs $52.

Surviving Until the Right Job Comes Through

Assess Your Resources and Plan Realistically
The search for work may take as long as a year, especially in periods of high unemployment. Thus, it is important to plan a long-term strategy. Here are some of the questions to ask yourself: Can my spouse help support me while I seek work? Am I eligible for unemployment insurance, or any other type of government assistance, such as food stamps or welfare? If I have savings, how long will they last? Do I have friends or relatives from whom I might borrow? How long will I be able to continue on a survival-type budget, given the resources available to me? Keep in mind that looking for work often turns out to be a full-time job in itself. To do it well requires a lot of concerted effort and persistence. The more time you can allocate to the task, the better your chances of landing a suitable job.

Be Willing to Take a Less Desirable Job,
or Part-Time Work, to Begin
Most people need to work, at least part-time, to support themselves while job hunting. Indeed, it is rare for anyone to find the job they desire most when they first (re)enter the job market.

But this is no reason to be discouraged. Whatever the job you choose, it will help pay the bills, provide you with work experience, teach you work habits if you are inexperienced, and possibly
furnish you with contacts which can lead you to a better position.

It is important to be aware, also, that entry-level positions are not all necessarily dead-end. Indeed, at many companies it is required, regardless of your background, that you begin at the bottom and work your way upward. So in considering an entry-level position, also ask what opportunities exist for training and for advancement within the company.

The advantage of part-time employment, or day labor, in which case you get paid at the end of each day worked, is that it can help support you in paying for the bare necessities of life, while still allowing you free time to pursue job contacts and interviews.

Develop a Network of Personal Support
Looking for work is never easy. There will, in all probability, be many failures before the final triumph. Having one other or several other persons with whom you can share your experiences can be very important in job hunting.

If you have a family, or friends who are concerned, make yourself accountable to them. Tell them how each day went, and what your next day's plans will be. Also, if you can, join a job club. In a job club, members give each other the personal support needed in looking for work. They discuss with one another what can be learned from their daily job-hunting experiences; they role-play interviews and help one another in developing effective search strategies. When one member gets hired for a job, he or she can notify the others when openings occur at his or her place of employment. Ask a job counselor for a job club contact, or for help in starting your own job club.

Explore Volunteer Work for the Advantages It Offers
Volunteer work, even on a part-time basis, has the following advantages:

You can explore a career field in which you think you might be interested to find out whether or not it is what you'd like to pursue.
You can gain experience and make contacts on the volunteer job which might later materialize into a paying job as openings occur.
You will have the opportunity of gaining valuable work experience, perhaps in a field you'd like to pursue. This can go onto your resume or future job application as
proof that you are a highly motivated individual, interested in advancing.

Assessing Your Skills:
Job Testing and Counseling

A very important step in preparing for the job hunt involves assessing your own particular interests and skills. Sometimes a person knows exactly what field of work he or she wishes to
pursue. Perhaps such a person has had experience in this field and developed some useful skills which will make job hunting easier for him or her. Or perhaps they have been told the market for certain skills is growing rapidly, and they can be assured of finding work in that area of employment once they have been trained.

There are others, however, who are not sure what their occupational skills or interests are. Maybe they've worked for short periods of time in a variety of jobs, none of which they've enjoyed. Or perhaps they've just never had the opportunity to seriously think about what skills or interests they have developed or would like to develop if given the opportunity. Whatever the case, an occupational assessment, or evaluation, of yourself is extremely important. It helps make you aware of what you have to offer, and helps you in establishing some realistic career goals, both short- and long-range.

There are people, usually called employment or job counselors, or job developers, who are adept at helping you assess your skills and interests. Usually they will interview you and then ask you to take one or more tests as part of the evaluation process. The test may be geared toward measuring your abilities in a certain skill, or measuring your attitude toward the particular field of work. (Referring you to a full-time typing job when you hate sitting at a desk all day would not be very wise.) The tests you may be asked to take are not ones you have to worry about or study for in advance. After you've taken the test(s), you will be able to discuss the results with a counselor as part of your assessment process.

If you would prefer to begin by assessing your own skills without the help of a job counselor, there are books which can help you do this. Visit the job information center of your public library (see listings in Connections under "FINDING A JOB") and ask for materials on skills assessment. Some are organized like workbooks, and take you step by step through the procedure.