Correctional Library Services > Connections 2008 > The Job Search > Special Considerations

Connections 2008 and The Job Search

Special Considerations:
Telling the Truth About Your Conviction(s) When Applying for a Job

Counselors who work with inmates advise telling the truth about your conviction(s) when applying for a job. In this way, you will be more convincing as a person to a prospective employer, and not have to live in fear of being found out. Remember, employers have the legal right to inquire about past convictions.

In making your decision, consider the following:

If You Tell the Truth About Your Conviction(s) While Job Hunting:
You may be discriminated against in being hired, but there are advantages:

  • You may be able to challenge an employer's decision by filing a discrimination claim.
  • You will be more self-confident in talking about yourself, and more likely to project a positive self-image – as someone who may have had problems in the past, but has now reached self-understanding and is ready for responsibility.
  • You will be more relaxed on the job, without having to worry about the employer learning of your record and firing you for having been dishonest.

If You Hide the Truth About Your Conviction(s) While Job Hunting:
You may, in some cases, avoid being discriminated against as an formerly incarcerated person, but there are disadvantages:

  • You will constantly need to worry about being found out and, most probably, fired for being dishonest. Fingerprinting (sometimes not done until after the applicant is actually hired), a badly planned visit by a parole officer, or a call by a vengeful "friend" or family member may blow your cover at any time – as well as any long-range plans you may have requiring steady employment, such as meeting loan payments, paying off a house
    mortgage, etc.
  • You may, where statements on applications are made under oath, or you are applying for certain government jobs, leave yourself open to the risk of criminal prosecution.
  • A person who provides you with a phony reference (for example on your work record) may be legally liable and can be sued if you were to commit another crime.

If you tell the truth, the law and the State are essentially on your side. However, once you lie, you have effectively given up rights protecting you from discrimination or awarding you damages in the event of being discriminated against. Having given your employer a valid pretext for firing you (dishonesty, supplying false information, etc.), you will no longer have the law in your favor.

For excellent advice on completing job applications as an formerly incarcerated person, see the National H.I.R.E. Network's website: www.hirenetwork.org/employment_apps.html.

Special Considerations:
How to Avoid Being Discriminated Against When Looking for Work

Know Your Rights as an Ex-Inmate
It is important, when looking for work, that you know your rights as a person who has been incarcerated. There are laws that are specifically designed to protect you from discrimination. For example, you cannot be discriminated against because of arrests. Employers can only ask you legally about convictions. However, if you answer, you must be honest if your arrests did lead to convictions.

"Have you ever been arrested?" is an illegal question. You might be asked, and must answer the question, "Have you ever been convicted of a crime?"

Still, convictions cannot be held against you in applying for jobs, unless:

  • They are related to the job for which you are applying. You may, for example, with a record of armed robbery, not be eligible for a job as a bank teller, but you may be eligible at the same time to work for the bank as a computer operator.
  • You pose a threat to people or property because of your conviction. Here, considerations may focus on how many years ago you committed the crime, how old you were, and/or what rehabilitation you have been involved in since.

Note: After revealing you are a person who has been incarcerated when applying for a job, and not being hired, you are legally entitled to a written explanation from the employer, within 30 days of your request, as to why you are not qualified or were not hired. Formerly incarcerated people are the only group in New York State that have this right.

Restore Your Rights
Apply, as soon as you are eligible, for a Certificate of Relief from Disabilities, or a Certificate of Good Conduct, (see page 197). These documents are an presumption of rehabilitation, and when you have them, the burden of proof is now on the employer to demonstrate that you would be a risk to people or property in being hired, or that your conviction is directly related to the job for which you are applying.

Clean Up Your Rap Sheet
Review your rap sheet (official arrest record), credit report, and Office of Court Administration report and make certain that it does not list any information that is incomplete or innacurate (see pages 195-198). Arrests that have not led to conviction, for example, or youthful offender adjudications can be officially sealed from your record. Sometimes, also, a single arrest or conviction is listed many times. Assume that every employer will have access to your rap sheet, and that many will not know how to interpret it correctly.

Get a Copy of the Job Application in Advance
When applying for a job, it may be important for you to examine a copy, in advance, of the job application. You can usually do this by sending ahead, to the employer or hiring office, a friend or relative who can pretend to be interested in the job and bring you back a copy of the application. Once the form is in your hands, you can examine it, collect the necessary information, and plan how you will respond to the various questions.

At the Job Interview, Be Prepared to "Sell" Yourself as a Person Who Has Undergone Rehabilitative Change
You may be asked by a prospective employer to talk about your past record. Be prepared. Take a positive approach. Show the ways you have changed since your last conviction. Have you
participated in or helped run a prison pre-release program? Have you been involved in a prison or post-release alcohol or drug rehabilitation program, or spent time on work release? Mention the problem you feel contributed to your being sent to prison – and ways you have since confronted the problem and overcome it. For example, "I had a serious drug problem five years ago, and found I had to commit robberies in order to support my habit. In prison, however, I joined an effective therapy group composed of former addicts and learned to understand the underlying causes of my addiction. After release, I've spent 18 months in a drug-free residential program and now am fully confident that drug use is no longer a problem for me."

WARNING: Do not dwell needlessly on your past. If not asked details about your crime and conviction, don't offer them. You are at the interview to persuade a prospective employer that you are suited for the job in question, not to apologize for past behavior or titillate his or her curiosity with stories of prison or criminal activity.

Select Carefully Those References
You Wish to Use on Your Resume and Job Application
In choosing references for your resume and job application, select those individuals who can testify to your present-day character in the most positive light. Have on file letters from counselors, ministers, parole officers, or others that tell of the meaningful ways you have changed.

If you find in job hunting that you have been discriminated against because of your past record, call the Legal Action Center at 212.243.1313, and they can advise you on your rights and how
to proceed accordingly.

Important information is contained in the Legal Action Center's brochure, "Employment Description and What to Do About It: A Guide for New York Counselors of Individuals in Recovery from Alcohol and Drug Dependence and Ex-Offenders," available on the Internet at www.hirenetwork.org/publications.html.

Special Considerations:
Dealing with Alcoholism and Drug Abuse in Your Past

If you have a history of drug or alcohol abuse, be aware:

  • It is illegal for an employer to ask you whether or not you are or have ever been an alcoholic or drug addict. An employer can only ask if you have any current alcohol or drug problems which would prevent you from doing the job.
  • It is illegal for an employer to discriminate against you as an ex-addict or ex-alcoholic (or, in certain instances, as a current abuser of alcohol or drugs). If you have been refused employment and believe it was owing to your having a history of drug or alcohol addiction, and/or to your being in an alcohol- or drug-treatment program, including methadone, contact:

The New York State Division of Human Rights at 718.741.8400, or the Legal Action Center at 212.243.1313.

Do not lie about your drug- or alcohol-addiction background. To begin, there are several ways an employer can discover your addiction problem. A careful check into your background, a drug conviction, or a medical exam (often required as part of the hiring process) would easily uncover the truth, and you would then, in all probability, be fired for having been dishonest. Also, if you withhold the truth and are later found out and fired, you are left with no legal means to challenge what might have been an illegal dismissal. Misrepresentation on a job application is considered a legitimate reason for not hiring an applicant or dismissing an employee once hired. At the same time, it should be noted that federal confidentiality laws prohibit most drug- or alcohol-treatment programs from revealing any information about your treatment without your consent.

Many ex-alcoholics and ex-addicts have criminal histories and poor work records that can be directly related to their addictions. This may serve, strangely enough, to their advantage. Consider: no employer would be eager to hire a person who has three serious problems in his or her past – a spotty work record, a history of addiction, and a criminal record. Now, let us suppose that a job applicant can argue persuasively that (1) his or her poor work record and criminal activity were directly attributable to his or her addiction, and (2) he or she has, through a drug program or
counseling, overcome the addiction and the psychological causes underlying it. The three problems have now been reduced to one – addiction, and the applicant has a better chance of convincing the employer that the past is finished, and he or she is now ready to take on the responsibilities of a job.