It's Freedom Day! (Now Find a Job)

Imagine you’re out of prison and on parole. You might be staying in your own home, or a halfway house, or with a friend. In any case, one of the first things you will hear from your parole officer, your wife, or your dad is likely to be, "When are you going to start looking for a job?"

A job is critical to an ex-prisoner, not just for the income but also because it imposes on us a structure that we didn’t have while in prison. It keeps us busy, away from trouble and troublesome friends. In prison we had to get up early in the morning because guards were switching on lights and banging on the bars. At home it is just an alarm clock and the knowledge that our boss expects us to show up on time. But the greatest difference is that the paycheck you are handed every week or every two weeks is based not on 11 cents an hour, but on something more substantial. While minimum wage has been stuck at $5.15 for nearly a decade, there is discussion in Congress to raise it to $7.50.

According to the Department of Labor, the average wage in the U.S. today is more than $16 an hour. The bad news is that more ex-prisoners will be starting work at a rate closer to minimum wage than average wage. The good news is that they will be able to find work, despite their conviction.

Today’s economy has a lot of momentum. The Labor Department reports a 5-percent unemployment rate for much of 2005, which is normal. That rate largely includes teen-agers, who run consistently at about 16-percent unemployment. Adult men—felon or not—average just 4.3 percent, and adult women are right behind at 4.6 percent.

The concern of any ex-prisoner filling out a job application is the dreaded question, "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" The correct answer—"will discuss"—hasn’t changed over the years. But the question is often now phrased in terms of "past seven years," a trend started by Wal-Mart in its employee recruitment. That’s seven years since a conviction; if you’ve been down seven years or more, you can honestly answer "no" as you haven’t had a conviction in the past seven years. But read the question carefully.

If you are required to note a conviction, be truthful and up front with it. Many employers report having to terminate an otherwise great employee because a subsequent background check revealed the employee had lied about a conviction. Without the lie, the applicant probably would have been given the job anyway, they say.

Where are the jobs today?

First off, understand that few people will land the job of their dreams right out of the prison gate. My first post-prison employment was mopping floors, something I had never done while in prison. You will likely have to take whatever job you can first get your hands on and then demonstrate, or learn, the ability to do something you are really interested in and where you can make enough to support yourself and your family.

A friend told me of a young man released from prison who wanted to be a waiter at a fancy restaurant. With no experience, he was turned down each time. Dogged by his mother to get off his duff, he reluctantly took a job at the local greasy spoon, applied himself and gained experience, and today has the restaurant job he really wanted.

And food service is a good place to start. The Labor Department reports that the food industry adds 26,000 new employees each month. That’s cooking, serving, cleaning up; anything that puts food in front of a customer. Next in line comes construction, with more than 20,000 new jobs per month, and then health care at 17,000 a month.

Construction is clearly headed upward, with the need to rebuild the 100,000 homes destroyed by the Gulf Coast hurricanes this summer. You don’t have to go to the Gulf to find a job; builders everywhere report a need to replace existing workers opting to work in the Gulf for longer hours and higher pay.

The best thing about construction is that you can start as a common laborer—that means you usually carry things—and, while on the job, learn a variety of well-paying skills such as carpentry, brick laying, electrical work, or plumbing. You will spend many hours working side by side with others, but when a job is finished, you will be able to see a house, an office building, or something that exists because you were a part of it.

If years of the hubbub of close-quarters prison life drove you nuts and you’d prefer some quiet personal space, consider truck driving, another area in need of workers. Nearly every 18-wheeler today has a recruitment ad on the back, including an 800 number to call. Jim Hill, a trucking company executive, says the industry is already short of drivers, and that shortage is projected to grow as freight demand continues to increase and older drivers retire.

Truck driving is a little more complicated as it requires a CDL—Commercial Drivers License—and often bonding, as you will be responsible for expensive equipment and cargo.

The Christmas issue of Inside Journal had an article about the federal bonding program; call (877) 872-5627 or visit www.bonds4jobs.com on the Internet.

There are many truck driving schools with programs leading to the CDL, but you must pay for them. Some major trucking companies provide free training leading to the CDL, but they usually require a commitment to work for them for at least a year. But once behind the wheel, you have open road ahead of you and plenty of privacy after those noisy prison years. Even if you work on a partner basis, one of you is usually in the sleeper.

If the open road doesn’t call you, you can do local delivery driving, with fewer restrictions. Nearly every furniture store in America, for example, offers free delivery these days, and that usually means two men and a truck. Be prepared to carry heavy furniture up tight staircases, but it will get you into shape if you are prison-soft.

Food service also remains wide open; nearly every restaurant is looking for wait staff or cooks. If you like health care, care for the elderly is rapidly growing, with a need for nursing assistants (NA). It is a licensed profession, but many nursing homes will provide schooling and on-the-job training leading to the license. And the licensed NA is a stepping stone to the more highly regarded LPN, Licensed Practical Nurse, the highest nursing level not requiring a college degree. Both jobs pay more than they did in the past, according to the health industry.

Positive signs

The bottom line is there has been a shift in the attitude of employers toward hiring former prisoners, and it is in your favor. More employers are taking chances on people with criminal records and are being rewarded with hard-working, honest, and loyal workers. The seven-year provision on many job applications today makes it easier to address that subject. So be positive. Put together the strongest résumé you can, but keep it factual.

Keep knocking on doors, keep dropping off applications. Go ahead and sign up with agencies that do well in matching employers and employees; some of the best are on the Internet. Get as many family and friends to help you look; networking often gets results.

Don’t give up! The Bureau of Justice Statistics says the national recidivism rate—the percentage of former prisoners re-arrested for a new crime within three years of their release—has declined from a high of 70 percent 10 years ago to just over 50 percent today. Some states are reporting their rate is now below 50 percent. One parole officer said, "I don’t know of a single ex-prisoner who didn’t find a job if he really wanted one."

So more and more former prisoners are finding a job and building a new life on the outside without returning to crime. You should be able to join this growing army and say good-bye to prison garb for good.