Searching for employment can be a frustrating and difficult experience even in the best of situations. There is always the challenge to present oneself in the most positive light, and assure the employer that you can be an asset to their business or organization.
This task becomes considerably harder when the one applying has a criminal past.
A recent National Public Radio story examines the case of 22-year-old Alexis. Alexis is hard working, eager, and open to pretty much any employment opportunity that is available to him.
He is also a convicted felon.
Possessing a criminal record is not just a hurdle for many men and women seeking employment—in many cases, it’s a wall. Some employers won’t consider hiring an applicant if a background check reveals a criminal past. Alexis is pretty sure that is what happened to him when he applied for a position at Target. After two good interviews, he was left to speculate why he wasn’t hired. He’s convinced the decision to not offer him the job was based on his criminal history.
Alexis was pretty lucky to get the interviews, actually. In several states, it is still common practice to include a box on job applications asking if the aspiring worker has ever been convicted of a felony. To check it is to essentially end the employment process before it ever gets started.
Then there is the issue of licensing. More than a quarter of U.S. employees currently require a license or certification in order to work in their chosen profession. In many cases, former felons are banned from receiving the needed licenses to work, drastically limiting their job opportunities from the start.
While some of these limitations might make sense (e.g., people who deal with money, children, or high-security information), it makes decidedly less sense for someone applying to be a makeup artist, residential painting contractor, or travel agent.
A new report by the National Employment Law Project examines a number of problems with current licensing bans that are preventing men and women from moving forward with their lives. Blanket bans of anyone with a criminal record, combined with overly broad inquiries and a lack of transparency in the licensing process, have had a detrimental effect on former felons seeking employment. Study authors Michelle Natividad Rodriguez and Beth Avery tell a story of a 10-year daycare provider who was forced to close her facility after a law was retroactively enacted banning those with felony convictions from holding a childcare license. Her offense? A 30-year old conviction on over-payment of public assistance.
But while these barriers continue to remain in place, the question remains, “Do people with criminal records make good employees?” Deborah Prager, a sociologist at Harvard, recently examined military records of personnel who joined the armed forces between 2002 and 2009, when an increased demand for soldiers required relaxed standards for hiring of those with criminal records. (The U.S. Armed Forces have since returned to a policy of not accepting applicants with felony convictions.) The result is somewhat counter-intuitive.
Those that received felony waivers for enlistment were no more likely than those who had not to be kicked out of service. Perhaps more surprisingly, they were statistically promoted faster and to higher positions than those without felony waivers.
“Employers are probably missing a lot of talent when they exclude criminal records,” Prager concludes.
The Second Prison Project, a program of Prison Fellowship, seeks to free men and women from the “second prison” that continues to punish them long after they have paid the debt for past indiscretions. Advocacy efforts designed to open doors are paired with attempts to change public perception of those with criminal records, as well as creating opportunities to develop and implement leadership skills. To learn more about the Second Prison Project, visit www.secondprison.org.