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I was on computers a lot as a kid and sort of taught myself programming (very poorly) in my early years. When I caught this charge, I had just turned 18. It re

I was on computers a lot as a kid and sort of taught myself programming (very poorly) in my early years. When I caught this charge, I had just turned 18. It really ruined my life. Currently, I work in tech. For a very long time I was barely making ends meet, working in a fast food restaurant for minimum wage while trying to interview to get a developer job. I went through 8 interview processes, and received offers from all but one. Each one of them was rescinded when HR learned that I had a felony, as a matter of company policy. It was really heartbreaking and a lot of times, it made me want to give up on life and just stop trying. I kept interviewing and going to events/networking, and eventually found a very low-paying job at a local place and sort of slowly worked my way back up from there. If anyone here has some degree of power at a company and wants to make a difference in the world, convince your company to hire felons with non-violent/non-finance related offenses.

mgkimsal 5y ago
Had to go search for it, but YC funded a company - https://www.70millionjobs.com https://www.70millionjobs.com - that focuses on felon-friendly companies hiring.
- randomacct8162 5y ago
  I won't sling mud, but the jobs are the same you can already get as a felon (construction, kitchen, hospitality, factory, etc) and I had a negative experience with my interaction there Thank you for looking though. I think it's important to offer felons the chance to get a decent job in a proper career field too. There's one organization doing this called "Underdog Devs": https://www.underdogdevs.org https://www.underdogdevs.org https://twitter.com/underdogdevs https://twitter.com/underdogdevs
  - mgkimsal 5y ago
    I did see 'tech' jobs there, but... perhaps they're just 'general recruiter' posts that are mixed in? I search for 'php' and found a bunch of job links come back...
- ROTMetro 5y ago
  FElon friendly normally ends up meaning they know you have no other options and treat you about as good as you would imagine a company with complete knowledge that if you loose your job your PO could send you back to prison. Hello mandatory overtime, horrible pay, every shit task no one wants. It's way better to try and convince somewhere that isn't felon friendly to try and hire you.
- ROTMetro 5y ago
  So I just signed up for this site. It has Home Depot who won't hire you if you are on paper (supervised release) and other companies that will bring you on 'temp to hire' when they have need, but will seldom convert a felon to permanent. Shows a lack of understanding or communication with the people they are trying to 'help'. I got better support from the other guys my first 15 minutes in the half way house than this site gives. And that is in general how society is toward felons. A lot of half assed stuff to feel like, no look at all these services, they have a chance. But in reality not so much.
  - ROTMetro 5y ago
    Sorry this previous post is pretty agressive, my frustration is definitely coming through there and they do not deserve that. I am sure they are well meaning. I wish I could delete it.
Ekaros 5y ago
I never understood the whole felon thing, if that is allowed discrimination outside certain roles how can those people ever be expected back to society? Ofc, they are going to do more crime if it is their only realistic option for reasonable income.
- randomacct8162 5y ago
  > "if that is allowed discrimination outside certain roles how can those people ever be expected back to society? Ofc, they are going to do more crime if it is their only realistic option for reasonable income." And you've found the answer to why the American judicial/prison-complex is a revolving door system. "Welcome to the Hotel California. You can check-out any time you like, But you can never leave!"
  - buran77 5y ago
    It's a method to exercise control over a large slice of the population and rob them of the means to challenge their position. I don't think too may see it necessarily as a fair measure that must be imposed on those people for the protection of them or others. On the other hand you have egregious cases where such a measure would completely make sense but is ignored because of larger interests. One of them is how EU public institutions screen all their employees and filter out felons. And then a public institution like the European Central Bank names Christine Lagarde president, just 3 years after she received a criminal conviction of negligence in allowing the misuse of public funds. A freshly minted criminal can be named president of an institution in more or less the same general area as where she committed her crime. But a someone with a minor drug charge can't take a dev job... Both are a stain on modern society.
    - laurent92 5y ago
      But, are felons discriminated from most jobs in Europe? As an employer I’ve never checked the backgrounds, and I would be actually happy of giving someone a path upwards.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago

mgkimsal 5y ago

Had to go search for it, but YC funded a company - https://www.70millionjobs.com https://www.70millionjobs.com - that focuses on felon-friendly companies hiring.

randomacct8162 5y ago
I won't sling mud, but the jobs are the same you can already get as a felon (construction, kitchen, hospitality, factory, etc) and I had a negative experience with my interaction there Thank you for looking though. I think it's important to offer felons the chance to get a decent job in a proper career field too. There's one organization doing this called "Underdog Devs": https://www.underdogdevs.org https://www.underdogdevs.org https://twitter.com/underdogdevs https://twitter.com/underdogdevs
- mgkimsal 5y ago
  I did see 'tech' jobs there, but... perhaps they're just 'general recruiter' posts that are mixed in? I search for 'php' and found a bunch of job links come back...
ROTMetro 5y ago
FElon friendly normally ends up meaning they know you have no other options and treat you about as good as you would imagine a company with complete knowledge that if you loose your job your PO could send you back to prison. Hello mandatory overtime, horrible pay, every shit task no one wants. It's way better to try and convince somewhere that isn't felon friendly to try and hire you.
ROTMetro 5y ago
So I just signed up for this site. It has Home Depot who won't hire you if you are on paper (supervised release) and other companies that will bring you on 'temp to hire' when they have need, but will seldom convert a felon to permanent. Shows a lack of understanding or communication with the people they are trying to 'help'. I got better support from the other guys my first 15 minutes in the half way house than this site gives. And that is in general how society is toward felons. A lot of half assed stuff to feel like, no look at all these services, they have a chance. But in reality not so much.
- ROTMetro 5y ago
  Sorry this previous post is pretty agressive, my frustration is definitely coming through there and they do not deserve that. I am sure they are well meaning. I wish I could delete it.

Ekaros 5y ago

I never understood the whole felon thing, if that is allowed discrimination outside certain roles how can those people ever be expected back to society? Ofc, they are going to do more crime if it is their only realistic option for reasonable income.

randomacct8162 5y ago
> "if that is allowed discrimination outside certain roles how can those people ever be expected back to society? Ofc, they are going to do more crime if it is their only realistic option for reasonable income." And you've found the answer to why the American judicial/prison-complex is a revolving door system. "Welcome to the Hotel California. You can check-out any time you like, But you can never leave!"
- buran77 5y ago
  It's a method to exercise control over a large slice of the population and rob them of the means to challenge their position. I don't think too may see it necessarily as a fair measure that must be imposed on those people for the protection of them or others. On the other hand you have egregious cases where such a measure would completely make sense but is ignored because of larger interests. One of them is how EU public institutions screen all their employees and filter out felons. And then a public institution like the European Central Bank names Christine Lagarde president, just 3 years after she received a criminal conviction of negligence in allowing the misuse of public funds. A freshly minted criminal can be named president of an institution in more or less the same general area as where she committed her crime. But a someone with a minor drug charge can't take a dev job... Both are a stain on modern society.
  - laurent92 5y ago
    But, are felons discriminated from most jobs in Europe? As an employer I’ve never checked the backgrounds, and I would be actually happy of giving someone a path upwards.
lotsofpulp 5y ago