I have a biology degree so I am hoping to get a job in a lab somewhere after release. My question is, do you have to tell them about your federal record by law? I figured not all of the employers check federal records and I would be able to slip through eventually, but if I have to "advertise" the fact I don't think I will ever get a decent job again. Thanks for any advice.

bgreeen,

Welcome to PTO!

Someone may come by and correct me on this but my read of the situation is this...

If you are asked verbally or on the application if you have a record, you are obligated by law to respond truthfully.

You are correct in saying that not all employers conduct criminal background checks but a lot do.

If you are on parole, I believe that it is a stipulation of your parole that you tell your employer that you are on parole.

I know that this is probably not what you want to hear, and as I say, if I am incorrect with this information someone will happen by and correct me...

Hello and welcome to PTO!! :) I do understand your concern as far as you wanting not to disclose of your past. Tim and I have talked about this and he is just like you......in that he does not want to tell about any of his federal offenses. I told him and I'm telling you that I think it is best that you do tell, as much as I hate to tell you. I know you are fearing that potential employers will possibly judge you based on what your past tells. But there are others who still get very lucky and get a great paying job despite their time spent in prison. I do know that looking for a good job is no cake walk when it comes to those who have done time, but I feel it is best to be straight up and honest about it. You just might get respect for your honesty. You can also break down and just tell them how good you are in your chosen profession and how dedicated you are. It might sound crazy, but some people who may have never been to prison turn out to be not-so-good workers. Employers want really good, hard working people I think.....so I think here you could score!! You are very fortunate to have your BA degree, because as you know, many of those that are in prison don't even have their GED as of yet. So you are well ahead in that area.
Whatever you choose to do, I wish you the best of luck in all of your endeavors!! God Bless!! :)

pookie

I wanted to say welcome to PTO

Thank you very much for the warm welcome from all of you and the helpful information. I am trying to gather as much info as possible in preperation for what is likely to come.


B

I need to agree with telling the truth. I work in staffing, and if someone lies and gets caught, it is much worse. There is usually a question "other than minor traffic violations, have you ever been convicted of a crime?" I would venture to say that 80% of my customers perform criminal background checks, some only do county, but many do statewide and federal wide. There are some programs out there for hiring ex-convicts also, where companies receive credit for employing former criminals. I am worried for my husband too when he is released, even though he is on the National Dean's List and a 4.0 college student. I wish you luck and will include you in my prayers.
Kelli

Hi, and welocme to PTO. As a former inmate, I understand the difficulty in being honest when applying for jobs. There is such a stereotypical outlook by employers in regard to "ex-convicts".

Fortunately for me, I was able to find an employer who could see beyond the fact that I had a record. The reality though is that most do not, and mostly due to outright ignorance.

Although you will quite possibly get shot down by alot of places, I think, if asked, it is best to tell the truth. Some employers actually see that disclosure as an outstanding act of trust.

Also, someone above mentioned something about credits to employers who hire former inmates. There is also something called the Federal Bonding Program. Check this out...it may help http://wtw.doleta.gov/documents/fedbonding.asp.

Good luck!

I spoke with my lawyer about this issue and he told me that its not a big deal to deny it, but the risk is if they find out later you usually get fired.

B

Sorry I am late to this. NO, you do not have to tell most anyone about your criminal record. I go try and get a job with law enforcement, intelligence, or other government related services, but there is no law against omitting!

Further, and this is very much in your favor if you only have a federal record, most companies DO NOT do federal background checks.. It costs way too much! Running a state record is easy.. Running a federal record definitely is much harder and expensive..

I would definitely omit it. Worse thing that happens is you lose the job later, after you have been making money.

I used to think the other way.. That I must be honest about it, but after losing a number of "sure thing" jobs where they were actively hunting me, I decided to keep my mouth shut and have yet to be confronted about it. (I'm not working right now, but when I was, they never came to me later)

David

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I figured most run state record searches. Also since I would likely be working in a bio lab, they usually don't have much in the way of security concerns.


B

bgreeen999

You might try a contract staffing company, I used to staff scientific professionals. Most of the pharmaceutical companies I worked with ran full checks, didn't care about the expense. Smaller labs did not. You can at least get your foot in the door with a company this way and you are the temporary staffing services employee. Most pay benefits also and you can pick the projects you enjoy working on.

If you don't mind risk losing the job down the road for lying on your application, then I guess you can always take the risk.
K

I'm in the same boat as bgreeen...

I understand that I can surely tell this white lie that I have never been convicted of a felony on the job application. and that the penalty would be to simply lose my job if they later found out.

BUT... it is my understanding my Probation Ociffer[sic] can and probably will check up on me with my job. Does this happen? Wouldn't this throw a wench into the works?

Yeah, that is a good question. I have never been on federal supervised release before so I am wondering if they would force you to disclose. Seems like in that case I will be working at McDonalds for the next 3 years. Its bad enough to have to go to prison, then they still torture you for 3 more years. In my opinon, the goal is not rehabilitation, its just punishment.

B

Sorry to break it to you but from what I have read, the government gave up on rehabilitation eons ago. Prisons are big business dude, people are getting rich off of them. Recidivism is job security.

When you are on supervised release, one of the conditions is that you must be employed. Your P.O. will communicate with your employer and typically will visit your work site on a regular basis. If you misrepresent to your P.O. what your employment status is, that is grounds for what is called a "technical violation" of your terms of supervised release which will get you another tour of ClubFed.

As far as I know there is no law requiring you to tell that your a convicted felon unless your getting a government job, or working for a civilian contractor working on government projects. This has really limited me in my line of work, but I've always been able to walk that fine line. When you first get out it will depend on your PO. Some make it a big deal, others don't care. All my PO's said they didn't care, they just wanted me working. They never contacted any of my employers, & some advised me not to tell.

So McDonalds it is!! LOL I am wondering if I can ask the judge to just give me 4 more months in prison instead of 3 years supervised release. Whats the point of being free if you have to work in fast food for 3 years.

Another interesting point, there are no jobs where I live and its my understanding that you are stuck in the Federal district and can't leave. I would at least want to move to another state to find a decent job and where the housing is not a rippoff (I am in California). Is it possible to get permission to move to another state or is that unlikely? What I would really like to do is move to the Philippines and start a business with my wife but I am sure that is impossible.

B

I was just reading this and what a great question, I too am worried for when my husband is home from Federal. Luckily thou,,his employer (former employer) knows and allowed him to work up until his surrender date and agreed to take him back when he comes home. The only way (I believe) that this was possible is he was honest and one day just came out and told him. He realized it would probably get him fired but felt the need to tell him (despite me telling him hes crazy) His boss told him he would need a few days to think about it and called him and told him he appreciated and respected his honesty. He was back at work the next day. Granted, this is probably a rare situation but for those who are still employeed and waiting to surrender-what do you have to lose? Maybe this could happen to you tool Good luck

I am not even working now, I was ready to retire when the Feds came knocking. I had a plan to move to Canada with my Wife thinking I would be safe, but the lawyers say they would track me down eventually and in any case I would not be able to return to the US without being arrested. I figured at this point that I should just face the music and hope for a light sentence. Everything is tied up in real estate in the US so they can take it all if they want. Anyways, I am going to try to salvage what I can from this mess, and hope I can find a job after I get out.

B

Hi, Brad! You know, for anyone out there who's reading this, you cannot say you have not been convicted if you have. That in itself is a violation of your supervised release. What my state PO told me to do is just not answer that question on the application. That way, it's like you just "accidentally" forgot to answer the question and you're not technically lying. Most of the time, the HR person just fills it in themselves as "no" or they ask you. Then, if that's the case, you make sure (by some way) that they use a different colored pen to mark the answer. Then, legally, you didn't answer the question - they did. Or, just find a place that only requires a resume. They can't check you without your permission via signature. If they do, you have legal recourse. It's easy but complicated. I also spent 5 years in HR at a VERY large hotel chain that did background checks on EVERYONE, so I know the ropes with that arena.

Yeah, during supervised relase you are supposed to be truthful if asked. I guess it depends on who your PO is though. If my PO told me I should lie, I would. As long as I keep the PO happy thats the important thing. The risk would be getting fired later if they found out, but I figure its worth the risk.