Criminal Records and Job Hunting

Over the past 20 years, I have had repeated experiences coaching job seekers who have criminal records. Most have asked what to do about the question on job applications that deals with whether or not one was convicted of a felony.

The short answer is to tell the truth and say yes. The more detailed response is to say yes but to indicate, if possible, that you have documentation showing why this is part of your past and will not happen again or influence job performance in any way.

Many years back, I was managing the job search process for students at a proprietary trade school. There was a student who showed a lot of promise. He had a great deal of hands-on experience repairing mechanical equipment and was studying to be an electronics technician. His past 10 years showed decent work history, academic record was solid, instructors told me he was highly skilled and he was very dedicated to his job search, checking in with me each and every day.

A firm approached me looking to recruit several talented technicians to work on a project team for a prestigious organization. This student went through the entire process of submitting a resume, participating in a group interview, taking a tour of the facility, etc. The night before he was to have his final interview he came to see me and was extremely distraught. In his hands were the forms he needed to fill out and one of the questions dealt with criminal records.

The student told me that he had been arrested almost 20 years back and served a 30-day jail sentence. Apparently, he had been recently discharged from military service and had entered a local watering hole somewhere in Tennessee with some buddies. A shoving match ensued and he threw a punch at a rowdy patron.

Unfortunately, this patron was an off-duty police officer and my student was charged and convicted of assault of a police officer. He had a whole file about the case which showed that witnesses concurred that the officer never identified himself and was actually a perpetrator and perhaps instigator of the brawl but the local judge saw it differently.

Once I calmed the student down and read the entire file, we called the potential employer and advised them of the conviction before he filled out the paperwork. Their response was that everyone does something stupid at one time in their life and that 20 years of having a clean record negated any concerns they might have.

If the candidate had covered this up and they ran a background check unaware of the history, he likely would have been turned down.

I have seen both scenarios more than once and those who are honest early on usually will still get hired. Those who do not tell the truth tend to get caught when their name goes through the system and get eliminated for not being forthright.

My best (non-legal) advice, is to answer questions 100 percent honestly, but do not offer information if you are not asked for it. Most employers do check backgrounds but some simply are not that concerned so let them ask the questions. Your opinions and comments on this topic will be greatly appreciated.