You've got that college degree, and you're excited about entering the professional world. Filling out your first post-graduate job application, it's going fine until you get to that terrible question, "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?"
Do you lie or do you admit you have two DUIs and a drug conviction on your record? If you lie, public records will usually catch up with you, and then you're guilty of lying as well as the original crime, which usually leads to dismissal from a job. With so many public records online nowadays, it is easier than every before for a potential employer to check for a criminal record.
Whether it is a D.U.I., drug use, assault or robbery, most employers pay close attention to job applicants with criminal records.
"They may not get the ideal job," said Jeff Ward, an adjunct professor at the U of M Criminal Justice Department, "but they can get a job."
Ward said he does not believe that just because someone has a criminal record that it is impossible for them to get a job. Ward said in most cases it simply depends on the degree of the crime, but he said that they convicted felon may not get the job of his or her dreams. Ward said when employers are looking for a candidate for a job it comes down to "honesty and trustworthiness."
A study done by Devah Pager, assistant professor of sociology at Princeton University, indicates a criminal record is detrimental in getting a job and is exacerbated by the race of the felon.
In his study Pager used two audit teams of 23-year-old male college students. One group consisted of two white men and the other consisted of two African-American men. All four men were articulate and bright, and all four men were well educated. Each participant was randomly assigned to be the one with the criminal record. Pager found that among whites, half were as likely to be called back as those who were equally qualified without a criminal record. However, Pager's study found that African-American ex-offenders are one-third as likely to be called back by employers as black applicants without a criminal record.
There are certain crimes, however, that can be cleared (or expunged) from your criminal record - first time offenders committing non-violent crimes. If you have ever been arrested, then your arrest is made public record for anyone to see for any reason. When your record is expunged, the clerk of the court physically destroys the record. This also means that any agencies that were involved in the case must also physically destroy any records. After the crime in expunged, then a job applicant can honestly answer no to the question about felony conviction. However, you have to apply for expunging - it is not automatic.
"The charges originally were felony burglary," said Andrew Blancato, who was tried for trespassing on private property, "but we got lucky because most of us were 17 at the time it happened. When the probation was over, it was off our records."
The criminal records of minors are sealed by the courts when they reach 21 unless they were tried and convicted as adults.
Law enforcement officials and other experts say that the best way to avoid problems with future employment is just simply by not committing crimes. They say that although there are ways to get crimes taken off your record and that there are certain jobs where an employer may overlook a criminal record, most employers will always take an employee with no criminal record over one with a criminal record.
"The vast majority of employers are reluctant," says Princeton's Pager, "to take a chance on applicants with a criminal record."
