When to be forthcoming about criminal record

23942329 said:
You went to prison and you came out alive? That's impressive. Good luck though, I have no advice to give.
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I do not know if you are joking or if you are serious, but prison is not as hectic as you see on tv, well not in Gauteng prisons anyway. Lots of myths pertaining prison, but this post is not meant for that.
 
Well done for turning your life around.
But, if we're being honest here, if I had your CV and another person's CV with similar IT experience/qualifications with no criminal record I'm afraid you won't even be called for an interview.
Sorry for the "bad news", but that is the way things are.
My suggestion would be to try and get a 5+ years experience where you are and then try to start your own consulting IT company where you basically contract your skills out and nobody asks too many questions about criminal history (unless you go through a broking firm).
 
gcs001 said:
Well done for turning your life around.
But, if we're being honest here, if I had your CV and another person's CV with similar IT experience/qualifications with no criminal record I'm afraid you won't even be called for an interview.
Sorry for the "bad news", but that is the way things are.
My suggestion would be to try and get a 5+ years experience where you are and then try to start your own consulting IT company where you basically contract your skills out and nobody asks too many questions about criminal history (unless you go through a broking firm).
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I agree with you, if there is 2 people applying for a job, and one has a criminal record, it is 100% understandable that the other guy should get the job. That is just the logical thing to do. So yes it won't be easy, but giving up is not an option, so all that I can try, is apply and apply, be open about the situation and see what happens.
 
I think it really depends on your actual criminal history.

You will find that if you have the qualifications and your actual criminal history that landed you in prison is not associated with some extreme criminal crap then many potential employers would take that into consideration.

Case in point: I know of friends who did time in prison for either drug possession or selling and some of them landed 5+ years in prison. When they got out eventually they did find a corporate job mainly due to the circumstance of their actual criminal charge.

On the other hand if you were in for assault or attempted murder etc. then I suspect once you make that known to any employer unfortunately it would be their duty to protect other employers and not give you the job.
 
John Tempus said:
I think it really depends on your actual criminal history.

You will find that if you have the qualifications and your actual criminal history that landed you in prison is not associated with some extreme criminal crap then many potential employers would take that into consideration.

Case in point: I know of friends who did time in prison for either drug possession or selling and some of them landed 5+ years in prison. When they got out eventually they did find a corporate job mainly due to the circumstance of their actual criminal charge.

On the other hand if you were in for assault or attempted murder etc. then I suspect once you make that known to any employer unfortunately it would be their duty to protect other employers and not give you the job.
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did you bother to read the thread?
 
Convict said:
I was released a year ago, but as far as I know you can only get it expunged after 10 years, and only if you did less then 12 months. I did many many years inside. So that is not an option.
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Unless convicted of serious crimes (murder, rape, robbery etc.) as far as I'm concerned you can apply for a police clearance. It cost less than 250 to do at the police station and can take about 3 - 6 weeks to complete.
 
lukhanyos said:
Unless convicted of serious crimes (murder, rape, robbery etc.) as far as I'm concerned you can apply for a police clearance. It cost less than 250 to do at the police station and can take about 3 - 6 weeks to complete.
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read the thread
 
@Convict, first off, kudos for making the turnaround. In light of some of the initial mentions, becoming an entrepreneur, have you considered " the best of both worlds"? Start a consulting company where you can offer your services to some of these bigger houses, but instead of fielding the difficult issue around the many questions, and the almost certain "crim check" offered by most of the bigger companies, I don't believe they ask for the criminal history of the staff at the company. It will be tough, and you will have to fight for the business, but I see a LOT of companies bringing in consulting houses now to fill a gap (usually because they short-sightedly retrenched too many of their workforce during COVID). And if you have a few companies that might be willing to bring in someone with your skillset.

Just as a question, what area would you consider your "specialty", I know you have not been out that long so may not have developed this yet, but perhaps your studies had a stronger focus on a particular set of skills. You may find some people in the forum have the position and privilege to sway their company your way, to try to get you back on your feet and with a proper foot in the door.
 
Convict said:
I actually agree with you on the death penalty believe it or not.
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In a perfect world yes, what's fair is fair.

But the chance of someone being wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death is just too much of a risk.
 
Darynv said:
@Convict, first off, kudos for making the turnaround. In light of some of the initial mentions, becoming an entrepreneur, have you considered " the best of both worlds"? Start a consulting company where you can offer your services to some of these bigger houses, but instead of fielding the difficult issue around the many questions, and the almost certain "crim check" offered by most of the bigger companies, I don't believe they ask for the criminal history of the staff at the company. It will be tough, and you will have to fight for the business, but I see a LOT of companies bringing in consulting houses now to fill a gap (usually because they short-sightedly retrenched too many of their workforce during COVID). And if you have a few companies that might be willing to bring in someone with your skillset.

Just as a question, what area would you consider your "specialty", I know you have not been out that long so may not have developed this yet, but perhaps your studies had a stronger focus on a particular set of skills. You may find some people in the forum have the position and privilege to sway their company your way, to try to get you back on your feet and with a proper foot in the door.
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Well currently I'm doing normal desktop application development. I love writing code, solving some business problem, that is what I love doing. I just want to work in a team, where I can work on a piece of code, and see how that piece of the puzzle fits in with the rest. So it is hard for me to pin a specialty as I have only worked on the stuff I'm doing now. I know how to go about designing and developing some kind of business software, but I will be completely lost building a media player for example.

Currently, where I work, I'm the only developer, doing all the work, form the design, coding to the implementation, and that in itself is not an issue, but I know I'm not doing things 100% according to standards etc, due to lack of experience. There is no one to learn from, no one to tell me where I'm going wrong.

Spending every free minute I have, trying to learn new things, waking up early, to spend some time watching videos, and then at night a couple of hours again. I want to learn, get to know as much as possible about development.

UPDATE: have been contacted today by an employment agent today, for a developer position. They company uses Delphi to develop, they are developing software for the retail industry. All of which I currently use and do. I have to do an assessment, which is not complex at all. The only real problem for me at the moment, the agent does not know I have a criminal record, and I will have to tell her, since there is this massive gap in my employment history. So I will inform the agent tomorrow, when I submit my assessment. Maybe my assessment will be good enough, and they might be willing to give me a shot at an interview , I have no idea, hoping for the best here.
 
When you inform potential employers, or an agent, of your past, could you perhaps include references showing the you you have become, since you've served your sentence? Possibly from your current employer, or your employer's client(s)?
 
I have not added 1 reference to my CV as I did not even think references are being used, there is definitely a reference or 2 I can add to my CV.
 
Convict said:
I have not added 1 reference to my CV as I did not even think references are being used, there is definitely a reference or 2 I can add to my CV.
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Another way is to just "references on request" on the CV. That way you have a heads up when they do reference checks.
 
R13... said:
Another way is to just "references on request" on the CV. That way you have a heads up when they do reference checks.
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Yes, one can do it that way. For OP specifically, though, sending in a good reference right from the start, may positively influence the way the interviewer sees him and his work skills, before he has to talk about his past.
 
R13... said:
Another way is to just "references on request" on the CV. That way you have a heads up when they do reference checks.
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Gozado said:
Yes, one can do it that way. For OP specifically, though, sending in a good reference right from the start, may positively influence the way the interviewer sees him and his work skills, before he has to talk about his past.
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I agree with Gozado, in this case he definitely needs to include a reference or references on his cv. Under "normal" circumstances he would go "references on request."

Good luck to you OP (man, I can bring myself to using your username), I hope you get the job.
 
ProfA said:
Reason why I asked was purely for the hypocritical angle. In the threads where a crime is committed, most showing you support here would wish death upon criminals. Me included. So it would be interesting how your support would change if people knew why you were incarcerated. Frankly I just like pointing out hypocrisies.
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This, I will be honest, if I (note I am not currently in such a position) should choose between 2 people to give an opportunity, 1 with a criminal record and 1 without but who perservered through tough circumstances and need a break. I would choose the latter.

At OP, unfortunately, choices have consequences, and some people in society (me included) will still have a negative view. And this is one of them.
However, it depends on the crime. For e.g. if OP is a convicted "pedophile". How many of you would help him or even try to assist?
 
rh1 said:
This, I will be honest, if I (note I am not currently in such a position) should choose between 2 people to give an opportunity, 1 with a criminal record and 1 without but who perservered through tough circumstances and need a break. I would choose the latter.

At OP, unfortunately, choices have consequences, and some people in society (me included) will still have a negative view. And this is one of them.
However, it depends on the crime. For e.g. if OP is a convicted "pedophile". How many of you would help him or even try to assist?
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read the thread
 
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