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1. justso+(OP)[view] [source] 2024-01-03 19:28:20
it's been 14 years since my felony, and every IT job I've had started out good but they looked me up. I got a unique name I can't change right now. so they always find me, I've been hired by billion dollar companies for technical member of staff positions paying 165k, only to be fired the day before I was supposed to start.

I can't do it anymore. I can't try anymore. I've tried for years and years and I can't handle this rejection. I can't handle knowing at the drop of a hat I'm gonna lose my job again the moment they find out. I just can't do this anymore. I really can't. I can't be this good, this friendly to people, this competent, and still judged so badly from something that happened while I was on drugs 14 years ago. I've been clean for as many years. It doesn't matter. I've tried explaining, doesn't matter. I've treid playing dumb and hoping the background check won't find it. I've relied on the right-to-be-forgotten laws and the fair credit reporting act-- billion dollar companies still refuse to follow the procedure. they didn't get me any chance to dispute what they found, even when they said they would. And no, suing them doesn't work. No one will take the case and I aint got money for it so no.

there are no solutions. I'm paid to find solutions to any problem... and I have none. I can find none. :(

People judge harsh these days. Good luck, you need it. Even if you get a job, it's a hell of a thing to have a coworker you've worked with for 18 months walk up to you with a printout of your case, saying, is this you? and then he pretends it didn't bother him.

oh it bothered him.

they walked me out not long after that for something seemingly unrelated. that job lasted exactly 2 years.

My next, I got walked out at just 4 months for "defacing company property" yeah I wrote my name on my custom chair they ordered for me. I was financially responsible for that chair, I know because I built the inventory system to keep track of the serial numbers. Do you think this mattered? Hell no. Do you think people cared to reason? nope. they kept a straight face even, said that I was lucky they weren't calling the cops.

well joke was sort of on them. my unemployment claim went before a magistrate and he took one look and said to them, did you get him a chance to wipe it off? and I'm like "I had multiple sovants on hand that would have worked. they never even gave me a chance." and they were like "...." and that was it. ruled in my favor.

but how it left me. it just devestated me. I brought my a game to that job. I grew that company from 29 employees to 165. I had microsoft hybrid local/cloud running and the dell laptops would auto provision all the user had to do was login with their username and password. it all unfolded, installed everything they needed. a perfect image. it was done in 20 minutes. it was amazing, microsoft really has some powerful tools to help IT get new employees working fast.

it just sucks. it sucks more than anything. it's unfair, sure. the world is unfair. but it is beyond unfair. and it has cost me everything ... this latest one just... sent me into a spiral. and I just gave up. I lost all my possessions, a lifetime of them. I just walked. how can I care anymore?

replies(5): >>altdat+Q >>13415+A1 >>ChrisM+I1 >>pennaM+v3 >>giantg+lg
2. altdat+Q[view] [source] 2024-01-03 19:32:23
>>justso+(OP)
Can you change your name? (dumb Q perhaps)
replies(1): >>justso+B5
3. 13415+A1[view] [source] 2024-01-03 19:35:48
>>justso+(OP)
Move abroad. Unless you apply for a security-related position or in childcare/education, it is not common outside the US to demand a background check. In any case, in most countries they need to ask the candidate and do not have the power or right to demand the data for themselves.
replies(1): >>20afte+f4
4. ChrisM+I1[view] [source] 2024-01-03 19:36:31
>>justso+(OP)
I think being upfront is important. There's a lot of stuff that doesn't need to be said (I've been clean 43 years, and no one ever knew, in my jobs -I just wasn't much fun at the office party), but felonies will always come up; even obscure ones.

HR depts hire these companies that break out the digital proctoscope, and they do things like find your social media accounts. Also, if you piss someone off, they can rat you, and you can be fired with cause.

replies(1): >>sjfjsj+2k
5. pennaM+v3[view] [source] 2024-01-03 19:44:59
>>justso+(OP)
Move to another country. Open a LLC and work as a contractor via your firm. Bootstrap a B2B startup, you seem to have valuable skills you can bring to market. There are many solutions but they do require you to make a hard trade off.
replies(3): >>justso+G4 >>hn_thr+05 >>within+d5
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6. 20afte+f4[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 19:47:59
>>13415+A1
You can't move abroad with a felony record and no money.
replies(2): >>within+X5 >>justso+46
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7. justso+G4[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 19:50:04
>>pennaM+v3
moving to another country isn't an option. the only ones I'd be willing to go to won't let felons in. I can't even drive to canada 10 miles from where I live, here at the border, to see friends. no felons are allowed in canada for life. they will arrest you immediately for trying, signs for it everywhere.

I have an LLC. I'm a published author, but sales are nothing I could live off of.

I'm not sure I have what it takes to bootstrap a b2b. It's why I like working with others. I literally enjoy helping other people solve problems. I was an SRE two positions ago and I took on the IT role for an extra 5k/year. and I happily answered calls to change peoples passwords, because it was a small company. and everyone really respected each other. everyone was grateful. I had cards all over my wall that people sent me, thank you cards. covering half of it by the end. this is what I need in life, all I need. I'm old enough now to know the difference between wants and needs.

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8. hn_thr+05[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 19:52:16
>>pennaM+v3
> Move to another country.

Your plan sounded perfect except for the complete infeasibility of it. Countries don't let felons from other countries immigrate.

replies(2): >>justso+Va >>deadba+ik
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9. within+d5[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 19:53:18
>>pennaM+v3
When I moved to the Netherlands to start a company, they only looked back 10 years for a background check to get the visa. I highly recommend leaving the country and starting completely fresh if the algorithms got you fucked.
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10. justso+B5[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 19:54:39
>>altdat+Q
not presently. but soon. I'm between addresses right now, basically. The last state I lived in wouldn't let me do it

I'll still have a social security number that won't change, and I'll have an alias and anyone who really wants to find my info will find it even with a name change.

What a name change does is get me off a simple google search. which isn't legal, fair credit reporting act defines very clearly what you are and are not allowed to do to investigate potential employees.

and yet, do you really think I can start any business relationship by telling someone they can't do things like look me up? It's effectively what that is, and it's unreasonable.

The industry is still stuck in a "no one knows what to do about this problem"

can't stop people from googling you. but I can change my name ... but it's not going to stop the ones who look futher. and so far, all of them have.

replies(1): >>giantg+ch
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11. within+X5[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 19:56:06
>>20afte+f4
Depends on the country.
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12. justso+46[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 19:56:35
>>20afte+f4
thank you. moving abroad takes major bank, and I have a partner here where I'm living now. We've got dogs. I'm not leaving everyone behind and we're not moving to another country it's just not in the cards.
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13. justso+Va[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 20:20:29
>>hn_thr+05
thank you for that, it can be really frustrating to get suggestions when people don't even know what they're suggesting.

Lets say a felon immigrates to germany. their policy is they won't ask. but if they find out you were a felon in the US, at any point in your life, they will immediately deport you. and your life in germany however much you built, is forfeit. yay! at any point in time.

that is not an acceptable risk

14. giantg+lg[view] [source] 2024-01-03 20:44:37
>>justso+(OP)
Sounds a lot like having a disability. They aren't allowed to discriminate, but they find ways around it.
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15. giantg+ch[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 20:47:50
>>justso+B5
'The industry is still stuck in a "no one knows what to do about this problem"'

It's not that nobody knows - nobody cares. The lawyers will always advocate for not hiring anyone "risky". Be that criminal convictions, dismissed charges, or people with disabilities.

replies(1): >>justso+kk
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16. sjfjsj+2k[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 21:01:02
>>ChrisM+I1
Being upfront won’t do you any favours.
replies(2): >>ChrisM+wm >>justso+My
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17. deadba+ik[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 21:02:16
>>hn_thr+05
People underestimate how easily they can travel and how it’s really just a privilege.

You end up on a no fly list or become a convicted felon and that’s it, your life of travel is snuffed out.

I really feel for the OP.

replies(1): >>felon1+Kn1
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18. justso+kk[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 21:02:17
>>giantg+ch
Sure but there are laws designed to prevent how far back they are able to look to find thaat information. And the laws aren't even being followed-- the lawyers should be telling them to follow them ... and yet.
replies(1): >>giantg+sA
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19. ChrisM+wm[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 21:12:28
>>sjfjsj+2k
That depends. Different companies have different policies. I've seen folks marched out the door, a couple of weeks after being hired, because they pretended otherwise.

As I've said, I've personally seen a lot of felons do fine.

"Being upfront" doesn't mean immediately stating it up front, but it also means not lying or pretending it won't come up. Also, there are time limits on this kind of thing.

I know a chap that graduated from Brown, in finance, and got busted in college, with misdemeanor pot, and that haunted him for decades.

I also know a chap that did four bids Upstate, retrained, and got a job as an IT admin for BNL. He did great, but burgers killed him.

replies(1): >>sjfjsj+kD
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20. justso+My[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 22:31:43
>>sjfjsj+2k
there is no universal technique. you should try to be up front. you don't want things to be discovered later that will walk you out. but if being up front makes them pass on you, just what is the option?
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21. giantg+sA[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 22:45:00
>>justso+kk
Yeah, and there are laws about not discriminating against people with disabilities and they aren't being followed.
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22. sjfjsj+kD[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-03 23:06:50
>>ChrisM+wm
Being upfront means stating it without being asked during the interview.

Of course lying is a very bad strategy. But so is coming out without being asked IMO.

I have no personal experience just from acquaintances.

I don’t know about time limits I guess that depends on the country. For example in Germany this kind of information is usually not public so you will have a much easier time - also with the penal systems goal to rehabilitate not to punish. Of course it’s still very difficult.

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23. felon1+Kn1[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-04 06:51:02
>>deadba+ik
This is not necessarily true. Speaking from experience as a DUI felon (no other charges) I have traveled to multiple countries in the EU, UK, Thailand, Costa Rica, Mexico and Dominican Republic. The only country that has denied me entry is Canada.

This likely depends on the felony of course. A DUI in which no harm/damage occurred is probably the lesser of the felonies.

replies(1): >>deadba+Ju4
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24. deadba+Ju4[view] [source] [discussion] 2024-01-05 05:02:47
>>felon1+Kn1
In some of those countries isn’t DUI basically culturally acceptable?
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