I don't want to write a book about how I got my felony. This Blog is about the doors I have had shut in my face, the prejudice i experience and how unequal equal opportunity companies are.
My felony is a Drug related federal felony in which I have 2 charges one of drug possession of 2 kilos and drug trafficking. I served 1 month in a holding facility and 1 year in a work release program. I was such a good example of a probationee that my probation officer released me early. In my trial I had DEA agents speak on behave of me stating "of years of random observation of the defendant he has not re offended and felt I was the 5% of people who would not re offend" and told the judge that if it was up to them they would let me walk with only probation and time served. My pretrial services officer claimed that I was never ever an issue and concurred with the DEA's statement for punishment.
I had a stellar job as a bank for a majority of my life and have a top notch resume. I am an honest person and I keep it real. When asked on a application "have you ever been convicted of a felony?" I answer truthfully and when i do, no calls and when following up they never return calls or get no real answers. We all really know why. When i don't mark anything I get job offers on the first interviews. The hiring managers are all smiles and cant wait to get me on board till the find out about my past. I am smart, motivated, confident and a very charismatic guy. I am very qualified to manage offices and have a long list successful accomplishments, awards and recognition awards.
Here is a list of few examples of employers and examples of my experiences:
Bank Of America- Business Banking Specialist- Hired on the spot, did my background and did not hear from them at all for 3 months and got a notice that I had to be three states over for training the next day then fired for
not showing up.
Comerica Bank- Assistant Manager- Hired on the spot did my background check and fired for not disclosing my felony
Check n' Go- Branch Manager- Hired worked for 3 years in which I was in the top 5% performers in the company took on a new Auto loan program which required me to do a Live Scan fired a few weeks later.
Chase Bank- Hired on the spot because he overlooked the box check: Felony then revoked his decision with the excuse they found someone more qualified.
And most don't even respond to me at all
Here is the problem. Although my work ethic and accomplishments is an employers dream candidate, they throw it all out the window for something that happen 14+ years ago. People change and instead of chalking all people who have a felony as the worst person in the world, get to know them, give them the opportunity to explain the situation and what they have done since then. You would be surprised to find out like you we have a dream to have a good job, the house, the dog and the family. My family suffers from this because you wont give me an opportunity to prove what i am capable of.
I read this:
According to the language of AB 218, authored by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, "a state or local agency shall not ask an applicant for employment to disclose, orally or in writing, information concerning the conviction history of the applicant, including any inquiry about conviction history on any employment application, until the agency has determined the applicant meets the minimum employment qualifications, as stated in any notice issued for the position."- http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-California/2014/07/12/CA-State-Employers-Can-No-Longer-Ask-For-Criminal-History-On-Job-Applications
I have also found programs in which the government offers a bond to help felons get jobs under "THE FEDERAL BONDING PROGRAM" employers still tell me no. Even though there are programs like these the discrimination is still there. I meet and exceed the requirements that most jobs post but still once they find out the employers treat me like I have the plague. I have been trying to get back into banking for quite sometime now with no luck. My felony is not a Violent crime nor has to due with Fraud. Just made a bad mistake as a kid and since then have tried moving on. I am the 5% who have not re offended.
The assembly men went on in the same article to say "If a person can't find a job, the odds increase dramatically that the person is simply going to return to what they were doing before," Dickinson told Capital Public Radio. "They'll end up offending again and in all likelihood returning to incarceration." I love my family and could never be apart from them so for me this is not an option no matter how bad it is. The other 95%, well these are the conversations I had with a lot of them while I spent my time in. Trust me when i say this in the world I experience loyalty is a HUGE factor and I know that if given the opportunity to have a good job especially in my case as Bank Manager again, there is no way would i EVER JEOPARDIZE my second chance. In fact my loyalty for that company would be maybe too extreme that no job too big or small that I wouldn't do for them.
So employers think about that next time you have someone in front of you and you are hearing about something that happen in their life before. You could potentially be changing someones life with a chance to improve their's...
