In my last blog I addressed some issues about landing a trade job despite so-called skeletons in your closet. Those bones might include things like DUIs, drug convictions or other misdemeanors.
For less serious crimes, job opportunities will be limited in the trades but not completely out of the question. A felony conviction for any kind of theft likely will mean trouble getting a service job that entails visiting customers in their homes. Better opportunities might exist for construction jobs that don’t involve dealing with the public. Your chances are enhanced by the fact that construction labor is in desperately short supply throughout the country. Your first job might entail low-paid “grunt work.” But if you tackle it with enthusiasm and stay out of trouble, doors might open to apprenticeships for more skilled work.
Clean Slate Acts in certain states encourage employers to overlook first-time offenders of low-level crimes. These laws may limit the number of years an employer can look back, or only consider felonies but not misdemeanors. States that have such laws include Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan, Connecticut, Delaware, Virginia, Oklahoma, Colorado, California, Minnesota and New York. With or without such laws, some employers may be open-minded about giving past offenders a second chance. A labor shortage often comes into play here.
If you are a past offender and reading this, it suggests that you are remorseful about your criminal history and interested in earning an honest living. More than anything else, that kind of attitude will enable you to overcome the employment obstacles facing people with criminal records. If this describes you, then the best advice I can give is to be honest about your past, regretful and determined to work hard to overcome it.
If that describes you, good luck as you explore the trades.