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Ask HN: When to disclose shameful felony during interview process?

11 points by sexoffender ↗ HN
As someone with a very strong software background and a recent felony, I'm wondering what your advice is in securing a local tech job. When should I tell interviewers? Is it even possible to get a tech job ever again? The last person I interviewed with canceled my second interview because she found out about this through google, and suggested maybe I look into contracting, but that sounds just as unlikely because of how easy it is to google me. Should I tell interviewers during the first introductory 30 minute phone call? Would this kind of red flag completely stop you from hiring someone who otherwise seems very qualified? What would make you more likely to keep moving forward with them?

18 comments

[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 61.3 ms ] thread
syllogism
Depends on the specifics. What did you do?
stckyfngrs
If his username is any indication...
rl3
It could still go both ways though, there's many registered sex offenders that shouldn't be. For example, indecent exposure charges absent any underlying sexual motivation.

That said, OP did use the word shameful.

sexoffender
Indecent exposure, even though it was without underlying sexual motivation, is very shameful and embarrassing to talk about, especially in an interview. And already a few Fortune 500 companies who wanted to move forward with me have decided not to for this reason, so it's more than shame, it seems like an automatic disqualification. It's very likely my career is over now. I guess if nothing else, my life can at least be a warning to others.
rl3
If that's how you ended up with a felony, I'd probably hire you without hesitation assuming you were a good fit and I was in a capacity to make that decision.

There's very few situations where indecent exposure should even warrant a felony, and barring any sexual/predatory motivation I can't really even begin to understand why it would.

You might have better luck with startups. They're usually run by people who aren't cowards, and they tend to be allergic to bullshit. Also consider remote work if geography is a poblem.

surrogatekey
In that case I would see it like rl3 too, and would probably respond best to a frank disclosure upfront. Maybe your career isn't as over as it feels right now, but will just take more time to find the right place?
[deleted]
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sexoffender
Suffice it to say it isn't something that makes me a risk to the employer, but it's also more awkward to discuss than other felonies.
surrogatekey
Of course how much you disclose is totally your business, and I can't speak for the person you're replying to. But for me this isn't enough to go on, because your questions seem to be about others' perceptions of this as a risk.
[dead] syllogism
It's not all about risk. The person interviewing you is going to be drawing inferences about your character --- so exactly what you did will really matter.

If you were 19 with a 15 year old girlfriend, that's something many people wouldn't immediately condemn. Similarly, if you got caught having consenting sex in a bathroom, or even if you exposed yourself to a cop at a gay beat --- these are things some people will understand.

Even if you had child porn but never offended, you might eventually find an employer who would consider you to be making the best of a bad situation.

I don't think there's much hope of convincing an employer to trust you if you actually raped someone.

dragonwriter
> As someone with a very strong software background and a recent felony, I'm wondering what your advice is in securing a local tech job.

Local...where? (That may help people with appropriate local knowledge give more specific advice.)

While the pay may be worse, you may have better luck with public sector tech jobs (they will certainly consider the offense in hiring decisions, but they may be less likely to use it as an arbitrary complete disqualification.)

noahc
Have you tried blogging and pushing those results off the first page. Sign up for every social media account you can with your real name and location and then create little snippets to post to them to push everything down.
akulbe
When you have a record, there's almost always a middleman in the way of you getting a job. Most of the time, that's H.R.

HR is NOT your friend. That is another conversation entirely.

If you cannot find someone to give you a break for a job, then I'm betting your best bet will be to remove the middleman, and go the self-employed route.

It is NOT easy, but it can be more lucrative and rewarding.

Good luck.

jacquesm
Move to Europe or some other place. Likely nobody will care at all about your past. Change your name.
syllogism
Getting a visa with a felony is basically impossible.
jacquesm
Wow, that's a pretty dirty move. That means that about 1/3rd of all Americans can not travel abroad.