Gather all documents that an employer would need to hire you. Here are items you may need:
Driver’s License or State ID
Social Security Card
Original or Certified Copy of your Birth Certificate
High School Diploma, College Diploma or GED
Vocational Certificates
Inmate educational record/transcript
Resume
A list of three references (names and phone numbers of people who can comment about your work ability)
Clean up your criminal record and credit report. Make sure wrong information gets fixed. For more information see the Criminal Records Advice Section.
Understand your rights.
An employer may review your record of convictions and can consider the relationship between the conviction and the job in deciding whether to employ you. The employer has a lot of freedom when making this decision.
An employer may conduct a background check on you. If the employer conducts the background check himself, he does not need your permission to do it. However, if the employer asks a third party to do it (like a security company), they need to let you know to let you know and get your written permission. And, if they use anything in that report to deny you a job, you have to be provided with a copy of the report and a period of time to dispute the entries.
There are laws that prohibit people with certain convictions from working in some jobs. The types of jobs with legal prohibitions are generally in the areas of childcare, education, law enforcement, nursing and home health care - areas where there are “vulnerable” populations like children and older adults.
If you want a career where a professional license is required or helpful (such as a social worker), make sure you check with the agency that grants the license before you decide to go into that career. See if they will give a license to someone with your type of conviction. Many agencies do not have an outright ban on all ex-offenders.
There are no specific laws that protect ex-offenders from job discrimination simply because they are ex-offenders. But, there are laws that protect people from discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability and color.
