Quote:
Originally Posted by Weitz
Would they? How many jobs do criminal background checks? None in my industry that I know of.
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Oh, absolutely.
I worked in a call center with a guy who could only get a job there to keep a roof over his family's heads. I don't remember his exact career, but his life shattered after a DUI. I watched this guy ultimately loose the house and his wife... and he got the DUI rushing his kid to the doctors in the morning. Too much the night before, got a speeding ticket and the cop could still smell it. Don't think that he was that far over either, but enough.
Especially these days, where most jobs are hired through some job board manager or another. Unless you can get face-to-face with whoever is hiring, most applications ask if you're bondable or if you have a criminal record. To date, I don't think I've ever seen a "but, tell us about it anyway" box and I'll bet that's a disqualifier more often than not if they're seeing a few candidates they like already.
I've seen a few lives made incredibly difficult for criminal records after working in a few call centers, restaurants and even now as a freelancer. I honestly think a criminal record is a gigantic problem in your average persons' life. Nevermind the likely privilege they received in their sentencing in the first place.