Hacker News Reader

Comment by recordthrowaway | Hacker News Reader

> Curious: why didn't you disclose to the employer up-front?

a) I didn't know as I was 22 and this was my first time getting a job after everything happened, so I was ignorant of the process. The subject never came up during interviews or offer signing.

b) NYC has laws/rules (?) that don't let employers ask about criminal records before giving an offer. To me these laws are useless as I'd rather be rejected up front than accept an offer and then have to leave...

Anyway, the company was a CRM start up and their excuse was that their investors wanted everyone in the company to be clean because we handle customer data or whatever, so I doubt I would've gotten the job even if I had been up front. But, I love where I work now so it's all good.

View on HN

What kind of crime did you commit? I can understand how a company might be wary of hiring someone who murdered or sexually assaulted someone, it's a lot more tolerable to hire someone who, say, sold drugs or committed theft in a time of financial crisis.

This seems like a half-solution though. It's not like those who have committed violent offenses don't need to work.

I’d extend this to say they not only need to work, but they need to be re-integrated into society as a full citizen after serving their time. I find this especially true if the crime committed is in no way related to the job they’re applying to.

Yes, I agree wholeheartedly.

Would you want to work in the same building as a convicted arsonist?

Is he a serial arsonist?

Do arsonists have a special propensity to burn their own workplaces?

I would think someone who committed murder had a better chance than someone who committed any significant property theft.

I thought who would decide how he would pay his debt to society were the judge, not the employer.

Explain that to your insurance company. If you hired a felon and you have a customer data breech, you are going to be in some trouble.

A clean start should be the norm, but their are idiots who have screwed it up for everyone else.

People who care don’t care.

Given the OP says he was 22 when getting hired the first time again, I doubt it can have been a serious crime, unless he had committed it at a very young age, which would put everything into another light, too.

I think someone convicted of financial crimes would be a much bigger concern than, say, a DWI.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com