Ask HN: Do average tech companies care about felony probation for SWE?
I know some will and I assume some won’t, but if anyone has any insight into how most companies feel about hiring a software engineer with a felony probation please share
I know someone with a felony fraud conviction who can't get a job at any financial company (the business domain he has most experience in). Instant disqualifier.
Not all employers run background checks, but they may ask about felony or even misdemeanor convictions and if you lie and they later find out they can fire for that reason.
A candidate with a record may get passed over with the employer giving some other reason, to protect themselves from lawsuits. In other words the candidate may get told "We hired a more qualified candidate" when they actually got rejected because of a criminal record.
There is no standard "background check." A criminal history might come up, might not. You have to decide what's the best strategy... disclose it now while I'm competing against multiple other candidates with clean records and no solid internal relationships, or not say anything and take my chances, that maybe someone may discover it in the future and my ability, once I've become a well-liked, important contributor to the company, to be able to explain it away.
Some employers simply ask (usually on an information form) if the candidate has any convictions.
A candidate doesn't have to volunteer information, but should have an explanation for a criminal record should that come up. If asked the candidate shouldn't lie because lying to get a job usually gives the employer grounds to terminate later with cause (unless you get elected to Congress).
What crimes are left?
Also, ‘convicted criminal’ is not a protected class, you wouldn’t win a lawsuit against someone who refuses to hire ex-cons.
I don't think someone should get penalized their whole life for a mistake, but multiple convictions or recent convictions will make anyone wonder about who they are hiring. I've hired candidates who had drug-related convictions but had stayed away from drugs for years. I hired a man who had a fairly old conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm because he had a good explanation (and even though I'm not a fan of carrying guns). I have passed on people who had stolen from their employer or had convictions for violent crimes like assault, robbery, or sex offenses.
An employer has to consider more than giving a candidate with a record a second chance. They also have to consider the safety (real or perceived) of their other employees. If people at a company find out that they're working alongside someone with a history of violent assaults they aren't going to like that.
Sometimes a person can get their criminal record sealed or expunged, maybe worth it to discuss with a lawyer.
They can ask about anything I suppose. I've had company interviews where the application required me to state whether or not I've ever even been arrested, "regardless of conviction". Presumably their risk model counts even innocent (and ultimately incorrect) run-ins with the law as too risky to hire.
In the US a fairly big industry exists to do background checks and pre-employment screening. Having worked in enterprise logistics for a long time, with warehouse staff and drivers coming and going all the time and mandatory background tests and drug screens, I know that employers have to carefully screen so they aren't endangering their other employees, but also that employers can show compassion and understanding and not just toss a candidate for an old conviction.
(Assuming the company is media, social media or gaming related)
...But ultimately we couldn't complete the hiring process since there was a bank on the first floor and the building owners would have terminated our lease if they found out they worked there.
For example, working at a software firm focused on trading and financial systems we had contractual requirements to never send felons onto customer sites. So for sales or support/engineering roles given that traveling to customer sites was part of the role description, that limited employees we would have otherwise hired.
Also, all the regulated financial's I've worked at have background checks at onboarding, and then annual compliance reviews where you have to attest to not having felonies in a range of related areas. You can't manage money if you've been convicted of stealing it.
Regardless, you can only apply with your background, so all the usual advice applies: interview well, practice, be confident, be deep, have good stories, questions, and talking points ready. The extra advice for folks with a record (like myself) is to prep a good explanation.
You'll do fine.
This depends entirely on jurisdiction and company policy.
In CA your potential employer can’t ask about criminal history before extending an offer. After the offer is extended that’s off the table: they absolutely can (and will!) run a background check, and any convictions are assessed against the offered job.
A SWE might get a job with a drug conviction they picked up a decade ago. They might have their offer pulled due to a recent conviction for embezzlement.
But yeah, for OP: this is why this is a hard question to answer without specifics. What jurisdiction are you in, what crime, how long ago, what job? These details matter.
If you’re really unsure most employment lawyers offer a free consultation. Good luck.
https://www.goodhire.com/resources/articles/how-far-back-do-...
> Businesses that sell criminal history information to employers are "consumer reporting agencies" (CRAs) if they provide the information in "consumer reports" under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. (FCRA). Under FCRA, a CRA generally may not report records of arrests that did not result in entry of a judgment of conviction, where the arrests occurred more than seven years ago. However, they may report convictions indefinitely. (emph. added)
The FCRA does not wipe convictions after seven years.
A few states extend FCRA-like provisions for felony reporting. Most don’t.
Even if your state does extend those protections, most have salary caps: if you are (for example) a felon in Washington applying for a job over $20k in annual salary, the 7-year reporting exemption doesn’t apply to you.
Other states offer an exemption for misdemeanors but exclude felons entirely.
(edit: I had MA in my head but it was WA I was trying to remember, changed :-))
Wat
About a decade ago I had a coworker whose access was suddenly pulled from all prod systems. The reason? Someone with his (quite common) name had a warrant issued in Oklahoma. We weren’t anywhere near Oklahoma and he’d never even set foot in Oklahoma. But our company had a few state contracts that required clean background checks & periodic rescreenings of employees, they checked him, and his name matched. It took a few weeks to clear it up, during which time he couldn’t do his job.
Most contracts aren’t likely going to be that painful but you’ll have a hard time going near any compliance regime with a criminal background, which narrows your options.
Didn’t they already pay their “debt to society” by serving whatever their sentence was?
That’s kind of the entire point of justice.
And he’s applying for a job in literally one of the two types of jobs that you can set up total informational and access control.
How many decades before he should be considered normal again, or is he tainted for the rest of his life because of your “dishonesty conviction speaking to character”?
Hiding it, so that's it's only revealed during a credit check, is the problem.
You would be shocked at how many high-earning individuals in the finance industry essentially live paycheck to paycheck because they spend as much (or more) than they make in an effort to maintain "status" among their peers, clients, and neighbors. It's pretty much the norm for that industry.
A credit check is more often used to gauge how susceptible a candidate is to becoming a pawn in some espionage plot. Someone with large outstanding debts is more likely to agree to get paid to steal information or money when approached by an agent working for another company or government than someone who is financially secure.
So it’s not just about the status, you can easily get addicted to spending money. Earning a lot of money and knowing how to save money are vastly different skills.