Criminal Record and employment

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WNB

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Messages
416
Hi. I know I've been posting alot of questions on here lately, but I've got one more that I'd really like answered.

Does anyone know what effects a misdemeanor drug conviction in college would have on the post-college job hunt? I'm trying to find information on it, but I've been getting really conflicting stories, from it condemning you to a life of working at McDonalds to it having almost no effect whatsoever on employment.

Also, a related question. Do misdemeanors stay on your record for life, or do they expire after a certain time period?

I'm over 18, and live in Iowa, if it matters.
 
Most job applications ask if you have ever been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony other than traffic violations. You are obligated to disclose the situation to any potential employer who asks for it- but if they don't ask, you don't have to tell.

It's impossible to say exactly what effect a misdemeanor drug conviction would have on your future employment prospects. It wouldn't bother me if someone was applying to work for me, but most people are not as tolerant with regard to drugs than I.
 
mariposa420 said:
Most job applications ask if you have ever been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony other than traffic violations. You are obligated to disclose the situation to any potential employer who asks for it- but if they don't ask, you don't have to tell.
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Heck, the Iowa Bar application asks you to list all traffic tickets! And all court appearances to fight the traffic tickets, even if it was dismissed! I haven't submitted the app yet because I still need to track down my records from 15 years ago. I can't even remeber which state I got a ticket in in ~1996 .. I know it was somewhere on the east coast. Possibly North Carolina. Maybe Delaware .. or was it 1997? Sheesh.

Anyways, my very general impression is that it will not be a problem with most employers ... but it will be a problem with some. Will depend strongly on what type of work you want to get into - getting a job with the CIA will be difficult. But it's not going to ruin your life; concentrate on looking ahead, not regretting the past.

As far as "obligated" to tell employers that ask .. howso? I mean, lying on a job app can certainly be grounds for firing (or not getting hired if it turns up on a backgrund check), but it's not like lying to a federal agent either. You're not under oath [unlike a bar app, which they take very seriously!] and I'm not aware of any penalties for forgetting a youthful indiscretion on a job application.
 
^^^
I would be careful about advising to lie about "youthful indisrections" on job applications.

If you're applying to the quickie mart or something else, your record probably won't hurt you. My job, however, working for a hotel, conducts a full background check and drug tests every month. Any type of drug conviction would deny someone employment, but then again, if you lied about it, they would find out and certainly not hire you then. Each employer is going to have different standards and expectations.

It's best to be as honest as possible, because if you get hired and things go well, and you're up for a promotion or transfer, and THEN they do the check, you'll be in a much tougher spot than if you had come clean intitially.

You might want to check also, or maybe someone else here can if he or she has time, is that some drug offenses are removed from your record after an amount of time, or you can apply for expungement. This may not be offered in Iowa, and it may not be offered for all types of offenses, but it isn't that uncommon.
 
My last comment ("howso?") was intended as a question on what "obligates" anything on a job application, other than not getting the job or being fired [assuming you're not under oath, as in applying for a gov't job].

Which would suck and isn't worth it for a misD at age 18. But we covered that.

Anything else? The lurking fear and uncertainty? The Dostoyevsky-inspired paranoia, ceaseless guilt, and self-flagellation? Or is there actually some non-job-security, non-self-esteem "obligation", legal or otherwise, I should be aware of but am not? That's what I'm curious about.

A question such as this should not be interpreted as "advice to lie"; if I failed to make that sufficiently clear, let me do so now. Lies will get you in more trouble than a misD at age 18 ever will, though the misD will foreclose a few jobs.

If you're skilled and honest, it's their loss, and IMHO you might be happier working somewhere else. You can find plenty of cool jobs out there. Fret not, do good in school, and come out of the misdemeanor closet.
 
Applications around here only bother asking about being convicted of a felony. Misdemeanors aren't serious enough to warrent that stamp of ill omen on applications that felonies do.
 
if youre applying for a job post-college, youre most likely going to send a resume, not fill out an application. so you wont have to tell about past legal history unless they specifically ask. record checks would vary between professions.
 
In many states it's easy to "forget" about a misdemeanor conviction. In California, for example, there is no database of persons convicted of misdemeanors (except domestic violence, certain sex crimes or certain assaults) which is accessable by non-law enforcment. Only by a full 58 county search will a private investigator be able to find a misdemeanor conviction. Since California court records are not online, this requires mailing each individual court and making a specific document search request. Such a search, for each of the 58 counties would take months (or years). Becuase of this, most employers only conduct a cursory background check through an "investigation company". These companies do a state-wide check for felony convictions and check the county conviction records of the counties you have lived in for (usually) the past 7 years.

If you were living in Los Angeles county (for example) and were convicted of a misdemeanor, living in a different part of the state and not disclosing that you ever lived in Los Angeles county would probably be enough to prevent the company conducting the background check from discovering the misdemeanor. In smaller states or states with a consolidated crime information system this probably wouldn't work.

I have a misdemeanor conviction. Every employer's job application I have disclosed this on has refused to hire me. So I stopped disclosing it, and haven't had any problems since. I now work for a government agency and they are none the wiser. If somewhere down the line I lose my job becuase I failed to disclose this conviction when asked, oh well. From experience, I can pretty much promise I wouldn't have gotten the job if I had disclosed this, so the net gain is mine.


X
 
Adam-Thanks. So are you saying that if I got arrested in one state and convicted of a missdemeanor, than applied for a job in another state, they wouldn't be able to see it?! The state I got arrested in was Iowa, by the way.
 
As long as you did not disclose that you'd ever lived in Iowa, and they never found out, there would probably be no way for that misdemeanor to show up UNLESS it was a domestic violence conviction or sex offense.

A search through NCIC would reveal your arrest and the arresting agency, but only certain government agencies (specifically law enforcement) have the ability to check NCIC. So as long as you're not applying for a job with a law enforcement or criminal justice agency you should be fine.


X
 
I just found out last night that through NCIC they can see everything you've been a party to ... i.e. even if you weren't arrested or cited, if you were a passenger in a DUI case, you're in there ... which really f*s me over, because that happened to me even ... :(
 
Dr. J said:
^^^
I would be careful about advising to lie about "youthful indisrections" on job applications.

If you're applying to the quickie mart or something else, your record probably won't hurt you. My job, however, working for a hotel, conducts a full background check and drug tests every month. Any type of drug conviction would deny someone employment, but then again, if you lied about it, they would find out and certainly not hire you then. Each employer is going to have different standards and expectations.

It's best to be as honest as possible, because if you get hired and things go well, and you're up for a promotion or transfer, and THEN they do the check, you'll be in a much tougher spot than if you had come clean intitially.

You might want to check also, or maybe someone else here can if he or she has time, is that some drug offenses are removed from your record after an amount of time, or you can apply for expungement. This may not be offered in Iowa, and it may not be offered for all types of offenses, but it isn't that uncommon.
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I just found out last night that through NCIC they can see everything you've been a party to ... i.e. even if you weren't arrested or cited, if you were a passenger in a DUI case, you're in there ... which really f*s me over, because that happened to me even
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Who told you this? I've never head of this and I've taken a training course (in 1998) on NCIC/CII.


X
 
Most of the time employers just want to know if you have been convicted of a felony. Unless this is a govt job that you want you should be okay, as long as it was a misdeameanor.
 
What is "NCIC" . if wut u r saying is true about seeing everything even if u werent arrested or cited then hell i am screwed too.. ive definitely been searched and let go after finding weed and fireworks.. o well life goes on.
 
Adam X said:
Who told you this? I've never head of this and I've taken a training course (in 1998) on NCIC/CII.

X
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I really wish I could say, but its not safe for me to do so ... but any time you are given a 'warning' by the police, it goes in the system; and if you were released while a friend was arrested, your name still goes in the police report - and online. I'm not sure how far this goes, i.e. if the police will enter your name into the system even if no one was cited/arrested, but I know for a fact that just because you weren't arrested for something doesn't mean you don't have a police record.
 
I'm sorry, but I simply do not believe this. I've taken an FBI certified course of training on NCIC and CII (California Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information) and nowhere was this ever mentioned. Information on an individual is only entered into NCIC upon an arrest and/or conviction and/or issuance of a felony warrant and only information about THAT individual is input.


X
 
Adam X said:
I'm sorry, but I simply do not believe this. I've taken an FBI certified course of training on NCIC and CII (California Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information) and nowhere was this ever mentioned. Information on an individual is only entered into NCIC upon an arrest and/or conviction and/or issuance of a felony warrant and only information about THAT individual is input.


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Maybe my state is different then, but the guy who told me would know for sure.
 
I have also taken certified NCIC courses. I have also worked in a position where I have had complete access to the system, as far as adding and clearing information (missing persons, stolen vehicles, felony warrants, etc.). I can tell you for certain, that there is no provisions within the NCIC system to enter the information that you described.

What your friend is probably referring to, is a state crime info center, such as FCIC, which we have here in Florida, or CII, which Adam X mentioned (California). These systems have more leeway, as to what they can keep track of. If every encounter with the police was entered into NCIC, the system would become even slower than it already is.
 
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