Job Search Tips for Ex-Offenders / Felons
El Paso, Texas – We’ve all made mistakes in our life. Its part of life and it is certainly part of growing up. I probably deserved every one of the spankings my parents gave me when I was a kid. (Well maybe not all of them, It really was my little brother who broke the window on the station wagon.) But let’s talk about serious mistakes. According to Census 2000, there are approximately 2 million people in American prisons. Each year, over 600,000 ex-offenders re-enter society. That means that around 10,000 felons are absorbed into the workforce of major cities every year. At any given time, more than 5,000 people are on parole or probation and more than 30 million people in the United States have been convicted of a crime. With these kinds of numbers, society cannot simply turn a deaf ear to the situation. If these folks cannot re-enter the job market, they are forced to work underground, in our nations shadow economy. Let’s start with reality. If you are one of the people that are dealing with this employment barrier you know all too well how difficult it can be to get back into the workforce. The unfortunate reality is that even though you have paid your dept to society, you may have to carry the weight of the ex-felon stigma with you for many years. Even more difficult to bear is the fact that study after study indicates that you will earn a good deal less than before the conviction. However there are effective strategies one can utilize to help penetrate the job market after serving prison time. They are honesty, strategic job searching, and effective interviewing. The first, and probably most important thing to remember, is that you should never lie about your background. Under no circumstances should you ever violate this rule when it comes to employment. Starting any relationship, especially one as important as an employment relationship, on a lie is never a good idea. It will come back to haunt you. Yes it is possible to get away with it in the short run every now and then, but it will eventually catch up with you. Employers will be naturally apprehensive about hiring someone with a felony background, so when you lie about the felony, you will be feeding into their fears and perpetuating the perception that felons can’t be trusted. The next step is the strategic job search. This is where it pays to invest in research the companies that are open to hiring someone with a criminal record. Connecting with your local workforce center is an ideal way of finding the employers in your community that are open to giving someone a second chance. The workforce centers have professionals who understand your situation, deal with ex-felons on a daily basis, and are trained to provide you with the latest information and employment referrals. The good ones have a network of employers who will give you an opportunity. A final note on the strategic job search is in order here. Understand that your background may prohibit you from ever getting certain types of employment again. This may be a bitter pill to swallow, but its reality. The last strategy is knowing how to make the most of an employment opportunity with an effective interview. Be honest, but don’t give someone all the details. This is especially important if your felony dealt with violence or other sensitive events. This will do more harm than good and may frighten a potential employer. Resist the urge to re-try your case with the employer. Telling them how you were not guilty or were framed for the crime will not result in you getting hired. Express remorse for the event and how you have moved on with your life. This will show an employer that you’ve taken responsibility for your actions and will give them more of a reason to take a chance on hiring you. Explain that the circumstances are no longer the same, that you are not the same person you were when the crime was committed, and how you are now dedicated to being extra vigilant about staying on the right path. Applying these steps, along with patience and perseverance, will help you get back into the workforce; contribute to society, and lead to self-sufficiency.
Salary Negotiation
Salary Negotiations
Convenience, prestige, family-time, commute, benefits, and work hours are among the many factors that influence our employment decisions. But near the top of everyone’s list is salary.
Negotiating a salary is somewhat of an art. If handled properly, it could be not only financially beneficial, but could be the start of a successful long-term business relationship. If mishandled, a myriad of things could occur including being underpaid, straining the business relationship, or losing out on the position entirely.
Salary negotiation is also a process, and usually a complex one. The complexities of salary negotiations can be intimidating, frustrating, and overwhelming. The sophistication of the process can be simplified by four basic principles; value, information, cooperation, and timing. If done properly, salary negotiation can maximize your income and minimize any ill-will.
Let’s start with value. Think of a value as the point where we perceive the worth of an object is more than it’s price. Think of yourself as a product and the employer as a shopper. The shopper doesn’t turn into a buyer until they feel that the product has value. Now here’s the beauty of value. Once you’ve made the mental switch from shopper to buyer, you are usually willing to pay a little more than you planned, right? So is the employer.
So right about now you are asking, What does this mean? It’s simple, it means your first job is to position yourself as a value. Showcase your accomplishments and skill set in your résumé. Keep selling it during the interview. Remind the employer of your value every step of the way.
The next important thing to remember is information. It’s true what they say, knowledge is power. Having the right information is key. Any kind of information is useful, so the more the better. Do your best to research the company so that you can find out what they need out of the top candidate and what the pay range is for the position. How many other candidates you are competing with, any upcoming deadlines the company may have or any information you come across relative to the company and the position will be of use to you.
But the most important information to have is the average salary for someone with your experience, education, skill set, etc…There are no absolutes, so this number may vary from region to region across the country, but it will at least give you a starting point from which you can decide what salary you can realistically demand. You also need to do an assessment of your bills, commitments, plans, and lifestyle to see what is the minimum salary you need to earn to get or keep the lifestyle you want. With this information you can now decide whether the company pay range for the position is going to be in-line with your needs.
This brings us to cooperation. You can’t negotiate on your own, and any negotiation has the potential to be contentious. At all costs, you want to avoid conflict during the salary negotiation phase of the hiring process. Keep focused on your goal but do not forget that you will have to work with the company and need to preserve a positive relationship. So always negotiate with a cooperative frame of mind.
The final principle to keep in mind is timing. The difference between a good comedian and a great comedian is timing. The difference between a baseball player and an all-star baseball player is timing. The difference between a young contender and a champion boxer is, you guessed it, timing. Timing is just as important in salary negotiations. Never negotiate from weakness and never discuss salary until it is to your advantage to discuss salary. This leads to the question of when is it to your benefit to discuss salary.
The answer is simple, once they have shown an interest in you or made an offer. If they are discussing salary early in your dealings with them, then they are probing and trying to see what your salary requirements are and if it’s in their range. It’s best to defer this conversation until you are entertaining an official offer. Once you have been given an offer for employment is the best time to discuss salary, because they have already committed themselves. This puts you in the driver’s seat because they have made that switch from shopper to buyer. They’ve shown that they want you, so now is the time to start having a serious discussion about your salary because you’ve adequately demonstrated your value to the employer.
You will want to ensure that you continue to use knowledge to your advantage and ensure that you are discussing realistic figures when dealing with salary negotiations.
So to wrap it all up, make sure that you keep in mind the importance of value, information, cooperation, and timing. Now smile and go cash that big, fat paycheck!
Career / Résumé / Employment Advice
Thanks for visiting my blog. I will be posting advice on a range of career issues to help you create a revolution in your career and move up in the world! We’ll be writing about résumés, employment, job search mechanics, salary negotiations, and interview techniques.
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