Getting a Job with a Felony

[quote]Vegita wrote:

At this stage I’d suggest he go on a sword killing spree, starting by decapitating the person who set him up, then the people who turned him down for the jobs. Lets see the next guy turn him down for a job.

V[/quote]

Probably his best course of action…especially with that “friend” of his.

[quote]cryptik wrote:
Tell him to ask a lawyer if there is a way to get that expunged from his record.[/quote]

you cannot expunge a felony.

I just had to deal with this. As some of you may know, I am a felon (armed robbery from '92, did 3.5 years in the MD state prison system followed by three years of parole and probation). I am also a Loan Officer and I have been for years. When I got into the industry, there was no regulation at all, back in '07 they started implementing state licensing which was easy to get, as it was just a matter of completing a 40 hour course, but now the government is mandating a national database of all loan officers that will be originating loans or talking to customers. Six months ago I was denied.

So I appealed it and was further denied, so the company I was working with basically said, “we luv ya, but you gotta go”. So I did two things: first I started another business distributing renewable energy products so that my income would be consistent (it’s against my religion to touch savings after I’ve invested it - especially with the losses I’ve taken in the past few years). I was able to find several distribution channels and my most popular product is solar water heaters. I have a strong sales and marketing background so it was not very hard for me to put up a website, SEO it, and generate some traffic. I also focused on federal contracts and I won several bids. So I handled the immediate cash flow challenge. That’s why I kinda dropped off the face of the earth around here back in November until recently - I’ve been busy!

The second thing I did was explore the regulations and restrictions I was facing. As it turns out, the licensing requirements are more focused on a State level and bringing all of the States into one common standard. In my research, I discovered that Federally Chartered Banks are exempt from licensing! Now all I’ve ever worked for was Brokers (companies that are essentially “middle men” between customers and lenders) and Correspondent Lenders (Companies that have the power to underwrite, but immediately sell the loan to investors in the secondary market).

Now my challenge was to find a BANK that would hire a guy who went to PRISON for ARMED ROBBERY! So picked up the phone and started dialing. I went to the top - I didn’t call HR departments, I was dialing Presidents and Vice Presidents of companies. I’m in sales, so I definitely didn’t “wing it”, I spent the better part of a week preparing an outline, a script with openers, hooks, hot buttons, tie downs, and closes. I spent hours practicing it in front of a mirror (even on phone calls, facial expression and body language is somehow sub communicated) and the first 20 phone calls I made were to banks that were NOT federally chartered so I could make my mistakes and get a comfortable flow going. My goal was lunch with a VP or President with them going in knowing the whole situation (getting an appointment would have been easy, I wanted an appointment with them knowing I was a felon and knowing I wanted to be hired). When I nailed five in a row, I knew I was ready to start calling the banks I was interested in.

To make a long story short, I eventually went on four lunch appointments with two Presidents and two VPs. I was able to slam - dunk those interviews and eventually chose the bank that I wanted to work for. I am now working in the mortgage division for one of the top five largest banks in the US - if you heard the name, you would immediately recognize it. The hiring process was easy when the President tells the head of the HR department in front of me, “figure out a way to get this guy on board - whatever it takes”. They still did their due diligence, and I had to jump through some major hoops with writing several letters of explanation and several other interviews and verifying the loan volume I was bringing to the table (I dropped over three million in volume in their lap, before the second interview and before I was hired to show them I could put my money where my mouth was). So I just sent the signed offer letter in last week.

If I , a felon convicted of ARMED ROBBERY, can get a job at a BANK in a recession, your buddy can get a sales job. His felony is more than seven years old, for crying out loud! It’ll take some effort. Absolutely. The question is, is providing for his children WORTH the effort? Is changing his self limiting belief system WORTH the effort? Is having an unshakable belief in himself and his success WORTH the effort? Tell him to quit feeling sorry for himself and go out and sell the product that he knows the most about and hopefully believes in the most: HIMSELF!

Quoting Tennessee Code - Criminal Procedure - Section 40-32-101. Destruction or release of records.
(a) (1) All public records of a person who has been charged with a misdemeanor or a felony, and which charge has been dismissed, or a no true bill returned by a grand jury, or a verdict of not guilty returned by a jury, and all public records of a person who was arrested and released without being charged, shall, upon petition by that person to the court having jurisdiction in such previous action, be removed and destroyed without cost to such person; however, the cost for destruction of records shall apply where the charge or warrant was dismissed in any court as a result of the successful completion of diversion program according to �§�§ 40-15-102 - 40-15-105; provided, that such cost for destruction shall not exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00); provided, that the records of a person who successfully completes a diversion program pursuant to �§�§ 40-15-102 - 40-15-105 shall not be removed and destroyed pursuant to this section if the offense for which prosecution was suspended was a sexual offense as defined by �§ 40-39-102(5) [repealed]; provided, however, that when a defendant in a case has been convicted of any offense or charge, including a lesser included offense or charge, the defendant shall not be entitled to expungement of the records or charges in such case pursuant to this part.

Does this mean that as long as the person completed what ever program he had to for getting in trouble and as long as he was not a sexual offender he should be able to get it sealed?

[quote]angry chicken wrote:
I just had to deal with this. As some of you may know, I am a felon (armed robbery from '92, did 3.5 years in the MD state prison system followed by three years of parole and probation). I am also a Loan Officer and I have been for years. When I got into the industry, there was no regulation at all, back in '07 they started implementing state licensing which was easy to get, as it was just a matter of completing a 40 hour course, but now the government is mandating a national database of all loan officers that will be originating loans or talking to customers. Six months ago I was denied.

So I appealed it and was further denied, so the company I was working with basically said, “we luv ya, but you gotta go”. So I did two things: first I started another business distributing renewable energy products so that my income would be consistent (it’s against my religion to touch savings after I’ve invested it - especially with the losses I’ve taken in the past few years). I was able to find several distribution channels and my most popular product is solar water heaters. I have a strong sales and marketing background so it was not very hard for me to put up a website, SEO it, and generate some traffic. I also focused on federal contracts and I won several bids. So I handled the immediate cash flow challenge. That’s why I kinda dropped off the face of the earth around here back in November until recently - I’ve been busy!

The second thing I did was explore the regulations and restrictions I was facing. As it turns out, the licensing requirements are more focused on a State level and bringing all of the States into one common standard. In my research, I discovered that Federally Chartered Banks are exempt from licensing! Now all I’ve ever worked for was Brokers (companies that are essentially “middle men” between customers and lenders) and Correspondent Lenders (Companies that have the power to underwrite, but immediately sell the loan to investors in the secondary market).

Now my challenge was to find a BANK that would hire a guy who went to PRISON for ARMED ROBBERY! So picked up the phone and started dialing. I went to the top - I didn’t call HR departments, I was dialing Presidents and Vice Presidents of companies. I’m in sales, so I definitely didn’t “wing it”, I spent the better part of a week preparing an outline, a script with openers, hooks, hot buttons, tie downs, and closes. I spent hours practicing it in front of a mirror (even on phone calls, facial expression and body language is somehow sub communicated) and the first 20 phone calls I made were to banks that were NOT federally chartered so I could make my mistakes and get a comfortable flow going. My goal was lunch with a VP or President with them going in knowing the whole situation (getting an appointment would have been easy, I wanted an appointment with them knowing I was a felon and knowing I wanted to be hired). When I nailed five in a row, I knew I was ready to start calling the banks I was interested in.

To make a long story short, I eventually went on four lunch appointments with two Presidents and two VPs. I was able to slam - dunk those interviews and eventually chose the bank that I wanted to work for. I am now working in the mortgage division for one of the top five largest banks in the US - if you heard the name, you would immediately recognize it. The hiring process was easy when the President tells the head of the HR department in front of me, “figure out a way to get this guy on board - whatever it takes”. They still did their due diligence, and I had to jump through some major hoops with writing several letters of explanation and several other interviews and verifying the loan volume I was bringing to the table (I dropped over three million in volume in their lap, before the second interview and before I was hired to show them I could put my money where my mouth was). So I just sent the signed offer letter in last week.

If I , a felon convicted of ARMED ROBBERY, can get a job at a BANK in a recession, your buddy can get a sales job. His felony is more than seven years old, for crying out loud! It’ll take some effort. Absolutely. The question is, is providing for his children WORTH the effort? Is changing his self limiting belief system WORTH the effort? Is having an unshakable belief in himself and his success WORTH the effort? Tell him to quit feeling sorry for himself and go out and sell the product that he knows the most about and hopefully believes in the most: HIMSELF! [/quote]

Good for you buddy. You did not lay down and blame the cops for setting you up. Or blame your friends. You took the bull by the horns. Got the job you wanted and started your own business. Pretty inspirational by all means.

How is business doing?

[quote]angry chicken wrote:
I just had to deal with this. As some of you may know, I am a felon (armed robbery from '92, did 3.5 years in the MD state prison system followed by three years of parole and probation). I am also a Loan Officer and I have been for years. When I got into the industry, there was no regulation at all, back in '07 they started implementing state licensing which was easy to get, as it was just a matter of completing a 40 hour course, but now the government is mandating a national database of all loan officers that will be originating loans or talking to customers. Six months ago I was denied.

So I appealed it and was further denied, so the company I was working with basically said, “we luv ya, but you gotta go”. So I did two things: first I started another business distributing renewable energy products so that my income would be consistent (it’s against my religion to touch savings after I’ve invested it - especially with the losses I’ve taken in the past few years). I was able to find several distribution channels and my most popular product is solar water heaters. I have a strong sales and marketing background so it was not very hard for me to put up a website, SEO it, and generate some traffic. I also focused on federal contracts and I won several bids. So I handled the immediate cash flow challenge. That’s why I kinda dropped off the face of the earth around here back in November until recently - I’ve been busy!

The second thing I did was explore the regulations and restrictions I was facing. As it turns out, the licensing requirements are more focused on a State level and bringing all of the States into one common standard. In my research, I discovered that Federally Chartered Banks are exempt from licensing! Now all I’ve ever worked for was Brokers (companies that are essentially “middle men” between customers and lenders) and Correspondent Lenders (Companies that have the power to underwrite, but immediately sell the loan to investors in the secondary market).

Now my challenge was to find a BANK that would hire a guy who went to PRISON for ARMED ROBBERY! So picked up the phone and started dialing. I went to the top - I didn’t call HR departments, I was dialing Presidents and Vice Presidents of companies. I’m in sales, so I definitely didn’t “wing it”, I spent the better part of a week preparing an outline, a script with openers, hooks, hot buttons, tie downs, and closes. I spent hours practicing it in front of a mirror (even on phone calls, facial expression and body language is somehow sub communicated) and the first 20 phone calls I made were to banks that were NOT federally chartered so I could make my mistakes and get a comfortable flow going. My goal was lunch with a VP or President with them going in knowing the whole situation (getting an appointment would have been easy, I wanted an appointment with them knowing I was a felon and knowing I wanted to be hired). When I nailed five in a row, I knew I was ready to start calling the banks I was interested in.

To make a long story short, I eventually went on four lunch appointments with two Presidents and two VPs. I was able to slam - dunk those interviews and eventually chose the bank that I wanted to work for. I am now working in the mortgage division for one of the top five largest banks in the US - if you heard the name, you would immediately recognize it. The hiring process was easy when the President tells the head of the HR department in front of me, “figure out a way to get this guy on board - whatever it takes”. They still did their due diligence, and I had to jump through some major hoops with writing several letters of explanation and several other interviews and verifying the loan volume I was bringing to the table (I dropped over three million in volume in their lap, before the second interview and before I was hired to show them I could put my money where my mouth was). So I just sent the signed offer letter in last week.

If I , a felon convicted of ARMED ROBBERY, can get a job at a BANK in a recession, your buddy can get a sales job. His felony is more than seven years old, for crying out loud! It’ll take some effort. Absolutely. The question is, is providing for his children WORTH the effort? Is changing his self limiting belief system WORTH the effort? Is having an unshakable belief in himself and his success WORTH the effort? Tell him to quit feeling sorry for himself and go out and sell the product that he knows the most about and hopefully believes in the most: HIMSELF! [/quote]

truly inspirational.

…aside from the armed robbery thing.

[quote]xxrob5xx wrote:

[quote]cryptik wrote:
Tell him to ask a lawyer if there is a way to get that expunged from his record.[/quote]

I am not sure if you can expunge a felony. I know you can do one misdeamenor in your lifetime.

Funny how it is always a friend and the cops are the ones who set them up…[/quote]

That’s not true. A class ‘B’ misdemeanor cannot be expunged from your record. You can recieve deferred adjudication and it can be “hidden” to public probing, but government agencies can still find it. Expunging means all evidence of the case has been physically destroyed. If the class B is lowered to a class C then it can be expunged.

Anyway, OP, your buddy’s in a tough spot. I have two good friends who both went to prison and are having a rough go of it due to their records. One has his degree from Texas State in business management and is working construction for $12 an hour 'cause no one will hire him.

[quote]angry chicken wrote:
Super bad ass inspirational story [/quote]

That was awesome man. Good for you for pulling your head out of your ass and making something of yourself after all of that.

[quote]angry chicken wrote:
I just had to deal with this. As some of you may know, I am a felon (armed robbery from '92, did 3.5 years in the MD state prison system followed by three years of parole and probation). I am also a Loan Officer and I have been for years. When I got into the industry, there was no regulation at all, back in '07 they started implementing state licensing which was easy to get, as it was just a matter of completing a 40 hour course, but now the government is mandating a national database of all loan officers that will be originating loans or talking to customers. Six months ago I was denied.

So I appealed it and was further denied, so the company I was working with basically said, “we luv ya, but you gotta go”. So I did two things: first I started another business distributing renewable energy products so that my income would be consistent (it’s against my religion to touch savings after I’ve invested it - especially with the losses I’ve taken in the past few years). I was able to find several distribution channels and my most popular product is solar water heaters. I have a strong sales and marketing background so it was not very hard for me to put up a website, SEO it, and generate some traffic. I also focused on federal contracts and I won several bids. So I handled the immediate cash flow challenge. That’s why I kinda dropped off the face of the earth around here back in November until recently - I’ve been busy!

The second thing I did was explore the regulations and restrictions I was facing. As it turns out, the licensing requirements are more focused on a State level and bringing all of the States into one common standard. In my research, I discovered that Federally Chartered Banks are exempt from licensing! Now all I’ve ever worked for was Brokers (companies that are essentially “middle men” between customers and lenders) and Correspondent Lenders (Companies that have the power to underwrite, but immediately sell the loan to investors in the secondary market).

Now my challenge was to find a BANK that would hire a guy who went to PRISON for ARMED ROBBERY! So picked up the phone and started dialing. I went to the top - I didn’t call HR departments, I was dialing Presidents and Vice Presidents of companies. I’m in sales, so I definitely didn’t “wing it”, I spent the better part of a week preparing an outline, a script with openers, hooks, hot buttons, tie downs, and closes. I spent hours practicing it in front of a mirror (even on phone calls, facial expression and body language is somehow sub communicated) and the first 20 phone calls I made were to banks that were NOT federally chartered so I could make my mistakes and get a comfortable flow going. My goal was lunch with a VP or President with them going in knowing the whole situation (getting an appointment would have been easy, I wanted an appointment with them knowing I was a felon and knowing I wanted to be hired). When I nailed five in a row, I knew I was ready to start calling the banks I was interested in.

To make a long story short, I eventually went on four lunch appointments with two Presidents and two VPs. I was able to slam - dunk those interviews and eventually chose the bank that I wanted to work for. I am now working in the mortgage division for one of the top five largest banks in the US - if you heard the name, you would immediately recognize it. The hiring process was easy when the President tells the head of the HR department in front of me, “figure out a way to get this guy on board - whatever it takes”. They still did their due diligence, and I had to jump through some major hoops with writing several letters of explanation and several other interviews and verifying the loan volume I was bringing to the table (I dropped over three million in volume in their lap, before the second interview and before I was hired to show them I could put my money where my mouth was). So I just sent the signed offer letter in last week.

If I , a felon convicted of ARMED ROBBERY, can get a job at a BANK in a recession, your buddy can get a sales job. His felony is more than seven years old, for crying out loud! It’ll take some effort. Absolutely. The question is, is providing for his children WORTH the effort? Is changing his self limiting belief system WORTH the effort? Is having an unshakable belief in himself and his success WORTH the effort? Tell him to quit feeling sorry for himself and go out and sell the product that he knows the most about and hopefully believes in the most: HIMSELF! [/quote]

Not that this needs to be said, but that’s called HUSSLIN’, folks. Young-ins, take note. AC, I really enjoy (and take to heart) the majority of your contributions/postings.

The renewable energy business is going great. Now that I’m back to doing loans, I will probably sell it or dilute and keep a minority interest (10% or 15%).

The loan business is going well too. I had 4 million in volume for January. That’s not bad in this economy in the winter.

I am also exploring a marketing campaign to small businesses about ways to cut costs by switching electricity providers and credit card processing companies. I can save many small businesses hundreds or thousands a month by simply making a few changes to their providers. I can raise average sales ticket, frequency and margin as well. I’m just figuring out right now to monetize it.

thanks for asking.

I’m curious, does anyone know how to find out what your criminal record says? I ask because I actually have a felony conviction from a long time ago. I always pretended it didn’t exist and just checked “no” on applications and stuff, and over the years I sort of forgot about it (I didn’t do any time and was a minor).

As a professional, I’ve worked for one major corporation that would do the detailed type of background checks and I did an internship with another such company. I had no worries about it at the time because, like I said I forgot about it, but it is there and it has never popped up. Any thoughts or explanations?

And…sorry for the hijack.

[quote]angry chicken wrote:
The renewable energy business is going great. Now that I’m back to doing loans, I will probably sell it or dilute and keep a minority interest (10% or 15%).

The loan business is going well too. I had 4 million in volume for January. That’s not bad in this economy in the winter.

I am also exploring a marketing campaign to small businesses about ways to cut costs by switching electricity providers and credit card processing companies. I can save many small businesses hundreds or thousands a month by simply making a few changes to their providers. I can raise average sales ticket, frequency and margin as well. I’m just figuring out right now to monetize it.

thanks for asking.[/quote]

I’ve been meaning to ask you how your professional life was going, AC. I’m glad that you were able to turn things around in a short period of time. You busted your ass and capitalized on your strengths and deserve what you get.

You’re one hell of a salesman…and I mean that in the nicest possible way.

[quote]on edge wrote:
I’m curious, does anyone know how to find out what your criminal record says? I ask because I actually have a felony conviction from a long time ago. I always pretended it didn’t exist and just checked “no” on applications and stuff, and over the years I sort of forgot about it (I didn’t do any time and was a minor).

As a professional, I’ve worked for one major corporation that would do the detailed type of background checks and I did an internship with another such company. I had no worries about it at the time because, like I said I forgot about it, but it is there and it has never popped up. Any thoughts or explanations?

And…sorry for the hijack.[/quote]

Don’t worry about the hijack - us ex-cons have to stick together! You were a minor, dude! Your record has been sealed. Don’t sweat it! Keep checking no. I was doing the whole checking no thing for the first several years after I got out, but back then, no one ever checked! Now it’s just a mouse click away for an HR person to get the whole nine yards. Fucking technology! LOL

I actually got busted lying on the application with a mortgage company several years ago. I must have a horseshoe up my ass or something, because I actually convinced the President of that company to “give me an opportunity to change my application”! That’s the last time I lied on an application about anything.

I’ve come to realize that my integrity is more important and that the value I provide is way more than the liability I carry. Actually, I have turned it into an asset when I talk to people now.

I tell them, “If I can negotiate with three cons trying to shank me for my commissary and win, do you think some cock-fag attorney is going to out-negotiate me over anything?” and I say it in my south Baltimore accent. Goes over like a charm. Now in his mind, I’m a tough as nails negotiator that’s going to make him a lot of money.

EVERYTHING in life is negotiable. Remember that.

[quote]imhungry wrote:

[quote]angry chicken wrote:
The renewable energy business is going great. Now that I’m back to doing loans, I will probably sell it or dilute and keep a minority interest (10% or 15%).

The loan business is going well too. I had 4 million in volume for January. That’s not bad in this economy in the winter.

I am also exploring a marketing campaign to small businesses about ways to cut costs by switching electricity providers and credit card processing companies. I can save many small businesses hundreds or thousands a month by simply making a few changes to their providers. I can raise average sales ticket, frequency and margin as well. I’m just figuring out right now to monetize it.

thanks for asking.[/quote]

I’ve been meaning to ask you how your professional life was going, AC. I’m glad that you were able to turn things around in a short period of time. You busted your ass and capitalized on your strengths and deserve what you get.

You’re one hell of a salesman…and I mean that in the nicest possible way.
[/quote]

Thanks, bro. I appreciate it. Sometimes, having a big ego, as you call it, can be an asset (as long as I back it up). Have a fun night, I know I will!

So are there any other Felons on here that have any other experiences with employment?

Funny funny…for entry level jobs your rate of getting a callback is highest for white nonoffender then white criminal offender then black nonoffender.