THE HIRING PROCESS

The Hiring Process for People with Felony Convictions

ABSTRACT

While research exists that addresses both the importance of offering ex-felons employment opportunities and the hesitant attitudes of employers toward such ex-felons, there is a lack of research investigating the specific factors that influence an employer in his or her hiring decision toward an ex-felon. Thus, this paper presents preliminary findings from an ongoing exploratory analysis of surveys completed by hiring personnel from a variety of employment fields. Factors specifically influencing an employer's decision of whether or not to hire an ex-felon are discussed. This research also investigates how demographic variables about the employer such as age and race influence employers' hiring practices toward ex-felons. This paper ends with a discussion of how labeling theory explains the ongoing unemployability that countless ex-felons face each day.

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT2

CHAPTER I5

INTRODUCTION5

Reference Check6

Credit Bureau Investigation6

Education Verification6

Criminal Record Check6

CHAPTER II6

LITERATURE RIVIEW6

CHAPTER III6

METHODS AND PROCEDURES6

CHAPTER IV6

FINDINGS6

Demographics6

DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS6

Packaged Screening Tools6

Measuring The Cross-Referencing Effect6

DISCUSSION AND LIMITATIONS6

CHAPTER V6

Conclusion6

Secondary Research6

Primary Research6

REFERENCES6

APPENDIX6

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Imagine, after experiencing a long stretch of unemployment, that you find the perfect job listing for which you believe you are qualified. You have just completed the educational and vocational training necessary for this position, and you have even gained some hands-on experience for this position through internships. You have attended mock career fairs and job skills workshops, to ensure that you are properly equipped in your job search. You go apply for the job, and the employer is extremely impressed with your qualifications. The employers inform you that you are just the person that they have been looking for and that they are anxious to get you started at your position. They only require a drug screening test and a criminal background investigation. Elated only a few seconds earlier, you instantly grow nauseous as you realize that you will remain unemployed, because you are a convicted felon who has had similarly negative experiences before in your job search.

Such is the everyday experience for the nearly 600,000 inmates who re-enter civil society each year, according to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (2002). Labeling theory provides an

explanation for such an experience by proposing that a person is negatively labeled following their commission of and conviction for an offense. This label, or status, guides other's interactions with this stigmatized individual. Howard S. Becker states that such a labeling process takes place when

"apprehension for one deviant act exposes a person to the likelihood that he will be regarded as deviant or undesirable in other respects" (Becker, 1996: 201). Consequently, it only takes committing one crime to gain the label of "criminal," and such a label can prove detrimental to one's attempts at gaining employment, establishing community ties, maintaining family ties, and so forth.

The question of offender's employability is therefore a critical one, both for society and for exfelons.

Unemployed ex-offenders add to the already high unemployment rate, and, because such individuals are often ineligible for public assistance, they might turn back to crime if they are not afforded the opportunity to legitimately ...