[ebbv]

After almost 20 years in the industry my considered advice is pursue another career.

That might not be the answer you want to hear but after thinking about it a bit that's my honest advice. Here's the reasons:

- Of all the employers I've had not one of them would have hired you.

- If somehow you "snuck in" and your past came to light, you would have been fired anywhere I've worked.

- Unless I knew you really well personally (as in friends for multiple years), I wouldn't hire you, based purely on your past. It's nothing personal, you might be a great, smart person. But it's a matter of the odds; your past makes you a risk that's not worth taking unless I know you well enough to be certain that you would never do anything like that again, and there's just no way you're going to convince me of that through an interview process.

The last one is the real sticking point, because I know what it's like to be a young kid on BBSes and the internet and wanting to try to break things, etc. But even with that understanding, I still wouldn't trust you unless I knew you really well.

And that's why I'd recommend pursuing another career. And you should think about this carefully because being a convicted felon (and I'm assuming it was a felony charge) will stop you from being able to do a lot of other careers. Honestly I'd do some research on careers for people with felony convictions.

[felonyquestions]

I have to respectfully disagree. At least the OP has a foot in the door in this field. Moving on to something else would mean starting at the bottom, yet having the same obstacles to overcome.

Some jobs are simply closed off. No way around it. Why hire a felon when you can hire any other equally (based off paper and salary requirements) qualified candidate? Government restrictions may preclude him as well.

If you are basing your options only on your history, then you have to find a career where your history doesn't hurt you. This means applying for jobs that felons apply for. You've done a year in jail, you know the embarassing(to society) level of education of most inmates. I don't think this is really a route you would want to consider.

Don't give up. You will have to work hard, sure. Harder than most. Which is a good quality to have when you find the right position.

[OGC]

To add a "soft" argument to this, OP obviously has talent/knowledge (while not enough to not get caught) in his chosen career field, instead of doing something completely different where everyone else has a headstart.

[RougeFemme]

None of the companies I've worked at would have hired him, either. BUT. . .all of the companies I've worked at have been large and/or had government contracts. I find it hard to believe that he couldn't get a job at mid-sized company, or a start-up, especially if ends up with a skillset that's hard to find and not just a standard CS skillset. . .however that's defined. And based on his experience, it sounds like he would/could definitely end up with a relatively hard-to-find skillset.

[dinkumthinkum]

OP, please do not listen to this advice. I understand it represents what might be considered the "realistic" perspective but it is not. No one is saying that it is easy.

But to pursue another career? That's ridiculous, given your apparent skill-set -- it's ludicrous.

Clearly, the parent here is wrong because there are plenty of people that have felony convictions and work in tech. So, this advice, on the face, is really horrible.

A felony is a serious matter. You may have excluded yourself from many jobs, possibly all the companies the parent has worked for; keep in mind the companies the parent has worked for must be a small subset of all the companies you could work for.

Even being completely honest and open, I think you can find a job. You may or may not have to go outside of comfort zone (moving or what have you) or, perhaps, do some work in non-security related areas of programming (or maybe not, I just mean to say if you broaden your search you increase your chances).

A felony is not good but if you tell your story, I think there are smaller companies that would take a chance on you; perhaps you'd even find potential employers, because of the nature of our industry, that will not think as negatively of your conviction as if you had been convicted of some other kind of crime.

There's a lot of fish in the sea, you don't need every one to hire you, you don't even need one of the companies the parent has worked for to hire you, you just need one of the many more that are out there to give you a chance.

Be honest, tell your story as eloquently as you can. Someone will give you a chance. I believe there are some on HN that would.

[0x00_]

Thank you for your response. After reading many of the other responses it is nice to have this perspective here for other posters to see -- because it is very real to me.

This is essentially what someone like me encounters every time they try. It's a really unfortunate part of my reality and other posters should understand that it's not simply "just a felony" -- not when equally qualified applicants do not have any "issues" like this.

[ebbv]

You're welcome. Internet advice is rarely very good, for a multitude of reasons.

FWIW, I feel bad for you and wish you the best.

[0x00_]

Aweee, don't feel bad for me. NBD. People like me are really good at not failing. I'm measuring with this thread before I make a decision to do something. Internet advice as a collective unit of measurement is still useful and valuable. It is a sin to ignore useful information. Every little bit helps ;)

I've also found it incredibly difficult to ask google this type of complex question. So I posted it here instead.