Pubdate: Mon, 09 Sep 2002
Source: Fortune (US)
Copyright: 2002 Time Inc.
Contact:  http://www.fortune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1384
Author: Anne Fisher
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

I GOT CAUGHT SMOKING POT. WHO'S GOING TO HIRE ME NOW?

Says One HR Person: 'I Wouldn't Hold A Long-ago Transgression Against A 
Candidate, But I Would A Recent One.'

Dear Annie:

I'll graduate in January from a good college and am just beginning to talk 
with corporate recruiters. My grades were excellent all through school, 
I've been active in sports and other extracurricular activities, and I 
believe I've got a lot to offer an employer. There's just one problem: In 
my senior year of high school I was arrested along with several other 
students and convicted of marijuana possession. I had just turned 18, so 
instead of juvenile probation I got slapped with a lifelong criminal 
record. I have not touched any drugs since then and have never been in any 
other trouble (with the law or otherwise). Will this one mistake destroy my 
chances of getting a good job? And how should I handle it in job 
interviews--bring it up myself or wait to be asked? Worried in Washington

Dear Worried: Scant consolation though it may be, you have plenty of 
company. The FBI reports that in 2000, the latest year for which figures 
are available, there were 734,497 marijuana-related arrests in the U.S. 
(about 90% for possession), up from 588,964 in 1995 and 326,850 in 1990. 
Although grass was outlawed in 1937, the 1999 National Household Survey on 
Drug Abuse found that 76 million Americans admit--to researchers from the 
federal government, no less--to having used it. (Politicians and certain 
former Supreme Court candidates, of course, like to say that they 
"experimented," which conjures up an image of a bunch of serious-minded 
people in white lab coats standing around taking detailed notes.) From an 
employability standpoint, how big a deal is your one youthful error? To 
find out, I went to ProfNet.com and conducted a survey of several hundred 
human resources types and hiring managers, asking, first, whether they 
would hire you and, second, whether you should volunteer the facts about 
your criminal record. On the first point, here's a representative sample of 
their answers.

* "All of us were young and crazy once. Some indulged in illegal 
substances; some were caught, some weren't. If you managed to live through 
those years, then put them behind you and create a successful track record, 
a single youthful indiscretion should not be held against you."

* "Maybe it's because we're a new-media company, but to me a single 
marijuana conviction at age 18 would be in the same league as a speeding 
ticket. You broke the law, but as long as it has no effect on your current 
job performance and potential, it doesn't matter to us. Human beings make 
mistakes."

* "I wouldn't hold a long-ago transgression against an employee or job 
candidate, but I would a recent one. And I would be far more concerned 
about the use of hard drugs and drinking, especially a DWI, than I would 
about marijuana."

* "If you have a stellar background except for one, and only one, 
conviction for marijuana possession at age 18, it is immaterial. In fact, 
the person could actually have jump-started his creative and inventive 
processes, which are lacking in today's environment. Our focus is on recent 
results and achievements and future successes."

* "Most employers will overlook something like this, as virtually no job 
seeker is perfect, so employers are used to taking chances and often hire 
based on a gut feeling that the candidate will work out well."

* "Kids are kids. What someone did at age 18 is not necessarily a 
reflection of what he will do as an adult. The arrest could have turned the 
person's life around--or maturity might have done the same."

Well, fine. On the second part of the question, though, there isn't as 
clear a consensus. About half of those polled say you needn't bring up your 
criminal past unless the interviewer (or the job application) asks directly 
whether you have one; the other half urge you to come clean with no 
prompting. Writes Steven Rothberg, head of CollegeRecruiter.com: "Job 
seekers are salespeople. The product they're selling is themselves. They 
shouldn't lie, but like any salesperson they're under no obligation to 
disclose negative aspects of the product unless specifically asked." The 
opposing view, from Eric Boden, president of a firm called HireRight, which 
investigates job candidates: "We've found that 85% of FORTUNE 500 companies 
now do background checks on applicants, so there is a high probability that 
a criminal record will show up at some point in the selection process. Be 
honest and up-front about your record. Character counts as much as 
credentials." If you decide not to mention it, says Deb Keary, head of the 
Information Center at the Society for Human Resource Management, "the main 
thing is, relax. Don't go into an interview nervous or it will be obvious 
that you're hiding something--and people will imagine it to be something 
far worse than it is."

One last point: You characterize your criminal record as "lifelong," but 
you may be glad to hear that it needn't be. First, many states have laws 
limiting employers' background checking to the past seven years--and in 
some states, including California, marijuana possession can't be held 
against an applicant if two years have passed since he was convicted. So 
the more time that goes by, the less you need to worry. And second, many 
states allow you, after a given period of time with no new convictions, to 
go to court and have your record expunged. "One mistake at age 18 doesn't 
have to follow you through your whole career," says Keary. "It would be 
worth investing in an hour of a lawyer's time, in whatever state you're in, 
to get the details on when and how to make your record go away." Indeed.

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MAP posted-by: Jackl