Bad experience with job

[Mossy]

Remember people have criminal convictions becuase they got caught...

[TheAnimus]

so they are less resourceful than people without them?

[badass]

Most companies in this country are controlled by a bunch of incompetents.

Only 25% of CV's are actually checked to make sure they are true.
If you apply for a job thats not something that would crush you if you lost it having got it in the first place and you simply need the money, if I were you I'd just omit the criminal conviction. If you lose the job, who cares? You'd have been unemployed any way.

[badass]

so they are less resourceful than people without them?

On average, yes.

[G4Z]

On average, yes.

Or simply more unlucky?

[TheAnimus]

Or simply more unlucky?

When it comes to something like been caught for an optional event, you really do make your own luck.

[Blitzen]

When it comes to something like been caught for an optional event, you really do make your own luck.

Absolutely.
If someone has been a bit naughty then cannot find a job when deciding to go straight, it no-ones fault except their own.

[togoodtobetrue]

I'm sure you are a decent fella and it sounds like you know your way around electronics.
Thing is, anyone that comes to me for a job gets a criminal check done on them aswell. I can categorically say that i would not employ anyone with any kind of drugs charge. In fact, i don't even think i would waste my time interviewing someone with any record which relates to violence, drugs or theft.

Unfortunately for you, whether it was a stupid thing you did in your younger days, or something you did to earn good money, a good employer that has any sense at all will not give you a job.

An employer is taking a HUGE risk employing you as your past 'activities' could one day surface. If they did, then the company you work for would be looked upon in different light by its customers. Why would a company chance that?

Good Luck though.

First off thank's to everyone for replying i really appreciate the constructive feedback.
Blitzen i appreciate your position but i find alot wrong with your attitude towards my conviction..

You say you wouldn't employ anyone with any kind of drugs charge ect. Could you elaborate further as to the specefics of why that is ? because i'm not understanding where your coming from.

Would you employ someone who used to work in a bar ? if so then you don't moraly make much sense. I have worked in bars and i would rather sell someone cannabis than sell them alcohol anyday. Same goes for cigarettes... In America, an average of 400,000 people die from smoking related diseases every year.
http://www.cigarette-smoking.net/faqs.asp How many people do you know who died from smoking weed ?

Theirs lots of things wrong with society i think growing weed is at the bottom of that list and that any employer is being unnecessarily harsh by saying i wouldn't employ someone for growing cannabis. In fact it's plain ignorant.

An employer is taking a Huge risk, once again could you elaborate further as to what is the "Huge" risk you speak of ?

Their are people who have done things in life that im sure someone who shares your mentality (with regards to this subject) would employ yet are far greater a risk than someone who used to grow a few weed plants in his cupboard. It might say cultivation on my application and it might say nothing on mr sqeeky cleans but i'm sure their will be cases when mr sqeeky clean turns out to be more of a threat to your buisness.

I don't think you realise just how many people actually smoke weed in this country i know of police officers, (yes it is true) lawyers, doctors ,sucessfull buisness men. People from all walks of life who smoke weed and take outher drugs, who someone like you would be happy to employ judging by your post's.

I don't smoke weed or drink i used to smoke cigs and weed but stopped over 3 years ago, i'm a fitness fanatic. I have worked for agencies been underpaid even worked doing underpinning which is torture, digging 1 meter deep by 1 meter wide holes, i have done that for 2 days before and not been paid a bean by agencies. I have gone to jobs and plain had the piss taken out of me by those higher up and sacked for no reason apart from they had a bad day and i happened to be there.

I have been turned away from jobs and then seen people get the job only to be sacked later for stealing or abusive behaviour.

I'm not trying to get any sympathy here, but some people need to get off their high horse. I think growing cannabis is wrong, i was a good guy on my arse with nothing and saw an opportunity to make some money that i could put to good use, like pay for a course that could help get me work . I sold it to people who are in a good job because their parents told them what to do when they left school or they work with family. Their lifetime ambition is to go to the buckies drink beer and smoke weed. I wasn't proud of it but i did it. I'm still growing up and learning, it's not something i would do again.
I just want a half decent job working with decent people where i can get my head down and get on with life. But every time i try and get somewhere in life i have to go through ignorant people who stop me getting anywhere.

Their are lots of things in society you can legally do to make money which i wouldn't be able to bring myself to do. I might have grown weed once upon a time but i do have morals and i do care about people. Unlike some of the people that fly through interviews for jobs i couldn't get.

[togoodtobetrue]

I agree you were treated unfairly from what you have told us, and i'm in no way defending the agency, they are all vultures at the end of the day. However i do think if you are offered an interview via an agency it is not a good idea to contact the company directly prior or following the interview unless you were offered the job. I say this because companies use agencies because they can't be arsed (cost, time, blah blah blah) to screen perspective employees themselves and more importantly don't want the task of turning people away or giving them the heave ho when it suits them.

I was declined the position by the agency because the Polish lady there said she didn't think i was suitable for the position, that was before she knew about my cultivation charge. It's like she had a mental block and i couldn't get through to her why i was suitable. She even sent people for the assessment who knew nothing about computers i felt like she was insulting my intelligence.

I was told by an english person in the job centre the location of the site, the reason the english person told me was because after telling them my knowledge of computers and them realising im not an idiot and have enough about me to be able to go for this job they helped me out.

So i went down and spoke to a lady at the actual job location who was impressed by my attitude keen'nes, interest and knowledge of computers. She advised me to go to another agency. So that's the first thing i did. This agency told me they can't take me on because of my cultivation charge. It's annoying being told by some bad person who just uses people and steals half their wages that they can't take you on because of your cultivation charge but anyway back to the point.

They didn't take me on so i went back to the first agency who told me the lady from said company phoned them and was impressed with my attitude and that they would give me a chance.

So as i thought i was on good terms with the said lady from said company and had previously spoke to her i don't see how it is then a problem to try and contact her. She didn't tell me not to. she didn't express any problem with me contacting her, neither did the agency, untill of course after the company decided they don't want to hear from me no more, as i imagine going by that assessment guy's recommendations . I still do think that's she's nice and what she did for me was very kind of her i just think she is under pressure from her company and that's why she doesn't want to know anymore. But theres nothing wrong with trying to find out why you didn't get the job. The lady from the agency said she will find out and get back to me but you can't rely on agencies to tell you anything, if it's not in their interest then they won't do it which is why i phoned them myself.

[togoodtobetrue]

My company uses an agency and i often find they send very inappropriate people. Just get the feeling they send anyone on the books.
They either want too much money or are completely crap. Might aswell do the job ourselves than go through agencys.
I did a trial for one guy i must have told him 10 times the right screwdriver to use and he still kept using the wrong one.

Not a great fan of agencys.......

I see where your coming from their are alot of idiots who will either mess around and not take the job seriously turn up late steal be abusive or whatever but you should remember that just because 1 2 3 or even 9 people are like that, doesn't mean the 10th guy is the same. It's the same mentality as being racist when you think about it.

[Saracen]

One difference between working in a bar and selling drugs (other than legal ones, clearly) is that one is illegal and one isn't. And I suspect many employers will not draw a distinction between growing cannabis and selling it. And also, a lot of employers will ask themselves "if someone will grow drugs, especially for sale rather than private use, what other laws will they break"?

And as Blitzen pointed out, if it subsequently comes out that a company knowingly employed someone with a drugs record, it will cause some customers to re-evaluate the company their giving their business to. For instance, many years ago, my work was included pre and post-sale support for a major computer firm selling systems into banks and building societies, and on occasion, that involved back-office and counter access to banks and building societies. It also involved writing application code for cash dispensers and through-the-wall ATMs. With any kind of a criminal record, I wouldn't have got anywhere near a job writing code that cash dispensers ran on.

Now that's probably an extreme example, but it illustrates the point. Some employers will be worried about the potential impact on their client relationships if they employ someone with a criminal record and it blows up in their face.

As I said in an earlier post, a friend of mine happens to be the MD of a company with about 50 staff. I had exactly this discussion with him a couple of years ago, and his attitude is that he won't take such risks because he has nothing to gain by doing so, and potentially, a lot to lose.

If you went for a job with him and he found out about that record, that would end it right there. He might not give that as a reason, but it's be the reason. Why? Because for every job he has, he had about 100 applications. It wasn't like he was desperate for staff. So, he's got to thin that 100 down, probably to maybe three or four at most, and they get interviewed.

So, he needs some criteria, and anything like a criminal record is, I'm afraid, an easy option, as it's simply a chance he sees no need to take, and so won't take. It might not be fair on you, but his point is that he's a business, not a social service or rehab program. Harsh, perhaps, but from his perspective, he has a point.

Now, agencies.

If that friend of mine goes to an agency, he's their employer. He tells them what he wants, and if he doesn't get it, he won't be happy. If he specifies what he's looking for, and they send people that HE will consider blatantly unsuitable, then the agency is just wasting his time. If he wanted to run all the adds himself, and do all the initial sorting and selecting, he wouldn't be paying a substantial agency fee to do it for him.

So .... he will brief the agency on the type of person he's looking for. He might, for instance, be looking for people that can handle a briefing to a client's board of directors. That certainly happened to me in that pre-sale support role I mentioned. He might be looking for someone that can handle training staff. I've done that for that friend of mine, on a contract basis. He might be looking for someone of a particular style or level of personal presentation. He might, therefore, reject too much in the way of visible tattoos or piercings.

I know for a FACT that one large supermarket had a "word" with a subcontractor about the extent of body piercings one of their staff had. The message, subtly delivered, was "tone it down and smarten up, or don't send him here again". Is it fair for him to be discriminated against because of a couple of (pretty good) tatts, and some ironmongery? Probably not, but welcome to the real world.

So .... if you're running that subcontractor, and you know that that supermarket client won't accept certain types of staff attending, if you know that they expect a certain level of personal presentation, then whether it's fair or not, you supply staff that comply, because if you don't, there's plenty of competitors out there that will, and that would dearly love to have that contract off you, in a heartbeat.

In short, it's a pretty common rule of the commercial jungle ... he who pays the piper calls the tune.

There's limits, of course. You can't discriminate on certain grounds, like race. But even then, it;s one thing saying you can't discriminate on that basis, and another thing enforcing it. As a while bloke, tried getting a job in a Chinese or Indian restaurant lately? You might succeed in a few, but most?

togoodtobetrue, it might not be fair, but you need to accept that that record is going to give you problems. There will be some employers that just won't give you a chance, and there will be some that have valid reason for that. And similarly, agencies work to a brief. If they want more work, or their bill paid, they meet that brief.

But there will also be some employers that will look past that record, that will give you a chance and, having been given it, will look to you and to what you're capable of. And from the sound of it, from your attitude as described in your posts, such as buying the console to work on it, you'd be an asset to most organisations.

If you stick at it, the chance WILL come. But, that record means it's going to be harder than it otherwise might be.

One last thing. At least it's just a record. A lot of agencies won't consider you for a lot of jobs if you're aged about 40 or more. Some, it's lower than that. At least you can work past your record, but good luck working yourself younger.

[togoodtobetrue]

Thank's for the insight Saracen, i fully understand what your saying and i'm not nieve about how employers view someone with a criminal record. All i'm saying is that from a logical/moral point of view it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, to simply say we can't employ this cultivator in our bank incase he goes home watches prison break then comes back and empties our safe.

I grow weed to sell to customers i don't steal it. you (person in the bank) blag customers into thinking they are getting a good deal when in actual fact all you want to do is get your hands on their money without care for wether or not that means they will lose their home.

Or in light of your post, It would be unwise to trust someone who has broken the law with our customers hard earned cash, because if they are willing to break the law what else are they willing to do. For all we know they could decide to steal money from our customers and that's not a risk i'm willing to take. Appreciated but that's a pretty narrow minded way of thinking. Granted most people who break the law are bad people laws are their for a reason ect. But growing weed and steeling money from your customers is quite different

I might not agree with the law against cannabis that doesn't mean at some point in my life i may potentially have the urge to steal someones money any more than the next guy.

Their is a reason within your post that does make sense in refusing someone for a cultivation charge and that is. If an employer doesn't want to show that his company employs such people through fear of knowing that the average person in society looks down (rightly or wrongly) upon such people. Then in their view that would be bad for them.
I understand and respect that.

I would personally think to myself as an employer, this guy has a drugs charge usually drugs is related to crime i don't want to employ this guy and you can't help but think that in alot of cases but what people need to remember is that it's not always the case that someone who broke the law is a scumbag who will steal your wallet. Even the best of us make mistakes.

[santa claus]

I grow weed to sell to customers i don't steal it.

Unless you learn to understand the fundamental flaw in this statement, I'm afraid it is you that has an attitude problem, not any potential employers. Selling weed for profit is illegal and can lead to ruined lives. You may be stealing something more precious than money from your customers.

[togoodtobetrue]

Unless you learn to understand the fundamental flaw in this statement, I'm afraid it is you that has an attitude problem, not any potential employers. Growing weed is illegal and can lead to ruined lives. You may be stealing something more precious than money from your customers.

You misunderstand. I never said im a good guy who sells weed your a bad guy who does this.

Selling weed is a bad thing and yes i agree 2 much weed ruins lives that is correct. Like i said i'm not proud of what i did. The amount i sold, the average weed smoker goes through in a week. It was always a 1 off thing. I am in no way trying to condone what i did, i am simply giving comparison to bad things that happen in everyday life that people don't realise and are 2 quick to throw out

Does selling someone something and wrongly giving them hidden charges that causes them stress and in an unlikely situation ends up with them losing their house getting ill not also a bad thing ?

Also selling people alcohol is far worse and ruins more lives than anything i can think of off the top of my head, my point here is the general consensus of this thread is whether it's right or wrong to refuse someone a job because of a criminal record, i am highlighting that some employers who would refuse a criminal record may also take on someone who morally does something that is worse than what the person did who has the criminal record. Purely on the fact that they don't stop to compare the two examples, for example. And also just blindly go on the fact that 1 is illegal whilst 1 is legal. My point is 1 may be illegal but that doesn't necessarily mean it is worse and should warrant more punishment

[santa claus]

Ok. Look, nobody here is trying to judge you, we're trying to isolate the reasons why you have had trouble getting employment. I know that is frustrating and I don't envy you. You have made a mistake in the past, we all make mistakes. Keep your motivation and enthusiasm and you'll find a job. And be honest about yourself, people are not fools. Good luck

[togoodtobetrue]

Thank's Santa