Q. What can I expect to learn at this 3.5 hour long seminar?
A. I will [specifically] teach you how to locate and market yourself to real-time & local Felony and/or Misdemeanor-Friendly employers, instead of (week in & week out) counter-productively applying to random companies, without knowing their criminal background policy; or relying upon those bogus/fake lists of "Employers Who Hire Felons/Ex-Cons/etc...". I have never, in my 15 years of workforce experience, met an employer who said..."put my company on a [typed] list and pass it out to everybody"...Those lists are obsolete and 100% worthless.
Industries that are generally more Felony and/or Misdemeanor-Friendly on a "Case-by-Case Basis": Construction, Driving, Skilled Trades, Bldg. Maintenance, Food/Hospitality, Janitorial, Warehouse, Retail, Auto Mechanic, Landscaping, and some (Misdemeanor-Friendly ONLY) Call Center, Office/Admin, or Home Health.
IF YOU ARE NOT OPEN TO ANY OF THOSE INDUSTRIES, THIS SEMINAR WILL NOT BENEFIT YOU.
Q. Why don't you provide your phone number on your business card or have a contact number on your website? Why don’t YOU make this easier for ME to do?
A. "Instant Gratification" does not exist!! And I am putting YOU to the test to see if you have the fortitude and will-power to sit down at a computer and do what you need to do, in order to get this help. It is a teach-able moment...if you don't handle your business and make the first step, to the computer...then you probably will NOT make it. This website is 100% self-explanatory...simply read...and follow instructions.
Q. What is different about your program?
A. First off, I am NOT a program. I try to be the shortest distance between you being unemployed/underemployed and being gainfully employed. Most non-profit/501(c)3 Re-entry orgs. have grant monies that they have to spend, via, holding you captive for 8/10/12 weeks or more, to teach you job-readiness, interviewing skills, etc...And at the end of those 12 weeks, they will give you some out-dated "Felony-friendly" list or give you "random" job fair flyers/information. Most (not all) of those Re-entry orgs are completely wasting your time...but they got to spend that grant money!
Q. Can I obtain a state license for my occupation in Texas?
A. [Possibly] Depending on the occupation and your offense(s), the TDLR may or may not employ a Case-by-Case basis for determining the granting of licenses. I reccommend that you call the respective licensing agency before attending any "job-training" school and/or before paying the $75 processing/application fee to TDLR (in Austin). Click on the following link for statutory restrictions related to criminal convictions in the state of Texas. http://www.tdlr.state.tx.us/crimconvict.htm
Q. Should I attend any job fairs?
A. No. Typically, job fairs are random and do not add any value for criminal-background jobseekers. Most job fair organizers simply; (1) are not bold enough to discuss the "criminal background" reality to employers, or (2) do not know how to speak to employers about engaging/considering criminal-background job fair attendees, or (3) organizers do not care about adding “value” for jobseekers with criminal backgrounds. Most job fair organizers only care about packing a venue with thousands of jobseekers and [only] a handful of companies (with half of them being temp/staffing agencies). I would not waste my time chasing down dozens of random job fairs every week (especially, in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area)...in this economy...most of them are planned and executed by incompetent/inexperienced job fair organizers and are a complete waste of time for jobseekers that have been “touched” by the criminal justice system.
Q. Why am I able to get hired by a temp/staffing agency and not a “real” company?
A. The temp/staffing agency does not care if you transition from temp-to-perm, at the 90 day point. Consequently, what happens every week to unsuspecting/un-informed criminal-background jobseekers is…On approximately the 90th day, the company’s [own] HR dept. runs/processes your paperwork to attempt to transition you from temp-to-permanent; and when the HR dept. discovers that you’ve been “touched” by the criminal justice system, the HR Dept. will terminate your employment, because the [actual] company is not Def. Adj./Misd./Felony-Friendly. THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME…the temp/staffing agency is only concerned with exploiting you and billing the company $3-$5/hr. on top of your $8 - $10/hr temp paycheck. Temp/staffing agencies are focused on making a profit for every hour that you work on their payroll…not about helping criminal-background jobseekers find permanent/long-term/gainful employment.
Q. Should I seek expunction or a non-disclosure of my offense(s) so employers can’t see them?
A. First and foremost, you should consult with a specialized attorney (ie http://yourlawyerleon.com/index.htm) Secondly, from my (15+ yr) experience and elementary understanding, if you were convicted, you are 99.9% ineligible to seek expunction or non-disclosure. Applying for Expunctions or Non-Disclosures is reserved for individuals that opted for deferred adjudication and successfully completed their probation terms. Visit www.deferredadjudication.org for more details. Also google expunctions and non-disclosures to perform your own research…there is a lot of misinformation floating around Texas…Good Luck
Q. Do you guarantee results?
A. Yes and No. I guarantee that you will leave the seminar, more knowledgeable about job searching for Misdemeanor/Felony-Friendly employers. However, I can’t guarantee that you will find a job, because "the jobseeker" can’t guarantee that they will actively/aggressively/indefinitely apply the newly learned techniques EVERYDAY, until employment is obtained.
Q. Do your seminars provide job leads?
A. No. I simply teach you how to fish. The jobseeker must be committed and self-motivated to execute the newly learned strategies from the seminar. It will take 110% EFFORT…EVERYDAY! I will teach you how to find Misdemeanor and/or Felony-Friendly employers throughout Texas....after you are equipped with the tools...it's up to YOU to use them.
Q. What if I wasn’t convicted and only have deferred adjudication, can employers see that Def. Adj.?
A. [Possibly] Because it depends on how comprehensive/thorough of a background check the company runs. Some employers only go back 7 years, but others may go back 99 years, which is allowable. Therefore, even though your assault was def. adj. and not a conviction, it may still raise questions in the employer’s mind and make you an “at-risk” applicant with a heightened “perceived” liability.
Q. Can my Local Workforce Center and/or Project RIO counselor help me?
A. As of Sept. 1, 2011. Project RIO, which began in 1985, no longer exists. I wonder what Texas and the Texas Workforce Commission (Workforce Solutions) is trying to tell you…more importantly, what are you, your community, and/or your church going to do about it!!!
|