How to Be Honest About Your Criminal History
- 1). Contact your state employment agency to determine the window of time during which you must report criminal convictions. Reveal your criminal history to a potential employer only when required and make that disclosure in person. Understand your rights to keep your criminal history private.
- 2). Hire an attorney to seal or expunge criminal record.
- 3). Run a background check on yourself to identify and resolve any conviction-related issues that would disqualify you from employment.
- 4). Do practice interviews with professional job counselors or organizations that assist parolees to gain reentry into the work force. They may help you acquire skills that will enable you to speak honestly about your criminal history, put your mistakes into context and describe how you have learned from them.
- 5). Decide what people need to know your criminal history. You don't need to share your past with everyone.
- 6). Consider consultation with a relationship counselor to help you approach the challenge of disclosing a criminal past to close personal relations. A potential serious romantic relationship is an example of a situation in which full disclosure is appropriate or required.
