Friday Nov 10, 2000 > >Job Opportunities Rise for Ex-ConsBy Martha Irvine > >ASSOCIATED PRESS CHICAGO - With the economy booming, many employers around >the country are so desperate for workers that they are going out of their >way to recruit ex-convicts, former gang members and recovering drug >addicts. Fliers are being posted in halfway houses. An increasing number of >employers are offering college tuition reimbursements. Some companies, like >United Parcel Service, even have recruiting vans that roam city >neighborhoods in search of applicants. Among the more popular methods are >"second-chance" job fairs, which have been organized this year from >Massachusetts, Ohio and Iowa to Texas and California. At a recent Chicago >job fair, organized by state and private agencies, there were hundreds of >applicants and more than a dozen employers, from Radisson and Hilton hotels >to United HealthCare and the Army. "I need to stay busy - to take care of >my kids and stay off the streets, because it's getting pretty bad out >there," said Antwan Berry, a 22-year-old former drug dealer and father of >three who was filling out an application with a messenger service. "This is >my chance to change my life around," said Berry, who is on probation and >having trouble finding the fork-lift driving job he wants. The nation's >unemployment rate is 3.9 percent, a 30-year-low. America is going through >its longest stretch of economic growth ever, nearly 10 years and counting, >and employers are having trouble filling jobs. In addition, some experts >say businesses might be more willing to hire ex-convicts because they have >already had success hiring welfare-to-work applicants. "The overall >impression is that welfare recipients are pretty good employees," said >Irene Lurie, a welfare reform researcher at the Nelson A. Rockefeller >Institute of Government in Albany, N.Y. Competition for the best of the >applicants is so fierce that employers are getting creative. In St. Louis, >for example, Titan Tube Fabricators posts fliers in halfway houses to help >fill welding and other jobs. "It's definitely hard to come across good >people," said Kevin Black, a Walgreens drugstore manager who attended the >Chicago fair. He said he and another store manager hired six people at a >similar job fair two years ago and the employees are still with the >company. Employers say they are also impressed with ex-convicts who are >coming to them well-prepared - asking good questions, dressed in suits and >often with resumes in hand. That is due in part to coaching they get the >day before the job fair and in prison. The first rule they are taught: Be >honest about your criminal record. "A lot of them will tell you right up >front that they have a problem with money," Black said. "So we'll start >them off as service clerks and see how they do." He and other employers say >they consider applicants case by case - looking at the type of offense, >when it happened and length of the sentence. They also insist that anyone >with drug or alcohol addictions is at least in rehab. Their method seems to >be gaining popularity. Last year, at its fourth annual job conference, the >Northern California Service League, a San Francisco agency that serves >ex-offenders, placed more than 600 of them in jobs with wages averaging >$8.40 an hour. This year, employment administrator Darro Jefferson said the >agency is on track to place 1,000. Part of the key, he said, is to "turn >negatives into positives." He tells the story of a former drug dealer who >had no other skills than, well, salesmanship. Jefferson got him a job at a >San Francisco car dealership, where he is now an assistant general manager. >Matthew Hinton, released in April after serving more than eight years in >Florida for drug dealing, is working for a Clearwater tire retreading >company, using skills he learned in prison. He started work nine days after >he was released with the help of a program called PRIDE Enterprises. "Now >I'm making $9.50 an hour and I'm loving it," said Hinton, 40. "I got my >freedom, my own apartment, a nice car. I feel like I can't ask for nothing >more." --- On the Net: >Northern California Service League: http://www.NorCalServiceLeague.org >PRIDE Enterprises: http://www.pridefl.com >The Sentencing Project: http://www.sentencingproject.org >Society for Human Resource Management: http://www.shrm.org >(PROFILE (CO:United Parcel Service; TS:UPS; IG:AIF;) >(CO:Unitedhealth Group Inc; TS:UNH; IG:HEA;) ) > > > In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material >is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a >prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit >research and educational purposes only. > > > >-------------------------------------------------------------------- > Workfare-defeat: a list for discussion about the international > resistance to workfare To subscribe, post to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> with > "subscribe workfare-defeat" in the BODY of the message > ** This material may be freely distributed, provided this ** > ** footer is included in full. **
