Getting a good job isn’t easy when you have a criminal record. In fact, getting a job at all can be hard. Despite the fact that you have done what you needed to do to atone for your crime, and that you are doing all you can to get your life straight when it comes to employment that criminal record just won’t leave you alone.

No doubt you dread seeing that ‘Have you been convicted of a crime?’ question on an employment application. What do you write? If you are truthful and say yes, it’s often almost certain that the consideration of your application will end there. If you lie and say no, well it’s almost guaranteed you’ll be found out, and so the outcome will be the same, or worse.

The fact is that recent studies have shown that 80% of employers – both large and small – now routinely run background checks on those they are considering employing. In most states, they can’t do so without your permission, but the fact is you almost certainly know what they are going to find.

And that’s the other problem. Most routine background checks merely present the basic facts they find, for example, the court record of a criminal proceeding. There is no context to that document. It does not reflect that you have changed. Maybe the offense was a long time ago and you have never been in trouble with the law since. Or it was a relatively minor offense that has no bearing on the job you are applying for. An employer reading a background check has no way of knowing that though.