Michael Sandavol

This is one of two articles written by Michael Sandavol, age 25. This one was published in the winter issue of DeBug Magazine, 2003. Mike was in the work furlough program for a graffiti felony conviction when he joined the Heart of Chaos artisan collective in 2002. He plans to become a photo journalist.

Answer Yes or No
 The Fatal Question on Job Applications

By Michael Sandavol

Jobs, jobs….many of us are looking for a job nowadays. With unemployment at the highest rate ever, what is going on here? Well I’ll tell you what one of the problems is that is going on here. It is a big part of every job application. And it goes a little something like this. “Have you ever been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor in the last seven years? If so, explain in detail the crime.” And man you look at this and you have a choice to put yes or no. And knowing that if you mark yes and tell the truth you most likely will not get the job. You want this job so bad but just because you have a felony you get discriminated against and can’t get this job. If you have a misdemeanor or felony on your record you know what I am saying.

And let’s say you have all the experience needed for the position and there is also maybe ten or fifteen other people applying for the same position that you are with little or no experience and no misdemeanor or felony. You are the one that is most likely to be written off just because you marked “Yes” on this fatal question. And to add insult to injury, they just look at you like you are a different person, someone not ever to be trusted. You can be white, black, Mexican or what you are, and this discrimination going on here can happen to you. And it goes on every day. You can be tried, convicted and punished every day over and over again by the little mistakes you made in the past.

I have personally been there. Wow, I was really blown away by how this goes on when I was looking for a job. I filled out so many applications and I marked  “Yes”  I have a misdemeanor or a felony—wanting to tell the truth. And I got no call backs or little to none. So what I did during one of my job hunting experiences is that I returned to the place and saw the hiring sign still posted in the store window even though I had filled out an application three weeks earlier and had not received a call back from them much less an invitation to interview. So what I did is that I went into the place and asked to speak to the supervisor or manager who is in charge of hiring. When they appeared I explained that I had filled out an application for the job and wanted to be interviewed. So they said okay and we sat down and started talking with them reviewing my resume as we spoke. And it was going all good until that one fatal question. “Have you ever been convicted of a misdemeanor or a felony?” And I sat there and have to sell myself twice as hard as a person without a misdemeanor or felony on their record. And automatically I could see that they are looking at me in a different way, a downwards way. The whole situation changed in that moment from one side to the other. Almost automatically the entire conversation ends with a “Well, it is nice meeting you” and “We’ll give you a call after we check your references.” And “We are still interviewing other people.” And you know that they are not going to call. And sure enough the phone never rings and you never hear from them knowing damn well that you have more than enough qualifications and experience for the job. And it brings you down and makes you feel that you are no longer good enough for society…that you have this stamp on you that labels you inferior and untrustworthy. Speaking as a felony or misdemeanor person like I am, I know that I will always have to exert twice the effort as another person if I want to work. It is just one of the hurtles you have to cross and one of the tribulations that you carry after you make a mistake.

So what to do? Should you be honest and mark yes on the application even while knowing your chances of getting the job will dramatically decrease no matter how good your explanation? Or, should you lie to get your foot in the door and then wait for the right time to tell them the truth—knowing that things again might twist in their perception of you?  I have most recently hit upon a third solution. If you just leave the question blank you can sometimes get your foot in the door and be face to face—not paper to paper—and you can go into detail about what you did in the past and have a chance to show them how sincere you are. That is what I have done and it has worked to my advantage most of the time. Now these are just my ideas of how to get around a system that keeps trying you over and over again and keeping you down. My advice to you is to keep your head up and keep moving forward and don’t let society bring you down.

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