Math Major and Convicted Felon
I am a math major who may be making a change of career -- maybe eventually to finance. My situation is somewhat unique because when I was 18 years old I was charged with a felony. At this time I have no thought of ever doing finance in the United States because this crime will be on my record forever. I am contemplating moving out of the country because my job hunting effort after graduating was an amazing disaster wherein I went from being ranked 5th in a class of 800 students at a mid-sized public university to living out of a homeless shelter for a short period of time. Even though I never did any time, my crime is basically impossible to explain to any employer because it is a sex crime.
My question might be -- in which countries can I expect to get a well-paying job in finance with a US felony record? I know that many European countries, for example Spain, have very lenient laws about criminal records but am not very convinced that they have good finance sectors. (Who has heard of Spanish bankers?) The UK has some protections for people in my situation but with big holes for anyone in certain industries, including finance. (The holes appear to be the most well-paying sectors.) Effectively in finance there you may as well be in the US.
What gnaws at me is that the US is an unusually good place to live for people who are genuinely good at what they do. The much-feared dragon of income inequality is the best friend of those at the high end.
If anyone is willing to just provide career advice, I would be grateful because I feel completely isolated and unique. On one hand I have my education. There are clear paths out there for most such people: you may be able to work for Google, for example. This is not available to me in the US. On the other hand I am a convicted criminal. There are paths for people in that situation too. You can be a plumber or an auto mechanic. I am unwilling to accept those kinds of options for years on end.
I am really willing to go into any field while maximizing the the primary goal of making money -- if it comes to small differences between choices, staying in the US would help, but my primary consideration is income. You can't be a doctor, lawyer, or trader in the US with a felony. A couple of options I have looked into like actuary also seem unworkable because I think all the companies will do background checks. (Actuary would otherwise be great. It's all about the risk of disaster. Given my circumstances I would be a very earnest actuary!)
Even if US companies don't do background checks, if I lie on the application, they could always hear about it later through the grapevine. In this world of social media that is all too likely given a long enough time period and having friendships is essential to real business success. If you're in an industry without high turnover, you're vulnerable to someone finding out eventually via random social connections, and if there is high turnover, you frequently face the disadvantage of the background check on applications.
What do you think is the optimal choice in my situation? Should I leave the country? If so, what foreign industries would be suitable?
You could start a business in the US if you really wanted to stay and live here.
Will the felony ever come off of your record?
Go to a developing market and kick ass.
So was this crime more like motorboating or full on rape?
Lol at felony motorboating.
Do you have any connections overseas? I second TheMasao's advice. India is developing at a great rate, but it's really good to have Indian connections, as most Indians trust other Indians more so than an outsider. Don't hang your head and give up, if you are telling the truth you are obviously a smart person with a lot going for you. Good luck to you!
Except in the area of sex crime laws. Which may make it a good destination for the OP.
With India being the rape capital of the world, OP's record might actually be a merit there..
Have you looked into getting the felony expunged from your record? The expungement process is sort fo like a get out of jail free card that can only be used one time in your life. The process may cost a couple thousand dollars, and you will have to complete a year or two of probation, but your felony will be sealed on your record and the only institutions with access to it will be government agencies (you have no shot at law enforcement, but I'm sure you dont care about that anyway). If you stay out of trouble, it will be like it never happened when companies run a background check.
Just something to look into, if you haven't considered it. Good luck with everything!
It sounds like this guy had a 15 or 16 year old girlfriend when he was 18 and her parents didn't like him so now he's a felon.
Can a sex crime really be expunged in this country? They are treated worse than murderers...
I can empathize to your position. However, the federal government has set up laws that an entire agency looks to enforce called the EEO laws(Equal Employment Opportunity). The laws are that a company CAN ask what your convictions are. Once that happens, it is your obligation to provide any and all convictions. There, the Human Resources will look into it and see if they can try and make a connection between the relationship of the crime and the position. Ie, Theft or Fraud and working with finances. This may not singly discount you for the position. They will also look at how long ago the crime was. If it was a misdemeanor theft(ie taking a candy bar from a store) when you were 18 and it has been 10 years, they will likely look beyond that. Also take note, that any person convicted of felony theft or fraud cannot work with another persons money(investments or funds) for 10 years. Before you can be a trader of money, you need to get a license that says you are qualified. So, to answer your question straight. Yes you can work with money!
It is discriminatory for a company to deny a person solely based upon conviction unless they can prove that the conviction has substantial relations to employment.
Clicked on this title thinking it was going to be a love story or romantic comedy, shucks.
I’m about to graduate with an extremely impressive set of degrees, minors, and research papers. I had some trouble back when I was 18 (not sex related), so I am in a unique position as well. I would love to get in contact with you or anyone reading that would like to talk more. No one decides that your worth but you!
gg
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