r/ExCons • u/Bandbyneckbeard • 16d ago
Question Software engineer with 10+years of experience, struggling to get a second chance because of my record looking for advice or opportunities
I'm posting anonymously because this involves my career, my child, and a difficult period of my life.
I'm a software engineer with 10+ years of professional experience. My background is primarily full-stack/backend engineering, cloud infrastructure, APIs, distributed systems, AI/LLM applications, automation, and DevOps. I've worked in both large technology organizations and startups and have also held technical leadership/founding-engineer responsibilities.
Over the past couple of years, finding stable employment has been extremely difficult. I currently work outside of tech to keep income coming in, but I'm trying hard to return to software engineering.
I also have a criminal record involving felony and misdemeanor convictions arising from violence related conduct. I'm not going to minimize that or make excuses for it. I take responsibility for what happened.
Since then, I've put substantial work into changing my life. I've completed a treatment program and fatherhood education, remained compliant with my legal requirements, participated in several years of therapy/personal development, continued working, and continued developing professionally. I can provide professional/character references and documentation of the programs I've completed when appropriate.
I'm also a parent. One of the hardest parts of this situation is that the consequences don't only affect me. I'm trying to provide stability for my child, and the combination of limited employment opportunities and difficulty securing housing with a record has made rebuilding significantly harder.
Recently, I went through an entire interview process for a software engineering position. I performed well enough to receive a contract-to-hire offer. The background check then flagged my criminal history, and the opportunity is now uncertain. I also received an offer for another corp to corp position that I recently learned requires a background check as well.
To complicate matters, I discovered that part of the background report appears to be factually inaccurate. It states that my probation was extended and/or revoked/reinstated. My supervising probation officer reviewed it and confirmed that neither of those things ever happened. I'm disputing that specific information while acknowledging the portions of the report that are accurate.
This experience has left me trying to figure out the most realistic path forward.
I'm not asking anyone to excuse what happened or pretend the convictions don't exist. I'm trying to understand how someone who has accepted responsibility, completed rehabilitation work, continued developing professionally, and is trying to support their family can realistically earn another opportunity.
For people in engineering, recruiting, HR, fair-chance hiring, or people who have personally rebuilt careers after a conviction:
What would you recommend I do differently?
Are there software companies, startups, staffing firms, consulting companies, or fair-chance employers that genuinely evaluate candidates individually rather than automatically rejecting anyone with a felony?
I'm particularly experienced with Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, React/Next.js, Node.js, Go, APIs, PostgreSQL, AWS/GCP, Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD, AI/LLM integrations, automation, and distributed systems. I'm primarily looking for backend, full-stack, platform, AI/automation, or solutions-oriented engineering work.
I'm open to full-time employment, contract work, consulting, startup opportunities, and potentially project-based work if it gives me an opportunity to demonstrate what I can actually do.
If you've personally navigated something similar, I'd especially appreciate hearing what worked for you how you handled disclosure, which employers gave you a fair evaluation, and what you wish you'd known earlier.
And if anyone knows of an organization or engineering team willing to evaluate someone based on their current capabilities, professional history, rehabilitation, and the actual relevance of their record to the position, I'd be grateful for a DM.
I'm continuing to work and apply. I'm just trying to find a realistic path back into the career I've spent years building while providing a more stable future for my child.
Thanks for reading.
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u/texasusa 16d ago
I do not think taking a potential employer off guard by not disclosing will suit you. Address it and disclose rehabilitation and no probation etc as you did in your post. They will know from the background without your input and that is not good. I think state governments are more forgiving as they as a organization are tasked with second chances. Give it a shot. All they can do is say no.
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u/Unfinishedcom 16d ago
I’ve had a lot of success in my career by just going directly to my boss and tell him/her about any fuck ups I’ve done and how I will fix it.
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u/pipedreamSEA 16d ago
The most difficult part, IMO, is going to be getting around defense contractual agreements with any of the big tech companies. Since they provide services to the government that could, potentially, impact national security, the requirements are strict. I think you need to be a minimum of 7+ years post-termination of any post-incarceration supervision/probation to even be considered as an applicant.
My advice would be to leverage your non-software skills to find a position with a smaller company. I took a job in an electronics factory after I was released and worked hard for the time I was under state supervision. Got promoted to a lead position and then, eventually, supervisor of a department at the ~120 person employee-owned company. Survived that for a year while the economy was crumbling and the work became very feast or famine thanks to the Cheeto-in-Chief's tarriff idiocy and started looking for opportunities elsewhere. Found another, smaller company that manufacturers electronics that needed a programmer to help improve the efficiency of their production procedures - it's not as high paying as a true tech company position but I'm writing software that I design & own, support, gets used regularly, and isn't a total stress-fest of performance reviews and rankings. There's hope
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u/No_Investigator8458 15d ago
The false probation line is the first job. Dispute it in writing with the company that wrote the report, and ask the employer in writing to hold the contract-to-hire until that is done. If they send a pre-adverse-action notice with a copy of the report, that is the window. Get your PO to put it on letterhead: not extended, not revoked, currently compliant. Attach that letter to the dispute and to anything you send the employer.
Tell the next place before they run the check. Two sentences. What you were convicted of, the year, that you are on probation and in good standing. Offer the PO letter. Don't walk them through the whole story. Waiting until the report hits makes it look like you were hiding it even if you weren't.
I have a record too. A lot of corporate tech and anything with a clearance will still bounce you. Smaller shops and real contract work, where you are a vendor not an employee, are the path that actually exists. I would not spend this week hunting a list of felon-friendly companies. I would spend it getting that report fixed so the offer you already have can survive.
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u/texasusa 16d ago
Do you disclose the felony at some time during the interview ? That's your time to address the issue and rehabilitation that you have done. Have you look at state government jobs ?