I'll gobble that L
there was a thread on here couple weeks ago where ppl were saying expunged convictions can stop ppl from getting jobs
seems like this dude is past that hurdle now (he has offers)
but the initial set back put em in a hole

i'm interested in the backstory on that arrest tho
making $90 a hour ....and selling crack
and if he didn't do it, he could afford to fight it with his income
just weird


http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/being-homeless-a-struggle-even-with-a-100000-job-offer/




When I first meet James Simmons, he’s at the state welfare office trying to get some more food stamps. He survives on those, along with some free meals he gets at the homeless shelter, where he lives.

It’s a jarring background to what I’m there to talk to him about. Which is that he just got offered a six-figure job as a security-systems analyst.

“The job only exists in there,” he says, pointing at a beat-up laptop computer. “What exists in there doesn’t help me eat.”

Simmons, 55, lives at the Compass Center’s night shelter near Seattle Center, beneath a church parking garage. He’s got a bunk in a room with 60 other men. He’s been homeless, off and on, for the past seven years.

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Yet on his laptop he shows me the interviews and job leads he’s had only in the past week. IBM. Wells Fargo. Frontier Airlines. T-Mobile. Experian. Daimler Chrysler. All interested in tapping his decades of experience as a certified information systems auditor, which he describes as “basically a cyber-cop.”

“I am very pleased to offer you the full-time position of Senior Analyst, Security Compliance,” reads an offer sheet he got last week from a company he asked me not to name. The pay is listed at $100,000 a year.

“We’ve never seen anything like it around here,” says Walter Washington, program manager at Compass Center. “We’re thrilled when one of our clients gets a job offer at someplace like Subway.

“So it’s pretty spectacular. With James, it just all comes with a big caveat.”

That caveat is a doozy, and is discoverable to anyone who can work a Web browser. Simmons, at the time a contract systems analyst making $90 an hour, was arrested in Seattle’s University District in 2006 and charged with selling crack as well as resisting arrest. He was convicted of the drug-dealing charge and sentenced to a year in prison.

Three months after his conviction, though, the King County deputy whose testimony led to Simmons’ conviction, James Schrimpsher, was fired for dishonesty in a different drug case. That the deputy was being investigated for lying at the same time as Simmons’ trial had not been disclosed to Simmons’ attorneys.

Simmons insists he didn’t sell drugs and believes he was profiled. Save for a marijuana possession charge from the 1990s in Tennessee, he has no criminal convictions before or since. Regardless, he served the full prison term at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, plus a year of probation when he got out.

The case wrecked his career. He lost his security clearances. He defaulted on his townhome and his BMW. He drank too much. He showed me the alley he lived in for a time outside a downtown Seattle Starbucks.

“Now it’s only because of that blessed church that I have any roof over my head,” he said.

What’s alarming about Simmons’ story is that his drug-dealing conviction was eventually stricken from the record. He was retroactively exonerated in 2010 because the testimony that convicted him was no longer considered credible. Yet he struggles to get a job because the story stalks him on the Internet.

He is listed on the National Registry of Exonerations as being wrongly convicted. But he says that hasn’t stopped multiple companies from backing away from hiring him once he gets to the background check stage.

“I’ve got a DOC (Department of Corrections) number that follows me around, because I did spend a year in prison,” Simmons says. “Officially I’ve been cleared. But effectively it’s like they gave me a life sentence.”

Simmons is also struggling to overcome both the reality and stigma of being homeless. Take the logistics of interviewing: He cleans up the best he can, puts on his nicest shirt and then tries to find a quiet place around town with free Wi-Fi. There, he Skypes, fielding systems data questions from executives in cities such as Minnesota or Phoenix (those are two of the recent interview schedules he showed me on his email thread).

Sometimes the firms want to meet in person. Simmons is undoubtedly the first Seattle homeless-shelter resident to be flown at corporate expense to an interview in Florida, at a firm called Roper Industries. He showed me the airline ticket and receipt. He didn’t get that job.

He tries to stay current in his field by studying IT manuals from his shelter bunk bed.

“The determination he’s showing is exceptional,” says Washington, the Compass Center manager. “This stuff is exhausting even when you have a place to live.”

Simmons now frets he doesn’t have the means to accept a job offer, even if it holds up (his most recent one is in a different city). What is he to do before he gets a paycheck — travel to the city and then move temporarily into another homeless shelter, even as he presents himself for a high-tech, white-collar job?

It was the conviction that knocked him low. But now being poor comes with its own pull of gravity.

“I’m not going to lie and pretend this hasn’t taken a toll on me,” Simmons says. “You asked me if I think anyone can rise up out of a homeless shelter. I mean, I’m getting $100,000 job offers and I can’t seem to get out.

“I try to stay positive that I can be the one to do it. But I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.”

He ain't got no family? No friends? If this man was an upstanding, pillar of the community who was WRONGLY convicted, and the ability to secure six-figure job offers, here's NOBODY who will help the man out until he gets that first paycheck? They couldn't pool their resources? He should be good for the money. There's more to his story.

http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/11/30/457881222/why-millenials-of-color-cant-get-ahead

To start from ABSOLUTE zero is hard as a minority because we simply don't have the same pool to draw from; cousin ray ray might not have the means to loan you $800 bucks for the flight/one day hotel stay to get the job

Stuff like how's he gonna even get enough id/cred to open a bank account to deposit his checks? Where's his home address? Etc.

even if it's just reimbursement. Most people have at least one or two friends in or near the same tax-bracket. I know if that was one of my boys, our mutual friends would pool our resources and find a way to keep him afloat until that money comes in...unless there's reason to believe he can't keep it together.

Not front the cash ahead of time

Big difference, lol.

This niggas homeless; getting 2.74 together for the Mcdonald's struggle meal requires some work.

>even if it's just reimbursement. Most people have at least
>one or two friends in or near the same tax-bracket. I know if
>that was one of my boys, our mutual friends would pool our
>resources and find a way to keep him afloat until that money
>comes in...unless there's reason to believe he can't keep it
>together.

Even if he had a 'real' job, he's almost ten years removed from that life.

for several months, when he took a tech job there.

I've also been reimbursed in the past. I'm just saying my people would find a way to float a nigga.

which he can never get with his background.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

believe it or not, it's doable.

---------------------------

"Where was the peace when we were getting shot? Where's the peace when we were getting laid out?
Where is the peace when we are in the back of ambulances? Where is the peace then?
They don't want to call for peace then.

I'm guessing homeboy was getting high. He really can't hold it together for a few weeks until that first check comes in? wtf?

most of the jobs he is being offered are in different states, which means he'd have to move. He's already broke, and we know moves are expensive. Then he would need clothes and food. basics. I can see how expensive it can be. BUT the thing really about this article is not that he can't afford to keep them, it's that when ppl google him they find out about his charges so then they rescind the offers.

Title is lightweight misleading.

No need to worry about moving his stuff. With this story, *someone* would donate Greyhound money to him so he could get to his new job. After that, it's only another month or so in a shelter and then he's up and out.

I want this dude to win, but *he* doesn't seem like he wants to win, based off of his tone in the article. Of course, this story could all be slanted heavily by the writer.


Edit: This is all assuming that the job offer doesn't get taken back. I see what you're saying... his main problem seems to be getting screwed during the background check phase.

he can negotiate relocation costs and/or someone somewhere will help him even if it's just the homeless shelter and he pays them back. But the article is a majority about the charges and him losing offers...only two lines about "how would he pay" so I think that's the author's slant. I'm sure the man was like even if i get a job, i have to worry about other expenses...but he ain't even make it there yet.

>Edit: This is all assuming that the job offer doesn't get
>taken back. I see what you're saying... his main problem seems
>to be getting screwed during the background check phase.

a) you can disclose this during the initial offer phase and explain
b)these are high salary hard to fill positions and the background check for this level of investigation costs $100 of dollars ($10k+ if for clearance)
typically companies aren't just throwing you in the bushes even if something pops up. they're going make an effort to investigate and clear anything up if you can offer an explanation

tbs, i'm taking dude at his word. just seems off but i guess that's why this is extraordinary

Both gave me the chance to clear my name.

or was it someone with the same name?

same name and dob. different ssn, but it still comes up as a hit. I have an exceptionally common name, and I've lived in some of the biggest cities in the country.

yea this is my experience too
in my case it was actually me, but expunged
they still saw it somehow
reference from the lawyer who handled the case and an explanation (not even about the details just that it was expunged)
was enough
added another 2 weeks and probably a couple more hundred dollars cost on their end but at that level THEY WANT TO HIRE YOU and will make every effort to do so assuming it's possible

?

that happened during a security clearance check
normal jobs have never found the incident

his name isn't clean...for all the companies KNOW he did sell drugs and got lucky because of the incompetence of one of the key persons in the trial. Really means nothing.

So he doesn't have to disclose this arrest and conviction, but like someone else said they will still find it when they do the clearance and maybe they don't want to run the risk when they see what the charges are for. let's be real if you run a check and someone comes back with crack distribution charges and "only" got off because of a technicality, you would most likely say no also. Some things are forgivable but most ppl aren't going to forgive this.

>I'm guessing homeboy was getting high. He really can't hold
>it together for a few weeks until that first check comes in?
>wtf?


boom, there you are ..I've worked for Lotus, IBM, Solidworks and PTC and if they want you they get you..Money is no issue when it comes to relocating, fronting cash etc...

>I'm guessing homeboy was getting high. He really can't hold
>it together for a few weeks until that first check comes in?
>wtf?


boom, there you are ..I've worked for Lotus, IBM, Solidworks and PTC and if they want you they get you..Money is no issue when it comes to relocating, fronting cash etc...

then since u homeless and got nothin to move, drive that empty uhaul yourself across the country


if u knocked it down to even 85k +relocation, its better than homeless

until the first paycheck came in.

LMAO

Im pretty sure he's got 'greyhound bussable' levels of material ownership

curious how this will play out

this could definitely be one of them

if he could find somebody in an HR position who was cool and sympathetic to his situation and willing to give him a shot then that would be great, but you've gotta be able to make that initial contact and give a good pitch as to why they should roll the dice on you, which isn't always that easy, esp if youre looking at out of state jobs

His issue is he can't get a job with his record (especially in his expertise). Money doesn't really fix that.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

...

and get to an interview, then once he is face to face with someone he can at least discuss his circumstance and try to negotiate a shot at the position...but I do see your point

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

or be able to figure it out well enough to paper a page or two of google with different information about himself other than the conviction. He should also contact those companies that have his information up and ask them to take it down. I had to do that at one point with an idiot roommate who wrote a comment post on a blog about me. i have almost nothing when you google my name and that's by design.

he had a federal charge. Yes you can get an exoneration, yes they may say it can be removed from your files BUT it's never really removed from your file. It's not a blog comment or post. You can't say oh i don't like it remove this. Even when they expunge your record it just means regular business can't see it if they run a standard background or fingerprint check...but higher level organizations still have access to these files.

You find a way. Just saying "I can't do it" is weak mindedness and should be called out as such. He's better than that.

he's got a weed conviction in the 90s. probably doing a bit of that too. doesn't make him a terrible person. he may just not be ready to go back to work. the not having ONE single family member or former co-worker or friend to put him up after prison and vouch for him at SOME place of employment doing ANYTHING even if it's just bagging groceries, is strange. but typical of people who are addicts and have burned bridges.

they don't trust him to keep his shit together and pay him back

yep,, non story here

He'd have to be extraordinary (or the company would have to be extremely desperate) for most companies to even consider taking the risk.

never would have happened without some existing psychological issue like addiction.

He probably would have moved into some friend or relatives basement, got a job at home depot or the computer department at best buy, got his hustle on and got resumes out and been employed in 6 months to a year.

reminds me of one dude we had who was well spoken, always wore a suit and was always clean as hell.

BUT HE REFUSED TO WORK.

Minimum wage was $5.15 or so in the late 90's and this guy said he wouldn't work for less than $10. People would offer him jobs that paid $6, $7, $8... nope.

There is no way this man has job offers of 100K but can't afford to get them. A church would surely donate $500 or so dollars if he was up for one of those gigs.

I have seen churches bend over backwards for homeless people to get part time jobs.

nah, there is more to this