I lost my $70k/yr job today. Will I be able to ever recover (see details)?

[Anonymous]

Earlier this year, I was caught up in a sting operation. There were no charges filed, and I was never arrested. However, that incident has been following me every job I have had since, and I am terminated once everyone finds out.

I am trying to put everything behind me and learn from my mistakes and be a productive person, but I am getting struck down every opportunity I get.

I have had this $70k/yr for only a little over 3 months. I was terminated today.

I am very unstable financially right now and our country is on the verge of a recession with insane inflation.

What am I going to do?

Yes

No

Updates

+1 y

In the US Constitution, a citizen is innocent until convicted by a judge and jury of his peers. I understand private workplaces are different and my state is a right to work state, but I feel like our country as a whole does not respect that value and penalizes people anyway.

Updates

+1 y

Some feedback would be helpful. And suggestions on what to do next.

[jeffiner]

Hi 🤓! While keeping in mind that I don't know the details of the.. 🤫. .. sting operation, I will make this as generic of an answer as possible without losing the main point.. hopefully 🤞 lol

When that question 'Do you have anything criminal that will show up during a background check?' (or to that affect anyway) comes up during an interview and/or while applying for the job, the answer that we give should always be truthful. Even omitting some of the details is not being honest.
Employers are looking for honest answers for a few different reasons;
* if you can look them straight in the face, take accountability for your actions (past and present) and tell them the context of the incident and what the end result was, then that SHOWS that you are proactive about improving yourself. Which means:
* growth, maturing and learning from ones mistakes.
* it also tells them that you're honest, so at least some trust can be given.
* it helps confirm your innocence because you're not hiding it.
* As well as your ability to hold yourself accountable in the future for mistakes that you are bound make because everybody does.

2) some employers are looking for employees that are honest about their history. And some employers are looking for employees that just don't ''have a history''. No matter which one it is, They need to make sure that you are going to be able to fit in on a personal level with fellow co-workers in order to keep work a comfortable, harassment free zone so that everybody can successfully work together because then production doesn't slow down (no matter your job, your title, your pay, your length of time there you are a part of the company's production line.) There's always a chain of command. So by doing # 1, you are also helping decide if you will be comfortable working there. You don't want to be working with people who don't understand you right? If they wouldn't understand what happened, then they won't be able to understand you, as a person.

Nobody likes to be lied to, not about little things, and definitely not about big things. When it happens to you, don't you get upset because they took advantage of you? Businesses don't have time to waste which means they can't spare the trust for someone who won't be accountable for his decisions, it means a loss of money die to a slow down in production because someone won't say what did they did wrong in order for them to immediately resolve the issue

You are interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you. Everybody wants to not only make a good first impression, but also the right first impression.
Wouldn't it impress you if they were able to look past your 'history' and give you a shot at proving your worth?

And when you do look them in the eyes and tell them what happened and follow that up with the final decision, if they can't look past it, then nobody loses. You luck out by not working somewhere you can't be yourself (your *professional* self) and ultimately playing Russian roulette on whether or not you'll be looking for a job in a few months which could take a few months to find. And they luck out because they won't be putting their money to waste since they will find out and end up firing you causing them to have to find another person to fill the position which again slows down production and means a loss of money.
I know it's a cliche thing to say but honesty really is the best policy. I have been in management for 7 years and I can tell you that there is nothing more frustrating and more disappointing than to hire somebody only to find out that they lied to me the first time that we had ever met because then I start to wonder how many times since then they've lied to me how many more times they will lie to me and so on. Which will cause me to feel it necessary to pull back any trust that I have already given them and start trying to find someone else to fill the position.. again.
And even though they have lied to me I will still feel bad for having to fire them because I understand that it's going to put them in a predicament as well but I'm not the one who made them lie to me so hopefully they'll learn for next time and they don't do this to somebody else and also hopefully I'll be able to better interview the next person.

[horatiohornblower]

Are employment contracts an option in your industry. Basically you give up employment mobility for a few years and they can’t fire you without a financial penalty. For basically anything not directly work related. Since you weren’t convicted there’s nothing you have to divulge.

How about temp work in another city? Go by a pseudonym or get a name change. Change to some generic name like James Smith. So anything about you is basically impossible to weed out on social media.

you can also be self employed. Not everything requires a lot of spending to get started.

[andreasderjuengere]

It's up to you (and me) to break the rules of 'the System'.

But you can't expect that ''they'' are thankful for it.

People can 'recover' in many different ways - I suggest to re-think your job choices, and your own preferences in life. You may find that you're better off without these silly dollars?

[Asker]

I don't know what to at this point in terms of my career and finances. The only recourse may be to form my own business, but I can't do that alone.

[andreasderjuengere]

I've seen my own tough times. My first action always had been to cut running costs to a minimum, and to get rid of ''luxuries'' if necessary.
I NEVER surrendered my tools and other stuff that might get me through with grabbing the occasional job. And I was never too proud to shovel shit (so to say) - after a low, there always will be 'better' times again.