When a career drug dealer who has spent time in jail decides to get clean and sober and get a REAL job there are barriers to overcome and they usually need help.
There are tons of people offering helpful advice on how to write great resumes, how to craft a stunning cover letter, how to impress an employer in an interview and all the other do’s and don’ts of the job search challenge. As an Employment and Training Counselor for the State of Wisconsin for 15 years I had lots of opportunity to test out all the advice on my unemployed customers.
Some of the most challenging people to write resumes for were those who had very scattered or even NO work history. Some of them had plenty of money making under their belts and others volunteered for years but didn’t know what to do with it when their money was earned illegally and their volunteer work was in prison!
Fortunately I was raised to believe that everyone was created with special gifts, talents and abilities that no one else in the world ever has had or ever will have because none of us are alike. The challenge was to help people discover the good they have to offer and how to get paid to do it in a legitimate lifestyle. When considering the 2000 or more resumes I wrote over the years, one particular resume always comes to mind.
This gentleman came to me at the age of 25 straight from the jail after being convicted of dealing drugs. He stated that he didn’t have any skills because he had never “worked” anywhere except for dealing drugs. I asked him if he was any good at dealing drugs and he indicated he was making several thousand dollars a week.
Now I am not suggesting anyone consider becoming an illegal drug dealer but this gentleman merely needed to realize he had the skills to have a great career, he just needed to do it in a job that wasn’t illegal! He told me he might be interested in customer service or manufacturing so this is what we came up with;
TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
1-CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SALES– Able to develop a satisfied and loyal customer base by identifying, anticipating, and providing products at a reasonable cost in a timely manner.
2- PURCHASING AND DELIVERY– Able to identify high quality, low cost product suppliers and set up safe, reliable and prompt delivery methods while maintaining a high profit margin.
3-PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT– Interviewed, hired, trained and supervised dependable, honest and trustworthy staff ensuring that outlets in several cities were operating with positive results.
4-FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT-Built a successful business from the ground up by establishing tight inventory control, requiring up-front payment for products, promptly collecting any outstanding debts and successfully establishing and managing budgets
5- MANUFACTURING– Experienced in receiving raw materials. setting up a manufacturing product line, filling product orders to specification, packaging and shipping products in a timely manner.
COME ON NOW what are you laughing at?? I realize many think this just isn’t an honest way for a drug dealer to present themselves but to run a successful business for 10 years without getting arrested or ending up dead, he clearly had all the skills listed right??
After 6 months of looking for a job without as much as one call back, he got a job in customer service in only a week with this new strategy! Granted it wasn’t on the resume alone because he had some explaining to do, like why he was in jail and why his only references were the jailer and his probation officer! Writing a letter of introduction/intent is a must in this job market so we had to write one. Now I don’t recommend this approach for probably 95% of my job seekers but we didn’t have much to lose.
The cover letter was a simple “I have screwed up my life and made a lot of bad choices but i really do have the skills listed on
my resume and I am ready to live an honest life” type of 
thing. Not using those words exactly but you get the idea.
We also had to practice interviewing because when you don’t think you have anything to offer and you are used to talking about yourself in negative terms it is a change to be positive and confident. You may need to write it down and practice.
He called me nine years after he got that first job to tell me he had moved from his customer service job to take a job in manufacturing where he had been working for over eight years. He had never been in trouble again but without a different approach he may have been “stuck” in what he believed was all he could do.
If you are an employer, correctional worker or anyone else reading this, don’t make the mistake of judging a book by it’s cover or a person by their criminal record. There are lots of things that may have led up to those issues that have nothing to do with someone not being a trustworthy reliable hardworking person. Take time to get to know the person and consider giving them a chance to prove themselves. You will change lives in more powerful ways than you can imagine.
Linda Larson Schlitz is an International Speaker, Best Selling Author and Corporate Trainer providing HOPE to families, schools, businesses and individuals who are ready to initiate change to make this world a better place. She has a Masters Degree in Counseling and over 30 years experience developing creative programs and services for youth and adults in churches, schools, job centers and the community. She is the owner of Purpose Driven Recovery Academy LLC and Faucet of HOPE Ministries LLC. She has received the Red Cross Hometown Hero and Athena Leadership Award, and has received commendations from Wausau Mayor, Jim Tipple, the Secretary of Workforce Development Reggie Newson and Governor Scott Walker for hers exemplary work with the citizens of Wisconsin and for being an example for others to follow. 
