Getting interviews but now I have a criminal record

[Anonymous No.1193136]

Wsup /biz/, some of yall might remember the thread(s) I was making on here a couple weeks ago. A little over a month ago. I got arrested for a DUI, marijuana possession, and marijuana paraphernalia. I WAS NOT drunk, I blew a 0.000. I have a good lawyer and at this point kind of expect the DUI to get dropped. Either way though, the charges will show up on a background check.

Before this I was a pretty aimless, weed smoking Master's student studying international affairs. I have a high GPA and all that shit, but I really didn't know what I wanted to do with my life.This situation motivated me to make a LinkedIn and get my resume up to date.

I applied for some Research Analyst internship two days ago and already got a request for a 15 minute interview which will take place tomorrow afternoon. I'm pretty unprepared for the interview process and even more unprepared for the possibility of having to disclose pending charges. What do?

[Anonymous No.1193150]

>>1193136
You should probably get that "smoke weed" tattoo on your wrist removed, too.

[Anonymous No.1193152]

prepare for the interview and hope they don't ask. not much else you can do

[Anonymous No.1193155]

>>1193150

thank you for the bump!

[Anonymous No.1193168]

>>1193152

does getting a quick response and request for an interview mean I'm a strong candidate / have a strong resume? or that the company is shit?

my buddy, an econ major who's done a lot of internships and is now looking for a job, seems to get interview requests like a week or so after applying

[Anonymous No.1193227]

>>1193168

depends, in my area if i apply for a job(just did a month ago) they'll respond almost immediately because of high demand

if international affairs is a well sought field and you get a quick response, just set the interview one week into the future and educate yourself about the company

one company offered to pay me 1/3 more than the others, but sadly it was a real shitty company

[Anonymous No.1193233]

>>1193227

I already set the interview for tomorrow afternoon.

The job is not specifically for international relations majors. It's more of a marketing analyst internship for a company that's expanding into some international markets (so that's what I framed my resume and cover letter around, my knowledge of international affairs and markets)

[Anonymous No.1193239]

>>1193233

try to read the facial expression of the other workers there(if any) close to lunch you should actually see happier ppl, unless they are all always stressed out

but there is not much more that i could tell you

[Anonymous No.1193589]

bump

[Anonymous No.1194129]

one more bump even tho i dont know if there's anything anyone can tell me

[Anonymous No.1194147]

>>1193136
I hate to be negative but you're going to have a hard time finding a job with a drug possession charge. Just don't mention it unless they ask and do the interview anyways.

[Anonymous No.1194162]

>>1194147

My buddy got a pretty good entry-level finance gig and he has a trail of misdemeanors following him from when we were in high school (he's 24, same age as me). He said they didn't even do a background check on him

He did a lot of stupid shit as well. Multiple disorderly conducts, a possession charge or two. I know he got at least a couple internships/jobs during undergrad as well, even with the record.

He's white though.......

[Anonymous No.1194166]

This is all so frustrating because I know that if I didn't get arrested then I wouldn't have found this motivation to be applying for internships....... but now that I'm applying I feel unhireable. goddamit

[Anonymous No.1194175]

charges =\= conviction

However the charges are pending. If they were dropped than that's way better. How's the legal situation? Are your mugshots online? On how many websites?

You won't have them show up until you have been selected. Most companies don't background check or drug test until you have been selected. It's just the final step. Unless it's something high profile.

>be 18 for 2 months
>have weed in friends car
>he speeds and gets pulled over
>welp pot arrest
>god tier lawyer finds police misconduct. No conviction. However I still have a charge (which I haven't gotten expunged/sealed yet)

I had a hard time finding internships and the arrest/experience really hurt my self esteem. Don't lose sight on your career and keep your chin up. 6 years later I'm an engineer working at one of the Xbox huge telecom companies (which had an extensive background check process)

Some mugshot sites remove the charges for free if it's just pot and its expunged. Link them to your counties online page of your arrest. Others want 50-400+ dollars. What a racket.

And I have a unique as fuck name too. The mugshots were the first hits for awhile. But by getting the free mugshots taken down and making a linked in, Twitter (professional one in your real name), Google +, etc that stuff has been pushed back. And now I'm on my company page too. Still my mugshot is on the second page of google images. Whatever I fucked up.

If it ever comes up: "anon it says here you were arrested for possession of marijuana, care to explain" I'll just say I was young and dumb, but that isn't me anymore.

OP get a good lawyer, I spent 2k on mine at the time. You might want to have ~5k on hand for everything since I doubt you'll get off without a conviction like I did (unless you become a police informant for a month)

Ask any questions you want. Oh also stop smoking weed if you haven't already. Stop associating with it either.

[Anonymous No.1194190]

>>1194175

Thanks for the reply man. The arrest happened over a month ago. After the first two or three days of feeling sorry for myself, I immediately started thinking about my future and how this would affect my career. That's how I ended up on /biz/ in the first place.

-- No mugshot, somehow. No newspaper story either. I was cool to the cop, so even though I got charged for a DUI (again, totally bogus, I blew a 0.000, got pulled over for expire plates), he just took me to the station, did paperwork, and let me call a friend to take me home. Record of my arrest and charges are only the local municipal court website. The internship is just one city away though, so I would imagine they would know to look there.

-- I have the best lawyer in town. Already paid him $2500. He hasn't made any predictions on my case because we're still waiting for the urine test to come back (the DUI charge is contingent on my pee having weed in it, which it will). Maybe he'll find some police misconduct. He's confident the possession/paraphernalia will get brought down, though.

and yeah I've quit smoking. It sucks because it didn't stop me from getting halfway through graduate school with a good ass GPA, I just got popped for some revenue collection.

I'll pray that this company doesn't do background checks OR that their HR ladies are understanding liberals who will give a guy a second chance.

[Anonymous No.1194208]

>>1194190
Charges are still pending so I don't think it'll come up for this interview you have. But it might so be ready to answer for it. Tbhfam idk what you should say. Maybe you went a little too wild at a party?

You are lucky there's no mugshot. It might not be indexed on Google yet though. Try googling your full name in quotes "anon anon anonson" just to be sure. Check a few pages. You just had to go to the municipal court? In my case I had to go to municipal at my arrest and county because I bailed before I could be arraigned. That's when everything showed up as my official arrest date.

GG on the urine sample. But you never know. It may be clean. Misconduct can be anything. Even bad info on the report "cop reported shit was in the car whee. It was really in my pocket," also he was doing a ride along with a civilian that interfered with the investigation.

Also stop associating with pot smokers. You are in a state where it is illegal. If they are in your program then they're fine. You don't want your arrest getting around through word of mouth either.

You're just at the beginning man. When this is all over ask your lawyer about getting the record expunged or sealed. Be ready to pay for probation/court fees and drug classes/rehab.

Also stop smoking. Forever. You are in your 20s. If it means that much to you then go somewhere where it's legal. Just understand your habit may very well have made it that much harder for you to be successful and has already closed some doors for your life.

[ClarenDong No.1194210]

>>1193136
First, Congrats on the interview.

If you're looking for advice, do the following:
-Research the company. don't be afraid to share information you know about the company or project, but don't go over board.
-Research the type of position. What type of questions might get asked of you.
-Also read up on basic BS 'getting to know you' interview questions.
-Do not disclose any criminal or drug history unless you are directly asked the question. If you are directly asked, fess up. Spin it as you are more mature now, you learned your lesson, you're remorseful and it DEFINITELY won't happen again.
-Last but far from least, if this is one of your first 'real' interviews, moderate your expectations. It's entirely possible you might crash, burn and not get the job. And you know what? Thats OK. Interviewing is a skill, you will get better with practice. This is a learning experience for you and you should go in there with that attitude.

Now go kick some ass!

[Anonymous No.1194211]

>>1194190
They may affect you in the future if you don't get your record expunged/sealed. Strong emphasis on getting that done ASAP when it's all done. One charge looks bad. Three charges is shitty.

It would help if you can post your state and maybe your county if you are comfortable. Chances are if you live in a shit poor county then you won't have as much problems. In richer counties the legal system grabs you by the dick and shakes all the money it can out of you.

[Anonymous No.1194241]

>>1194208
Yeah, I only went to municipal. I've gone to court once, it was just a formality since the urine wasn't back yet. I go back in early May. I think the urine should be back and we'll talk to the prosecutor then.

>>1194210
Thanks for the encouragement. This is my first "real" interview, I suppose. I'm not going to count retail and shit as real. I'm definitely prepared to not get this internship, and honestly I just applied to get something out there and it's in a city close to where I live at now. If I get it then that's all a bonus!

>>1194211
I'm in Ohio, DUIs are referred to as OVIs. A convicted or reduced OVI can't be expunged so I really need my lawyer to come through on this....

I also have a pretty liberal judge, idk if that helps my case unless I go to trial...

This board is so helpful, man. Thank yall so much.

[Anonymous No.1194250]

>>1193136
Move to California; Job applications here specifically say not to mention pot related arrests / convictions.

[Anonymous No.1194252]

>>1194250

My backup, backup plan is to apply for work in California-type places for that reason. I think New York bans background checks for misdemeanors or something as well?

[Anonymous No.1194255]

>>1194190

Note that if you have a DUI conviction on record, you won't be able to do much international travel. Many countries have lifetime bans on people with a DUI (Canada for example).

[Anonymous No.1194273]

>>1194255

Right, I believe for Canada it's 5 or 7 years at least? But border guards can let you in on their discretion. I do have family in Canada, so I'll have to cross that bridge when I get there.

I would say there's a very slim chance of the DUI not, at least, getting reduced to a reckless driving charge. That might still keep me out of Canada, not sure though.

The first week or two after getting arrested I spent hours on end googling things that I CAN'T do with a criminal record

>go to Canada
>teach ESL in the countries where you make bank w/ no living expenses (South Korea, Japan, backwards ass Persian Gulf oil countries)

I also have citizenship to another country. I wonder if I could do some shit and get visas to places through that