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Comment by bennysomething | Hacker News Reader

A friend of mine had a class a drugs possession conviction that was unspent at the time he was applying for jobs as a graduate. He just lied on the form about criminal records. Small firms don't bother with checks. Obviously this doesn't apply to financial institutions etc who do check.

He's still employed now and has had a fairly decent career.

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If I was an employer considering to hire an ex-convict who was jailed for fraud, my main worry would be that they would pull some stupid shit again. Especially with code there seem to be many opportunities (adding backdoors, access to sensitive databases...).

Lying in the application process would do little to alleviate that worry. Sure the, employer would have to find out first. But is it really the first thing an ex-convict looking for a job should do?

> is it really the first thing an ex-convict looking for a job should do?

Well the first part of your post describes why that might be necessary (i.e. you imply you would be unlikely to hire an ex-convict because they might do 'stupid shit', while OP is trying to find a job to get his feet back on the ground).

Nobody wants to lie, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to sort your life out.

Sure if nothing else works, but sorting your life out by doing the same thing that landed you in prison to begin with really strikes me as a bad idea.

It's maybe sort of a fundamental attitude, either you are honest or not.

Also this "I had no other choice" rationale also seems like a risk factor for slipping into crime again.

Pragmatically, I'd not be prepared to lie because it is a criminal offence, fraud, and I doubt a court would look kindly on a repeat offence. But I tend to agree: "you gotta do what you gotta do", in my case feed the kids.

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