Not long ago, EMPLOY met with “Mark”, who is living in a Southeastern Minnesota city that has a reputation for being difficult to find employment in if you have a criminal background.  Mark credits his training for helping to overcome this obstacle. 

Mark said he gained confidence during his training, which was important because he was very apprehensive to interview—the thought of selling his skills and disclosing his background to a potential employer was very daunting.  In fact, the first opportunity he had to discuss his criminal history, Mark lied.  After he left the job site, he remembered the lessons from his job skills training class and went back to the employer and was honest about his background. 

As a result, Mark has been working full-time for the last 10 months at a construction company, a trade he learned after getting this job.  Now he’s mending relationships, getting reacquainted with his family, and has plans to become a truck driver.  The advice he would like to offer other EMPLOY participants is this:

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