Finding education and training
You do not need a high school diploma or a clean record to start building skills. These are the most common starting points people use:
- GED or high school equivalency: usually free through a local library, adult-education program, or community college.
- Community college and vocational certificates: many schools offer fee waivers, financial aid, or short (a few months) certificate programs in high-demand fields.
- Registered apprenticeships: paid, on-the-job training in trades such as electrical, plumbing, welding, and construction, often with no cost to you.
Finding a job that will hire you
Two U.S. Department of Labor-backed programs exist specifically to help with the parts of job-hunting that are hardest with a record:
- CareerOneStop: Job Seekers with a Criminal Record (run by the U.S. Department of Labor): a step-by-step guide, a tool to find in-person reentry programs near you, and a job search tool built for this.
- The Federal Bonding Program (bonds4jobs.com): free fidelity bonding that protects an employer against theft or dishonesty for your first six months on a job, at no cost to you or them — a real answer to “who will hire someone with my record.”
Fair-chance hiring and background checks
Some states and cities limit when an employer can ask about your record (often called “ban the box” laws), and public employers sometimes have their own fair-chance hiring rules. These protections vary by state and by city, which is exactly the kind of detail we point you to the state-by-state map for rather than guess at here.
Programs, eligibility rules, and costs change. Call ahead to confirm what is currently open and what it requires.