Until a woman who learned programming in jail got a job as a developer on parole



If you have been arrested in the past, even if you have the ability, you will not be able to get a job due to occupational discrimination, and you will often commit a crime again for your life and return to jail. However, it has been talked about on SNS that a woman who learned programming after spending 13 years in prison was able to get a job as an engineer after being released on parole.

Jessica McKeller , CTO of pilot , a financial and tax service provider who was involved in finding a job for this woman, describes her knowledge and what a criminal person needs to get a job. ..



A woman who later became McKeller's friend was found guilty of a violent crime and spent 13 years in prison. The woman learned programming by taking a programming course in a prison through The LAST MILE, a rehabilitation promotion organization. The woman was subsequently released on parole.

McKeller met a woman at the Bay Area Freedom Collective, a former prisoner support group. The goal of women is to get a full-time job as a software developer, and when McKeller practiced interviews, she was far beyond the beginner level as a developer.

However, the actual interview did not go well. Employers are forbidden to ask questions about arrest history, etc. in San Francisco, but women's resumes have a 13-year career gap that requires explaining that they learned programming in jail to explain it. had. And it was possible to easily find out the violent crime that caused the woman to be arrested by searching on the Internet.



'She needs a company that is serious about her second chance,' McKeller contacted a friend of mine who works for a fintech company with 500 employees. The friend's company has an apprenticeship program and has set clear legal guidelines for hiring people who have been convicted in the past, so it seems that the system for accepting women was in place.

To realize the employment of women, Mr. McKeller made careful preparations for both women and companies. There are many challenges, such as how much advance women's information is provided to companies and how women who have only programmed in prison can answer the question 'What collaboration have you experienced so far?' Was present.

After spending dozens of hours preparing for the interview, the woman passed the online coding test, which is the primary interview, and passed the personnel interview, which is the secondary interview. After that, he challenged more complicated coding tasks, met with team members, had an interview, and then decided to hire him.

McKeller was one of the few prisoners who could learn programming in prison through The LAST MILE because of women getting jobs, and was released on parole in the San Francisco Bay Area, where it's easy to connect with support groups and tech companies. He also mentioned that McKeller had a friend who was an executive of 'a technology company that has clear legal interviewing standards and gives fair opportunities to former prisoners.'

To increase the opportunities this woman has had, McKeller said to companies that 'want to hire someone with a criminal history' through a reemployment program to 'check their background' and 'beginner level'. We call for “preparing employment” and “providing vocational training and proactive outreach such as reemployment programs”.



McKeller also mentioned volunteering in prisons and asking local lawmakers to increase subsidies for students studying in prisons.

In addition, comments from people with similar experience are lined up on the online bulletin board Hacker News, stating that 'learning coding is essential' for the reintegration of former prisoners.

My friend starts her job today, after learning to program in prison | Hacker News
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24652182

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in Software, Posted by darkhorse_log