Geralinne went through trying times in her life when she was convicted of a misdemeanor. With her record, she could not find a job for 7 months. Once she came to Honest Jobs, she started working for a company within two weeks. Listening to her story proves how employers that are willing to give a second chance can truly change lives for many people. Learn about her experience in the video below:
Read the interview with Geralinne here:
What experience do you have with the criminal justice system?
Geralinne: “One day the baby was crying. I just got up, went to Walmart, got some formula. I took two cans of formula and coffee. I was surviving on coffee, ramen noodles, and formula. So, of course, they got it, but I didn't get arrested then or anything. A month later is when they actually found me. They didn't arrest me, but I’ve gone to court and all that. So it was a misdemeanor that is supposed to get expunged. But of course, it's been obstacle after obstacle. That's basically my story.”
What was your job searching experience like before you found Honest Jobs?
Geralinne: “We got furloughed when the pandemic started. So now I actually have a record when I'm trying to look for a job and it was hard. It's rejection after rejection. I was down, I was super down. I was just looking on Indeed for places that don't do background checks and stuff like that. Which for me professionally, after I worked so much doing trade shows and all that, it felt like a step back. I ended up having to interview for a job for $10 an hour and getting rejected. It was hard. I had applied for a couple that I thought were like fair-chance employers, but they weren’t so I got rejected.”
What was your job searching experience like with Honest Jobs?
Geralinne: “As soon as I created a profile, the girl called me. She just gave the basic interview questions and immediately was like “I'm going to send you a link. I want you to apply directly because I think you're a good candidate for a Checkr.” And she did and it was "whoop" from then on. She said, "These are the interview questions," so I got to practice before I actually went into the interview. Not even two weeks and I was hired.”
Tell us about your new job!
Geralinne: “In Florida, which is great, it’s $19 an hour. The benefits are awesome and they have unlimited PTO. What we're supposed to do is customer support, basically for the people that are trying to get hired and they have records (going by nature-time-nature). So far it's super great. You get to spend money to make your home office. So now, this weekend I have all my set-up coming. The first thing I did on Monday was say “Yep. I have it. I'm going to go ahead and do it and submit the receipt. Okay?” And she said “Yes”. And now I have my whole office setup coming. It's going to be new and it's going to be amazing.”
Would you recommend Honest Jobs to other formerly incarcerated job seekers?
Geralinne: “Aside from you guys being super kind and helpful, it was informative, you responded to every single thing in the kindest of ways. So I definitely would recommend you guys. And honestly, thank you from the bottom of my heart because this job seems great.”
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