> Also, the stigma of having a criminal record sticks to you forever. Even now, in my middle 30's, it's nearly impossible for me to get a tech job even though my felonious history was from when I was a teenager. You pretty much have to resign yourself to the fact that you'll work at 50% of the salary as your peers or have to make your own future by starting your own companies and projects.
You do not have to resign yourself to anything. I have built a career in the valley and I am currently far above market salary doing the work that I love at a company I love. That was after starting in this industry with no demonstrable computing experience and a felony conviction after four months pretrial detention, without so much as a college degree. I have discussed my experiences before and have found that the companies that understand and work with me, oddly, end up being the places I want to work.
A record only makes you work even harder for the success that you want. I work three times harder than most coasters around me because I know I have something to prove. Resigning yourself to the impossibility of success is letting your incarceration and the system win. Never resign yourself to anything, and above all never let the system win.
You do not have to resign yourself to anything. I have built a career in the valley and I am currently far above market salary doing the work that I love at a company I love. That was after starting in this industry with no demonstrable computing experience and a felony conviction after four months pretrial detention, without so much as a college degree. I have discussed my experiences before and have found that the companies that understand and work with me, oddly, end up being the places I want to work.
A record only makes you work even harder for the success that you want. I work three times harder than most coasters around me because I know I have something to prove. Resigning yourself to the impossibility of success is letting your incarceration and the system win. Never resign yourself to anything, and above all never let the system win.