For people who have served time in jail or prison, sometimes the hardest part of getting a job is getting people to see past a criminal record. "That's the biggest thing, just getting them in the door," Ben Dotterer, who is an MSU graduate student working in the Spartan Fair Chance program. "Because if we get them in the door, they are going to be able to sell themselves with the opportunities we've helped them with."
Dotterer is one of a group of Michigan State students who help ex-cons and inmates fix up their resumes, cover letters, and job skills. "They've been really creative in trying to help our clients justify why they went to prison or what had happened in their past," Monica Jahner, who served time herself, and is the A.R.R.O. Re-Entry Program Manager said. She says the program helps people who aren't normally given a second chance.
"We don't want them to re-offend, because if they come home and they don't have anywhere to go, they don't have a house, they go back to the places they're familiar with that got em in trouble in the first place. That's a problem," Jahner said. This program helps pair ex-criminals with MSU students studying labor and HR. They use their expertise to teach former inmates the basic skills they need to land jobs.
"Sometimes it's something as simple as the initial handshake between them and the employer, the eye contact that they make, how they present themselves when they walk in, timeliness to the job," Dotterer said. Jahner says having these skills gives them confidence that many people right out of prison don't have.
That confidence makes them more appealing job applicants, and Dotterer says it only goes up when they finally get hired. "It's a great feeling. Usually I'll see them in here the next week, they just have this amazing smile on their face, like 'I am now ready to do anything,'" Dotterer said.
