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"...Holds the potential of becoming one of the decade's most significant books....a force for good in changing lives and conserving public resources."--Joyce Lain Kennedy, syndicated careers columnist

"The book is essential for correctional facility libraries and correctional counselors but will also be useful in public libraries."--Library Journal

"Great book! And great website....a marvelous guide for those who have served time in prison and are now coming back into society....I heartily recommend this book to job counselors, employment services centers, and anyone who is, who knows, or who works with former felons."--Margaret Riley Dikel, author of numerous career books and owner of www.rileyguide.com

"...Provides, without pulling any punches, a thorough, detailed primer on job hunting that emphasizes re-entering the workforce after incarceration....With many examples, exercises, and what-if scenarios, the book goes far beyond the I-need-a-job-any-job mindset."--ForeWord

"As a convicted felon who has spent the past 19 years in prison, I can tell you from personal experience that this book has the potential to change lives...I've spent countless hours wondering. And with seemingly no place to turn to for help. Until now! I know of no other single book currently in use in any Pre-Release Program that has the potential to impact the incarcerated like The Ex-Offender's Job Hunting Guide. Ron and Caryl Krannich have definitely done their homework, otherwise they wouldn't be so in-tune with the issues convicted felons face. This book should be required reading...They truly are on the right track. This resource gives us the job search tools we so desperately need, yet not without addressing core issues of thought and attitude. Convicted felons, for whatever reason, need a road map and this book gives us one."--Beaumont, Texas

"I am presently developing a curriculum focusing on re-establishing ex-offenders and their families into society and the workplace. Your website is a Godsend!!"--T.N., Instructor

ISBN: 1-57023-236-9

By Ron and Caryl Krannich, Ph.Ds

Finding a job is one of the most important challenges facing the nearly 7.7 million ex-offenders who leave prisons, jails, and detention centers each year. Indeed, for someone who has lost everything, successful re-entry into a community becomes very difficult.

Without a job and support network to help meet the immediate needs of food, housing, health care, and transportation, and often saddled with financial obligations, many ex-offenders soon fall back on old habits, relationships, and temptations that lead them back to the prison doors.

While many employers may not want to hire someone with a criminal record, others are willing to give ex-offenders a second chance and help them get back on their feet and move ahead with their lives.

Indeed, we live in a society that both admires and supports people who can pick themselves up, change their lives, and go on to achieve their dreams.

But what should ex-offenders do in order to land a good job? Where should they go to find a job they do well and enjoy doing?

Here's the book that provides important answers to many re-entry questions facing ex-offenders. Beginning with an examination of 20 myths/realities and 22 principles for success, two of America's leading employment experts reveal 10 steps to job and career success:

1. Examine and change your attitudes
   
2. Conduct research on jobs and communities
   
3. Seek assistance and become proactive
   
4. Write effective resumes and letters
   
5. Select appropriate job search approaches
   
6. Network for information, advice, and referrals
   
7. Assess your skills and identify your MAS
   
8. Develop winning job interview skills
   
9. State a powerful objective
   
10. Negotiate salary and benefits like a pro

A final chapter goes one step further in examining what to do once you've landed the job - how to survive and prosper on the job as well as advance your career.

Rich in insights and filled with practical examples, exercises, and resources, here's the book that can make a big difference in the lives of ex-offenders. Follow each step and you'll begin meeting employers who will want to hire you because of your unique talents and your new attitudes and motivations.

You'll find a job that you both do well and enjoy doing. Best of all, your Second Act will be living a new and productive life centered around your work, family, and community. Foreword by Joyce Lain Kennedy. 224 pages. 7 x 10. Softcover. April 2005.

SPECIAL QUANTITY DISCOUNTS: Take advantage of our discounts on multiple copies. Just click on the number of copies you want in the box above. If you have questions about placing your order and wish to purchase additional copies, call 800-361-1055, and we will be glad to assist you.

DON'T MISS READING the Foreword by Joyce Lain Kennedy and the first chapter of the book, below! Her May 1, 2005 column, Careers Now: New Book Really Works For Ex-Offenders, discusses this book.

If you like this book, you may want to check out our list of related titles by clicking here.

SPECIAL HIGHLIGHTS

• 20 myths and realities
  
• 22 principles for success
  
• 20 workplace excuses to avoid
  
• 45 valued attitudes
  
• 8 job fair tips
  
• 20 job application tips
  
• 45 resume errors to avoid
  
• 5 R's of interviewing
  
• 42 common interview errors
  
• 43 interview "do's"
  
• 46 questions you might be asked
  
• 18 questions you should ask
  
• 18 dress and appearance tips
  
• 10 critical job keeping strategies
  
• 10 top Internet employment sites
  
• 103 compensation options

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Getting a New and Improved Life
   
2. Be Truthful, Realistic, and Focused on Shaping Your Future
   
3. Examine and Change Your Attitudes
   
4. Seek Assistance and Become Proactive
   
5. Select Appropriate Job Search Approaches
   
6. Assess Your Skills and Identify Your MAS
   
7. State a Powerful Objective
   
8. Conduct Research on Jobs, Employers, and Communities
   
9. Write Effective Applications, Resumes, and Letters
   
10. Network for Information, Advice, and Referrals
    
11. Develop Winning Interview Skills
    
12. Negotiate Salary and Benefits Like a Pro
    
13. Starting Right, Surviving, and Advancing Your Career

FROM THE BOOK: FOREWORD by Joyce Lain Kennedy

At first glance, some may assume this book is another in a long list of job search guides. I am not one of them.

To my eye, The Ex-Offender's Job Hunting Guide holds the potential of becoming one of the decade's most significant books. Ace authors Ron and Caryl Krannich introduce in these pages authentic and painstakingly researched answers to a huge question that's hard to get helping-hands around:

Exactly what must ex-offenders do to avoid being shut out of life-changing employment?

Good question. As a nation, we are locking up more people for longer periods than at any time in our history. A quarter-century ago we had a total prison population of 500,000. That number has quadrupled to more than 2 million men and women behind bars today. Add to these numbers another 5 million on parole or probation.

Talk about consequences to society - the lockup and monitoring tab runs billions of dollars, which means cuts in other essential needs like education and health care.

Despite the calamitous correctional costs, the prison system isn't adequately rehabilitating offenders who have paid their debt to society and who now need to take care of themselves on the outside. The stats are jaw-dropping:

Nearly 7.7 million men and women are released each year from prisons, jails, and detention centers. But within three years, seven out of 10 ex-offenders are returned to prison.

Many factors - from drugs and indolence, to education and skills - are responsible for the cycle of reincarceration plaguing us. But I think that most observers would agree that a root cause of the dysfunctional prison system is joblessness.

Ex-offenders must rock-climb higher cliffs to reach rewards of good employment than do seekers who are free of criminal records. Moreover, most ex-offenders don't have a clue about how to find decent jobs that give them good reasons to stay clean on the outside, supporting themselves, paying taxes, raising families, and contributing to the economy.

I speak from personal knowledge about ex-inmates being babes in the job woods. Over the years I've heard from countless offenders and ex-offenders, as well as their mothers, wives, and other loved ones:

How can I (or my loved one) start a new life with a good job with a future? How do I find people who will consider hiring me? How do I explain my background? Do I have to admit I've been in prison? Can you recommend groups that help ex-offenders? Can you recommend books about the job search?

I've always wished that I had better resources to recommend to those soulful questioners. Not that other authors haven't addressed ex-offender employment issues. Some have done admirable work. But most focus on the need to clean up bad attitudes and only incidentally explain the infrastructure and finer points of smart job search.

The latter body of knowledge is where Ron and Caryl Krannich shine. With solid credentials as two of the nation's top employment experts, they use these pages to pair a powerful grasp of effective job search principles with the special needs of released felons.

Far from being "just another job search manual," The Ex-Offender's Job Hunting Guide is a force for good in changing lives and conserving public resources.

To ex-offenders, here is a blueprint for The Good Life.

Joyce Lain Kennedy is a syndicated careers columnist whose work appears in newspapers and on websites across the country.



EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK: Chapter 1: Getting a New and Improved Life

So you've paid your debt to society. Now it's time to focus on your future and move ahead with your life.

Just how forgiving is society of your background? How well will family members, friends, and strangers accept you? Are you mentally prepared for what may come next, especially rejections from prospective employers because of your background? Will your criminal record accompany you throughout your life? Who will you initially hang out with? Will they help or hinder your re-entry? Are you essentially on your own, or will you seek assistance from individuals and community groups that are familiar with the challenges facing someone with your background? Will you become a story of successful re-entry, or will you return to prison within the coming months?

What comes next as you enter the free world and start to shape the next stage of your life? How do you plan to "make it" on the outside? Have you had an attitude, motivation, and self-esteem check-up recently? Do you have goals and dreams? How realistic are you about your future? Do you know what you do well and enjoy doing? Can you locate employers who need your skills and share your goals? Will you be truthful when asked if you've ever been convicted of a crime? How will you explain your criminal record? Whom will you approach for assistance? How will you go about landing a decent job? Will you keep that new job and turn it into a long-term and rewarding career that could well change your life and the lives of those around you?

One final question for the weeks and months ahead: Do you have the necessary attitudes, skills, abilities, and values to land a good job that could turn your life around?


There's No Place to Hide These Days

These and many other questions are central to the following pages. As you will quickly discover, ex-offenders and others with red flags in their backgrounds have no place to hide these days. Indeed, in today's increasingly high-tech and litigious society, more and more employers conduct thorough background checks, contact references, and administer a variety of revealing aptitude, psychological, and polygraph tests.

If you have a felony conviction, you are most likely marked for life. That conviction will follow you everywhere, from looking for a job and establishing credit to getting a visa to enter other countries. If you think you can make that conviction disappear, except in your mind, forget it.

Therefore, it's best that you be prepared to explain your conviction in the most positive, yet honest, way possible. That involves dealing with potential objections to your background and demonstrating that you are a person of value to others. To do otherwise is to engage in wishful thinking - that you can escape your background as you create a whole new you.


A Sometimes Unforgiving World


Re-entry is all about picking yourself up and running in the right direction. Despite sincere efforts to change their lives, ex-offenders often face an unforgiving world. Let's face it: ex-offenders are not welcome in many places. If you've done the crime and feel you've completed your time, think again. You are viewed by many people as a risky person to do business with.

Depending on your crime, many people may not want you as a neighbor, employee, or customer. Sex offenders, for example, are often viewed as the lowest of criminals. Just start filling out a job application when you encounter that red flag question on the first page -

Have you ever been convicted of a crime? If yes, give details.

How will you answer that potentially job-stopper question? Will you tell the truth, the whole truth, or let this incriminating question pass you by with a lie? Minor vehicular, drug, and petty larceny convictions, for example, are more acceptable to the community, and ostensibly more rehabilitative, than violent assault, homicide, and sex offenses.

Indeed, many past offenders continue to pay for their earlier indiscretions, as individuals and institutions discriminate against them in the housing, financial, and job markets.

You may, for example, have difficulty renting an apartment or getting a loan to purchase a home, establishing credit, opening a checking account, applying for a credit card, and finding a good paying and secure job. In addition, depending on your crime, you may be restricted from entering certain professions, traveling outside the United States, and voting in elections.

At the same time, you may also discover a very forgiving world for those who demonstrate sincere efforts to change their lives for the better. You'll want to get to know these people better as you re-enter and progress in the free world.


Psychological Challenges and Freedom


The psychological adjustments of post-release can be especially challenging. Few people really understand what you've gone through and the problems you now face. Nor should you expect them to empathize and lend you a helping hand. Your future lies in your own hands, assisted by a set of supportive relationships you develop in the coming weeks and months.

Indeed, over the last several months or years you've been in a controlled environment where survival and acceptance meant following the rules and taking orders rather than expressing your independence and initiative. You lost your independence, and many of your friends and family may have abandoned you.

Worst of all, you may have lost one of your most valuable inner assets - your self-esteem. Experiencing failure, feeling abandoned, and lacking meaningful work, you may become angry, confused, and negative. You find it difficult to get motivated, keep focused, and remain positive about your future and your relationships.


Focus on Your Future

But that's the past, and it will soon be in the distance as you move ahead in your life. It's now time to seriously focus on your future as you prepare for the many psychological challenges as well as the practical day-to-day aspects of living a new and more productive life.

While you will always carry some baggage (your past conviction and incarceration) that can at times weigh you down, you must focus on the future with renewed optimism and a "can do" attitude that reflects independence, initiative, and entrepreneurship. Most important of all, you will need to build a new set of relationships and skills that will result in job and career success.


Experience Job Search Success


One of the best ways to deal with the challenges of post-release is to experience success. You can do this by becoming a successful job seeker who lands a good job that will give you a renewed sense of self-esteem and help you rebuild your life financially and socially. Finding such a job may not be easy, but the rewards of doing so are immeasurable.

In fact, you should focus laser-like on finding a good job. Like many other job seekers, you'll experience many rejections. But if you persist with a positive attitude, supportive relationships, and a resume and/or application that commands attention, you should be able to land job interviews that lead to a decent job you both do well and enjoy doing.

But without the proper job search skills and information for navigating today's job market, you may become too disheartened and disillusioned with your failure to find a good job as you encounter many rejections.

That's our mission throughout this book - to help you land a decent job that can well change your life for the better. Without such a job, you may quickly become another "recidivism statistic" - 70 percent of ex-offenders return to jails and prisons within three years of release.

Failing to find rewarding employment, they tend to revert to old relationships and predictable patterns of behavior that lead them back to the same controlling institutions. That's not a life - that's a sentence. You should be free to succeed in an increasingly forgiving, accepting, and entrepreneurial world that rewards individuals who demonstrate talent, hard work, and perseverance.


10 Steps to a New Life in the Work World


This is not a book about the whole re-entry process. Rather, the following pages focus on proven strategies for finding a job. But not for just finding any job. Our goal is to help you connect with the right job - one that you do well and enjoy doing. Such a job should relate to your unique talents, values, and goals.

While your first job out may not pay well, it should give you an opportunity to prove yourself and thus establish a good employment record of performance. It should lead to other jobs that pay better and have a brighter future.

The important thing is to land that first job out from which you can launch a satisfying career. If you closely follow our 10 steps to job search success, you should be successful in finding a good job and starting a new and productive worklife.

Since this book includes strategies that you can use over and over again as you change jobs and careers, you'll want to keep it for future reference after you land your first job.

The figure on page 5 illustrates our 10 steps to job search success. The first step, Examine and Change Your Attitudes, is found in Chapter 3.

The final step, Negotiate Salary and Benefits Like a Pro, is detailed in Chapter 12.

Chapter 2 sets the stage for the 10 steps by examining 20 key myths and realities as well as 22 key principles for success.

The final chapter, "Starting Right, Surviving, and Advancing Your Career," puts the whole job search within the context of the actual job - what you need to do to be successful on the job as well as to advance your career.

We wish you well as your embark on this next phase in your life. Like many other people in transition, you face a new world with dreams and a renewed sense of purpose. If you follow our advice, were confident you'll eventually achieve your dreams as well as avoid many disappointments along the way.

As we note throughout this book, you have within you the power to change your life. With the help of this book and your network of supporters, you can unleash that power in today's job market. Just be sure you take the necessary actions to make your dreams come true!

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