Hey, I worked at Target when I was 19 and was taking items and selling them and got caught. I was charged with felony embezzlement. Making the long story short I pled guilty. I had no criminal record so the judge reduced it to misdemeanor embezzlement. I put in for jobs like Wendy's, Kroger's that do background checks and I was denied the job. What should I do?

Keep trying, smaller businesses. Not big chain stores, and not retail merchandise or electronics. That leaves restaurants, bakeries... many people with records get jobs that start at 4 or 5 am, and bakeries tend to do that.

This is the consequences of your actions.
Meanwhile, look into a trade to earn a skill. You have your whole life to think about. Start with the Education Connection online.

Actually it is an increasingly serious problem.


Background checking, and court record availability is getting increasingly sophisticated and complete.
Rates of criminal prosecutions for many things, some of which would formerly perhaps not be prosecuted, are also probably on the rise.

As a result, society is in effect making a large portion of the population virtually unemployable.

Unfortunately, your prior actions with money have pretty much excluded you being in a position to handle money again. Your best bet would be in some position far removed from contact with money. Hard lesson to learn. Landscaping, road construction, trade sector etc.

I agree wit ma. You were convicted for embezzling. It's all well and good that you claim to be sorry, claim to have learned your lesson, but in today's job market, with hundreds of people applying for one position, employers can afford to pick the best of the best. Why would they choose someone that has been convicted for stealing from their previous employer?

Look at it this way. You want to hire a babysitter for your child. You have 100 people applying to babysit. Of those people, one is a convicted sex offender. Would you hire that person? What if that person says it was a mistake, a mistake they did and continued doing until they got caught, but they learned their lesson. Would you trust that person with your child?

You did the crime, and sadly this is a consequence of that. Employers don't have to settle right now, they can choose the best, they can choose from 100's of applicants. So unless you find an employer that is into giving second chances, your employment outlook isn't good.