Learners aged 14+ seeking understanding of record-sensitive employment access; all practice uses an adult fictional case and no learner must reveal any history.
Course 73 · Work course 26
Plan a Job Search With a Record
Plan a private job search, identify which local rules need checking, and practice responding to a fictional background-report error.
Before you start
Use Devin and the supplied fictional entries; do not gather personal court or identity documents.
See everything you’ll needWhat you’ll leave with
A private job-search plan with rules to check, ways to show your skills, and places to seek support.
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Your project
Start with the practice files. Build your project one lesson at a time.
Practice files are free without an account. Sign in to save your project record in My Proof: a description, checklist, and optional work link. Keep the original files in your own app or notebook; saving a project record does not upload them.
- Get your materialsDownload the practice worksheetUse the downloadable worksheet or toolkit alongside the lesson instructions.
- Make your projectView the project checklist Work in your own notebook, document, or software. Use the supplied practice examples when you prefer.
- Keep a private recordSave a project record Sign in to save a description and checklist, then return to update them.
Course handbook
Know the route before you begin.
Here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll make. You can return to this guide during any lesson.
- Use Devin and the supplied fictional entries; do not gather personal court or identity documents.
- Set up a private notes page with source and question columns.
- Read the federal sources and NYC example while keeping jurisdiction-specific rules distinct.
Finish with proof you can use.
Create a private job-search plan for the fictional case of a person with a criminal record.
Save a project record in My ProofSee project checklist and review criteria
Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.
What to include
- Define a target role, jurisdiction questions, and a privacy rule.
- Compare fictional record entries and identify specific discrepancies.
- Separate employer criteria, licensing rules, and hiring-process protections.
- Prepare job-relevant readiness evidence and a carefully scoped fictional response.
- Include a report-dispute plan, four support roles, next actions, and review triggers.
Review and revise
Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.
- Record literacy: the comparison separates identity, allegation, disposition, and specific reporting discrepancies.
- Authority: local rules, occupational restrictions, employer criteria, and legal questions are routed to appropriate sources.
- Readiness and dignity: relevant skills are evidenced without fabrication, stigma, or unnecessary personal disclosure.
- Practical follow-up: reporter and employer processes, support roles, and time-sensitive review questions remain distinct.
Three ideas to help you along the way
Three useful ideas
The rules behind the steps.
Preserve dignity
A record is one legal-information issue, not a complete description of a person.
Verify the actual rule
Place, role, record status, and employer type can change the answer.
Separate the processes
Skills preparation, legal advice, record correction, and hiring decisions have different roles.
What do these words mean?
Key words
Key terms worth knowing.
- Disposition
- The stated outcome or status of a legal case, which must be interpreted in context.
- Conviction
- A legal finding of guilt, distinct from an arrest or allegation.
- Background report
- Information supplied for screening, potentially including records and employment history.
- Fair-chance rule
- A jurisdiction-specific hiring protection concerning criminal-history consideration.
- Dispute
- A request to investigate and correct information believed inaccurate or incomplete.
Your route6 lessons.
6 lessons.
One useful project.
Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.
- 1Up next
Start with a private search scope
State the job-search question and the places whose rules you need to check. Use fictional details without collecting personal records.
- 228 min
Distinguish charges, outcomes, and reporting errors
Read fictional record entries without treating an allegation as a conviction.
- 328 min
Verify the rule for the job and the place
Separate employer criteria, legal restrictions, and local hiring-process protections.
- 428 min
Prepare readiness evidence and a limited response
Build job-relevant evidence while keeping any required history response accurate and appropriately scoped.
- 532 min
Respond to a background-report discrepancy
Create a private dispute and follow-up plan for a fictional third-party report.
- 632 min
Build a supported, private search plan
Combine legal-verification questions, skills evidence, and support routes into a usable plan.
Use the tools
See all tools Tools to help you practice.
Source transparency
Sources and further study.
Explore the references behind the lessons and take your learning further. Source notes explain access and reuse.
FTC — Employer background checks and your rights
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-10
Opened the August 2025 article and read third-party reporting permissions, notices, disputes, and local-law cautions. Federal reporting protections are scoped to covered background-report situations, not every informal inquiry.
Access: The FTC consumer article is free to read. No background report is purchased, personal record accessed, or dispute filed to complete this course.
Reuse: This specific FTC — Employer background checks and your rights resource supports the cited lessons. Life Starter’s scenarios, calculations, scripts, and questions are original; no source worksheet, logo, or endorsement is reused. Free reading is not a general reuse license.
EEOC — Arrest and conviction records in employment decisions
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-10
Read the 2012 guidance’s summary, arrest/conviction distinction, job-related factors, and restrictions sections. It remains published with its until-rescinded provision; the course does not determine liability or assert individualized assessment is required in every case.
Access: The named EEOC guidance is publicly readable without an account. Reading it does not open a complaint, obtain representation, or determine a personal legal outcome.
Reuse: This specific EEOC — Arrest and conviction records in employment decisions resource supports the cited lessons. Life Starter’s scenarios, calculations, scripts, and questions are original; no source worksheet, logo, or endorsement is reused. Free reading is not a general reuse license.
NYC Commission on Human Rights — Fair Chance Act legal guidance
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-10
Read the guidance updated for July 2021 amendments, including scope, exceptions, protected records, and response process. It replaces an older employee fact sheet with outdated timing; NYC rules are a local example, never a nationwide rule.
Access: NYC’s detailed Fair Chance Act guidance is free to read. It concerns NYC coverage and exceptions; no complaint, personal disclosure, or legal-service enrollment is required.
Reuse: This specific NYC Commission on Human Rights — Fair Chance Act legal guidance resource supports the cited lessons. Life Starter’s scenarios, calculations, scripts, and questions are original; no source worksheet, logo, or endorsement is reused. Free reading is not a general reuse license.
OpenStax, Rice University — Career evidence preparation
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-10
Read honest résumé, work-related evidence, and transferable-skills sections. Original readiness examples are used without stigmatizing labels or copied exercises.
Access: This specific OpenStax chapter is freely readable in a browser without an account. All required exercises are supplied here; no enrollment, certificate purchase, or university affiliation is needed.
Reuse: Original Life Starter examples, questions, and lesson sequence are informed by this OpenStax chapter. No source exercises, illustrations, quizzes, or logos are reproduced; consult the source’s own license for separate reuse.
Ready when you are
Start lesson one Start with the first useful move.
You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.
Open collaboration ideaHelp keep this complete course free.
Potential collaboration: Suitable for re-entry organizations, workforce programs, libraries, and legal-aid partners collaborating on employment preparation; legal representation, record relief, and eligibility remain separate.
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