Female ex-offender is looking for career direction

Q: I was 19 years old when I was railroaded into a guilty plea of possession of a stolen vehicle. Also, while I was with abusive boyfriends, I was arrested for domestic violence a few times. I also have two misdemeanors of solicitation to prostitution. The only reason why I plead guilty was because the judge told me if I plead guilty, she would release me from jail that day, or I could spend months in jail fighting it. As for the domestic violence, I was 7 months pregnant and when Jim hit me, I hit back. Anyhow, I guess non of that matters anyhow, like anyone is going to believe me. The only thing that does matter now is that I am a 2 x honor roll student studying for my Bachelor of Arts in the Health Care Administration field. I really want to be a nurse but I am afraid my record is going to mess me up. I have no drug record and I have has no arrests since February of 2004. I cannot work hard labor jobs because I have 5 liver diseases and one autoimmune disease (I see a pain specialist to manage my pain problem). This is why I chose to go to college. If I cannot work in the medical field, can I maybe get a degree that would put me in a position to work with victims of abuse (since I was abused most of my life and I think I would make a great counselor)? What can I do career-wise that will help me make enough money not to be homeless? God bless you and thank you for thinking of all of us who really want to lead a good life.

Christina from Las Vegas

A: Hello Christina,

It is good you are taking positive steps to improve yourself. I suggest that you contact the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners to inquire if your convictions would prohibit you from hold a license. You can contact them here:

http://medboard.nv.gov/New_FAQs_Licensing.htm

In the meantime you can contact your local One-stop Career center. There are counselors there that can help you select a career path and other very helpful services. Often there are counselors who have experience working with ex-offenders and felons looking for jobs.

You can find the centers in you area here:

http://www.servicelocator.org/Search/etaSearchOffice.asp?zip=&city=las%20vegas&state=NV&proximity=10&search=Search

The counselors there also can help an ex-offender find a job.

Good luck.

Are you an ex-offender who has a question about finding a job with a criminal record? You could have your question answered right here. Email your question to: BelievePublications@comcast.net.