Study offers job interview advice for ex-convicts

May 1 (UPI) -- Getting hired is serious problem for ex-convicts as they try to successfully rejoin society. New research suggests an apology is key to a successful interview.

"Apologizing for your past criminal offense seems to be the most effective strategy in reducing concerns about your underlying trustworthiness as a person of integrity," lead researcher Abdifatah Ali, a doctoral student in psychology at Michigan State University, said in a news release.

Roughly 70 million people in the United States have a criminal history, one-third of all adults. Studies suggest employment is strongly linked with a reduction in recidivism. But as many ex-cons can attest, getting a job once out of prison is a significant challenge.

Many city and states have banned the use of a criminal history checkbox on job applications. The goal of the ban is to delay a discussion of an otherwise qualified candidate's criminal history until later in the hiring process -- getting more ex-cons into interviews.

In three studies, researchers had volunteer evaluators read job applications or watch job interviews during which applicants offered various answers and explanations in response to questions about their criminal past.

When asked about their criminal history, applicants offered one of three response types: an excuse, apology or justification.

"The core issue that we were trying to address from a psychological perspective is how applicants with a criminal record can best present information regarding their offense," said Abdifatah. "From a counseling standpoint there aren't any evidence-based strategies of how to best present themselves in those situations."

Evaluators filled out surveys after watching the job interviews. They were most likely to be convinced of an applicant's good behavior if he or she apologized for their crimes. Justification was also moderately successful at instilling confidence in the evaluator, but not as effective as an apology.

Researchers published the results of the three studies in the Journal of Applied Psychology.