Careers that don't ask for a clean record. Real work, real money, and how to get in.
Pay shown is the U.S. median for each occupation, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2024 (commercial divers: May 2023; machinists: May 2025). Starting pay runs lower. Half the field earns more.
Federal bans are narrow and mostly tied to crimes committed with a motor vehicle. The hazmat endorsement runs a separate TSA check. Everything else is carrier by carrier, and more carriers say yes every year.
FreeWorld is a nonprofit that takes people from prison to a commercial license to a paycheck. freeworld.org
There is no state license and no board. Certification comes from commercial dive school. Offshore work can require a TWIC card, and most records still qualify.
Commercial dive schools admit students with records. Call admissions and ask directly, they've heard it before.
No license required for roustabout and floorhand work. Companies run their own checks, and the industry has hired second-chance labor for decades. Offshore platforms can require a TWIC card.
Staffing firms that feed the oilfield hire records every day. Apply direct to operators and service companies too.
Certification comes from testing, not from a state board. Many people earn their first certs inside. AWS certification does not ask about your record. A few cities and states add their own license for certain structural jobs, so check local rules.
Many prison systems run welding programs. If you certified inside, those certs count outside.
TSA screens against a specific list of disqualifying offenses with a 10-year lookback. A short list of the worst crimes is permanently barred: espionage, treason, terrorism, murder, explosives. Expunged or pardoned convictions don't count against you. U.S. citizenship, a drug screen, and a credit check apply, and TSA makes the final call. The rule is a clock, not a wall. Other TSA credentials like PreCheck and TWIC run shorter clocks: seven years from conviction or five from release, whichever ends later.
No middleman on this one. TSA posts openings straight to jobs.tsa.gov. If your conviction is past the 10-year mark, or expunged or pardoned, apply.
Plumbing is a licensed trade, but the door in is the apprenticeship: you work and earn for years under someone else's license before a board ever reads your name. Since 2015, about 40 states have reformed licensing so a record only blocks you when the crime directly relates to the work. Around 21 states will tell you up front, for a small fee, whether your record is a problem before you spend a dime on training.
Registered apprenticeships are listed free at apprenticeship.gov. And if your state offers a pre-clearance petition, file it before you pay for school. The board answers before you spend.
Barbering is licensed in every state, and it's one of the most common trades taught inside. The old trap was the board: earn the skill in prison, get denied the license outside. About 40 states have reformed licensing since 2015 so a record only blocks you when the crime directly relates to the work, and a growing number now count hours earned inside toward the license. Around 21 states will rule on your record before you spend a dime on school.
Many prison systems run licensed barber programs. If your state offers a pre-clearance petition, file it before you enroll. The board answers before you spend.
Cosmetology is licensed in every state, and it's one of the largest trade programs in women's facilities. Boards used to deny licenses over records that had nothing to do with the chair. About 40 states have reformed that since 2015: the conviction has to relate to the work. Around 21 states will rule on your record before you enroll, so the tuition is never wasted.
If your state offers a pre-clearance petition, file it before you pay for school. And if you trained inside, make the board tell you what transfers.
That's the FAA's own answer on its own website. The exceptions are drug and alcohol convictions: a one-year wait to apply after conviction, and a substance history means showing about two years of sustained recovery for the medical. The medical application asks about convictions. Answer honestly, lying to the FAA is its own federal crime. TSA screens student pilots, and airlines run their own checks on top, so tours, charter, cargo, ag, and instructing are the realistic first rungs. The real gate isn't your record. It's the training bill.
No felon-specific pipeline in aviation yet. Flight schools train anyone who can pass the medical and the TSA screen. Call the school and ask straight.
No license. No board. No background check on a pull request. Employers run their own checks, and regulated corners like banking and defense have their own rules. The junior market is a fight right now, for everyone. The work you can show is the currency.
The Last Mile has taught full-stack development inside prisons since 2010, over 1,400 students across sixteen facilities, with recidivism under five percent. Next Chapter, built with Slack, runs year-long apprenticeships placing formerly incarcerated engineers at tech companies.
There is no state license and no licensing board. Journeyman status comes from the apprenticeship, not a government application. You'll need a CDL for the trucks, and a felony does not automatically disqualify you: the narrow federal lifetime bars are for using a commercial vehicle in drug crimes or human trafficking. DOT drug testing is constant, pre-employment and random, so solid sobriety is part of the job. Utilities can be cautious. Line construction contractors and storm restoration crews have long been the readier door. Be straight on every application. They will check, and lying is the only guaranteed no.
Registered line apprenticeships are listed free at apprenticeship.gov. Line contractors and storm restoration outfits run chronically short-handed. Walk in and ask straight.
The one federal gate is the EPA 608 certification for handling refrigerant. It's a knowledge exam: no background check, free study materials online, and the test runs $25 to $150. The certification never expires. State contractor licenses exist, but they belong to the company, not the tech starting out. Some residential outfits run their own checks because the work enters people's homes. Commercial, new construction, and install crews have long been the readier door. The federal numbers project 40,100 openings a year through 2034.
Registered HVAC apprenticeships are listed free at apprenticeship.gov. Trade schools admit students with records. Call admissions and ask straight, they've heard it before.
No license, no state board, no federal exam. The work is gated by tolerance, not paperwork. NIMS credentials are voluntary industry certifications that prove skill, with no background check. Defense and aerospace shops run clearances and their own checks. Job shops, tool rooms, and general manufacturing hire on skill and consistency. The federal numbers project 34,200 openings a year through 2034, every one of them replacing workers who leave or retire.
Registered machining apprenticeships are listed free at apprenticeship.gov. Job shops and tool rooms hire on skill and consistency. Walk in and ask straight.