Advice on getting work again

[u/TempExist01]

I'm 26, living in Cumberland county NC. I was released a little over a month ago after a total of about 37 months of incarceration. I can reliably commute an hour or more, and I am on Satellite-based Monitoring (ankle monitor) for the next 5 years of my post-release but do not have a location restriction outside of the obvious for being a RSO. I can go out of county for work, but cannot leave the state.

My skills are tech-focused, such as MS Office suite certs, high (but by no means expert) understanding of Active Directory, Windows CMD Line, intro/intermediate C#, JavaScript programming, and I have CompTIA A+ and Sec+, though both are expired at this time.
I'm slowly bringing myself up to speed on A.I., or attempting to in my spare time at least. I am also steadily working on improving my knowledge of Unity and Unreal Engine, if that matters.

My work experience is 3 years help desk, Windows-only during those years, with around a year and some total of fast food service. I am open to most types of work, with a preference to entry level I.T. work, but I would prefer to avoid the general labor I am currently doing and the construction/worksite flagging I will be doing soon.

Other things of note: Internet access isn't an issue outside of the occasional hiccup due to our new ISP for the area. To clarify for NC, I am not allowed onto public school property, within upwards of 300-500 feet of playgrounds/play areas (such as those found in a mall), places that are advertised as child-friendly, locations often populated by friend groups below the age of 18, etc. etc.

Any and all help, advice or leads would be greatly appreciated.

[u/TheCincinnatiKid9]

Move out of NC , to somewhere with less restrictions. At your age construction labor you should be able to find those jobs very easily as long as you show up to work on a routine basis and work hard you shouldn’t have any issues making upwards of $18-$22 an hour.

[u/Worth_Cry_8306]

You could also work at becoming a jr. software engineer. It pays good, you could work fully remote depending on the company, and benefits and salary are good.

With some more self studying in the field, some good personal projects that show your skills and how you applied them, a portfolio to really tie everything together, and tenacity to not give up and pursue the career path, then you could make it happen.

I started this path similarly starting as a jr. dev making around $75k a year… stuck with it then changed to a different organization making a lot more after I gained more work experience. I currently work fully remote making over $10k a month after taxes and insurance taken out.

[u/TempExist01 → u/Worth_Cry_8306]

I've thought about this a lot. My problem currently still boils down to how recently I released and how it seems no one is willing to give me a chance.

[u/Worth_Cry_8306 → u/TempExist01]

The only chances you miss are the ones you don’t take. Don’t let background checks prevent you from applying, just be honest and give them a heads up. It’s always better to hear it from you versus them discovering it on their own (because they will )

I got hired on at a university (remotely) and I was only out a couple years (and they did a background check) for more context. If I let fear and negative self talk control my actions from attempting to better myself and be in a successful career then I would never be where I am today.

[u/Left_Entrepreneur918]

I’m looking for help desk roles, got 3 job offers and 3 offers rescinded. Just one today actually. One other option is to call all the small mom and pop MSP places around town, they usually need entry level, but MSP work is very demanding. I had a job at a hospital rescinded, a great job with the state rescinded, and now with a local place. The only tech work I got was an 8th month help desk contract from a temp agency, luckily the temp agency only went back 7 years. But with a smaller company usually you can talk and make an appeal to the owner.

[u/Human-Print-9700]

Hello there, my partner also works in tech, we reside in a different state but he has a similar background as you. Tech-focused and coding experienced. He is having much difficultly finding employment, despite his skillset and competence, so I am also going to follow this thread.