Start Thinking Like the Underdog You Are
from White Collar Advice Hosted by Justin Paperny
About six months ago a former accountant who served 15 months for payroll protection fraud called me with one question: how do I disclose my felony conviction to potential employers. He didn't take the advice, because he called me today with the same problem while I'm in Montana still trying to get home. I reminded him that prison doesn't change the fact that he ran a successful business for more than 20 years and holds an undergraduate and a master's degree. He owned the conviction and accepted responsibility for it, but he isn't thinking like an underdog. Malcolm Gladwell wrote about that in David and Goliath. As a convicted felon looking for work, he's the underdog. So own it, talk about what you learned, say you're a better executive now because you understand the collateral consequences, and don't just talk about it. Write it. Build it out. Document it. There's also value in learning to tell your story. Go to business schools, USC, Stanford, the places I went. Accounting professors will welcome you. Educate young minds on the consequences of cheating, and you never know what comes from a professor who is now in your network. He says he's going to take the advice this time. We'll see.
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