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Ex-Cons Remember Their Worst Jobs After Being Released from Prison

From a gig as a farm hand that involved fixing a cow's prolapsed vagina, to a job that involved picking up trash while walking through raw sewage.

Image via Flickr User Rusty Clark

Getting a job when you first get out of prison can be a nightmare. Most employers refuse to hire someone fresh out the feds or convicts who are still incarcerated but allowed to get a job through "work-release." Other prisoners are so shell-shocked from being back in a society that changed dramatically while they were locked up, that figuring out how to do basic things like use public transportation or a cell phone can feel like a Herculean task. According to the National Institute of Justice, over 60 percent of ex-cons are jobless up to a year after release.

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That said, getting a job is a necessary step for prisoners to integrate back into society. Often times, it's a requirement by the criminal justice system, or else freshly-released inmates will risk being sent back to the feds. But even when ex-cons do manage to get hired, the work is underpaid, demoralizing, and their employers don't do much to encourage the re-entry process. There are organizers that help former prisoners assimilate into the workforce, but the support is generally few and far between.

After serving 23 years in the feds, the first job I got on the outside was as a sauté cook at an Italian restaurant, despite my earning two college degrees while in prison. The work sucked, and I was forced to do the grunt work no one else would do, like clean out the fryers every night. I wasn't in any position to argue and risk being canned, and my employers took advantage of this. I dreaded that job, but as I've talked with other ex-cons over the years about their first gigs on the outside, I now consider myself lucky. The fact that over 75 percent of ex-cons are rearrested within five years of release should be no surprise when the only jobs offered to people with criminal records are the gigs no one else applies for. VICE chatted with three ex-cons to get more perspective on what re-entering the workforce was like once they got out of prison.

Image of cattle ranchers via Wikimedia Creative Commons

Mendoor Smith, 43-Year-Old from Iowa
Served 12 Years for Marijuana Possession
Released from Custody in 2013

The worst job I had was working on a cattle ranch as a utility farmer, making $8.25 an hour. I had to be there from about 6 AM to 5 PM every day, and the commute was 45 minutes from the halfway house I was placed in. It wasn't really tough work, but the handling of manure and animals was rough, as was taking care of the calves and cows. Dealing with cows everyday is messy, and I'd have to clean out their living pens.

I remember calving one shift during the winter, and when I did my hourly inspection of the herd, I noticed a cow with an extremely bad vaginal prolapse. I called my boss and he called the vet who came out at four in the morning. I had to lift the cow's vaginal insides and hold them while the vet tried to stuff them back inside the cow. After about an hour and a half of lifting and stuffing this slimy, nasty thing, the vet finally got it all back inside and sewed up. When I did my final inspection of the morning at 10 AM, the cow had died. All that work was for nothing. Having to stick my entire arm in a cow to help pull out a calf was not fun either. You work super hard to pull one of the slimy things out, and then you have to scoop the little thing up and take off before the cow attacks you for holding its calf. Having a 1,200 pound animal chase you is a little intimidating.

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I had two coworkers that knew about my [criminal] situation. They asked a lot of questions, stuff about what was prison like and what I did to get all that time. My boss was a good boss. He helped me get my Class A driver's license so I could drive trucks for him. He was a big help and was instrumental in me getting the job I have now. The farm was a tight-knit family, so I was treated well, but the work was completely horrible. It prepared me for the struggle of rebuilding my life after prison, though. It didn't kill me and it made me stronger. That job sucked, but I was still glad to have it because I wouldn't be in the position I'm in today otherwise.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

David Hibdon, 55-Year-Old from Missouri
Served 10 Years for Drug Conspiracy
Released from Custody in 2014

My first job out of prison was the worst job available in Colombia, Missouri. I was picking up trash at the city dump in 100-plus degree weather for $8 an hour. I had to walk around 27 acres and pick up the trash that blew off the trucks, rain or shine. Some days I walked through raw sewage, or mud up to my ankles. The halfway house didn't provide transportation to the job, and I had to walk there every morning. It was a seven mile walk that took over two hours. I had to be there at seven in the morning and got off at 4 PM, with only a short lunch break in between. With my first paycheck, I bought a bike and then it only took me forty minutes to get to work. I was making about 50 bucks a day, but I was required to give 25 percent to the halfway house. If I bought a soda or cigarettes I was almost broke. It took me two months in the halfway house to save up and buy a $500 car.

I worked there because it was the only job available. Nobody wanted the job because of the stink and the dust blowing on you from the trash trucks. No one else would take these jobs besides ex-cons at the halfway house. And all the other ex-cons that worked there would sleep on a nearby hill or smoke K2 all day while I was working. I was alienated out there. It was one of the most degrading experiences I ever went through, but I got past it. It sure didn't help me become a better person cause I was still the same after.

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I've had four jobs since I've been out, and I never told anyone I was on parole until after I was hired, or they wouldn't have hired me. I eventually started my own business, subcontracting myself out to do maintenance on rental properties. I could go back to the dump if I wanted, but that job sucked.

Mike Vargas, 44-Year-Old from Washington DC
Served 14 Years for a Drug Conspiracy
Released from Custody in 2009

It wasn't hard getting a job when I came home, it just wasn't a good job. I started working the same week I was released at this telemarketing place that hired ex-cons at $7.25 an hour. You had to be there talking to people on the phone all day, cold calling, trying to collect donations for different organizations around the state and country. It was cool at first, but after a while I was starting to feel like a robot.

I worked with mostly young people, and there were also a bunch of ex-cons working there. Anybody could have got hired at this place, but the conditions were terrible. You had a total of 16 minutes of break time for a full eight hour shift. If you went to get a Coke, you had to clock out. If you went to the bathroom, you had to clock out. If you didn't kiss ass, you were an outsider. There was a lot of favoritism, and also a big turnover within staff, of course.

Dudes would curse out the boss. One dude even jumped up, picked up a computer, and slammed it down because he couldn't get anybody to donate. He walked out shortly after. But most ex-cons needed the job to get out of the halfway house, so they just kept working there until something better came along. I quit that job when I had something better lined up. It served its purpose because if you don't have a gig you have to stay at the halfway. I've had like seven or eight jobs since then. I've done a lot of different things, but that was the worst. I'm a machinist now, and I assemble parts all day at a machine. It's easier and the pay is better, but I am always looking for something better.

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