Where are the jobs in the Corvallis and Salem areas? (Albany: houses, construction jobs)

[shadowclaw]

My husband and I recently moved to Albany from the east coast. I'm a graduate student at OSU and my husband has had a mix of jobs over the years working in a warehouse, a factory, a restaurant, and a greenhouse, plus he was in the marines before I met him. He's been having a really difficult time finding a job in the area. He had a few interviews at the Target warehouse, Lowe's, some staffing agencies... they all keep declining to hire him because he has a marijuana charge on his record back in our home state (actually, it was just possession of paraphernalia, not even actual marijuana). Which I think is pretty strange, given that marijuana was recently legalized here.

So where are the jobs that don't care about a drug charge on your record? I'm really surprised that these kinds of jobs even do background checks. Back home, it was extremely rare for a warehouse or production job to even check your references, let alone do a criminal background check. Also, is there some secret to getting jobs to call you? There have been several jobs that never called and kept putting ads up online or in front of their business. Is the trick to call them everyday until they bend to your will?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I know that Lowes is serious about drug testing. They don't want drug users working the fork lifts. That's probably why the other warehouses drug test, too. Oregon law says recreational marijuana is legal but that landlords and businesses don't have to accept marijuana users. It's not unreasonable to assume that a person with a marijuana drug charge might be a user.

Since your husband has greenhouse experience, maybe he can get a job with one of the marijuana growers or processors. They hire people and they are going to be hiring a lot more people in the future.

Restaurant jobs, where no money is being handled and there isn't any interaction with the public probably don't check criminal records.

Construction jobs often have dopers working for them, so they don't care.

[Silverfall]

I agree that construction would be a good potential fit for him and there is a labor shortage in the area for them. I don't think anyone will hire for warehouse/forklift/machinery work with a drug arrest regardless of what it was for.

Ban the box legislation starts Jan of 2016 so he won't have to check that he was arrested on the initial application. It doesn't mean they won't do a criminal background check later, but that might help with getting some phone calls back.

[Nell Plotts]

An arrest is not a conviction so he may not have a criminal record.

[shadowclaw]

Thanks for the replies. The warehouse jobs didn't involve forklifts, but I can definitely understand not wanting drug users around machinery. However, that's what random drug tests are for! He was drug tested at each of his interviews and passed since he doesn't smoke anymore, so it's not an issue of ever failing a drug test. It's all about that one drug charge. It was particularly annoying when he worked for a week for one staffing agency at Target and then got a call not to come back because of his background. .

I will tell him to check out the construction jobs. We've both had our eyes open for greenhouse jobs, but there don't seem to be any hiring right now.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Sorry, OP. I checked all the housing wanted ads that were looking for 420 friendly, thinking that I could make note of where they were working.

But, only one person stated that he had a job and that was at a restaurant that I believe is a food cart. No one else mentioned anything about income or jobs.

[Metlakatla]

A misdemeanor marijuana charge doesn't condemn anyone to life sentence working at a food cart. I don't know what kind of restaurant experience he has, but most don't do a background check no matter what the position, although I've heard that some of the chains are beginning to. He could consider applying to some catering companies as holiday help.

For greenhouse jobs, there's a trade magazine put out by the Oregon Association of Nurserymen that has a classified section. It's available online, and it's called Digger Magazine. The large commercial growers that produce bedding plants and plugs start hiring in January.

As a veteran, he might be able to make use of this:

Hire Veterans - Jobs for Veterans - Job Board Hiring U.S. Military Veterans Employment Careers: home