Ex-offenders face many barriers to employment. While some barriers are psychological, attitudinal, and social in nature, others involve key economic, educational, skill, community, knowledge, and legal issues. Taken together, these barriers prevent people with criminal records from developing an effective job search and finding rewarding jobs. Such barriers are largely responsible for the high recidivism rate (70%) in America.

The good news is that ex-offenders can overcome most barriers to employment by taking certain actions that lead to success.

The most common barriers facing people with criminal records are listed below. Click on any of them to read more about that barrier.

• Limited re-entry resources
• Legal restrictions
• Weak support networks
• Dysfunctional communities and neighborhoods
• Negative attitudes
• Unclear goals
• Lack of job search skills
• Questionable work history and inadequate workplace skills
• Limited education and training