Article February 5, 2007 Issue

OUT OF PRISON AND WORKING FOR GOD

BY MARCIA ROSEN-KEMP

When we asked experienced job placement counselor Marcia Rosen-Kemp to write about the spiritual dimensions of helping people find employment, she said, "OK, if I can write in the way that I would talk about these ideas with the people I helped in my work." Marcia recently retired after 36 years with the Illinois Department of Employment Security. One of her assignments was helping ex-offenders get jobs after their release from incarceration. To many observers (including some in the social services field), her clients appeared to be men and women with a low potential for finding employment. But Marcia saw them in an entirely different light—as children of God—and she credits her success in job placement entirely to God answering her prayers, and those of the people she served. Here, then, is Marcia's message to job seekers "with a past."

IF YOU CAN'T PASS a criminal background check, it may seem very difficult to find a job. Even if you have valuable skills and work experience, as soon as you answer "Yes" to that question on the job application—"Have you ever been convicted of a felony?"—it seems that many employers are no longer interested in hiring you.

Perhaps you've made use of the various resources available: your state employment service, community organizations, résumé and job search workshops, and job posting websites. But there's another powerful resource available to you in your job search, a resource that never fails. That resource is God's precious love for you, a love that's unconditional, unlimited, and never gives up on you.

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