Rita Williams examines the systemic barriers that persist in fair chance hiring — including what happens when full transparency about a criminal record during the recruitment process still results in rejection. The piece documents both the personal experience of navigating those barriers and the structural conditions that produce them. Published in the Resilience Education Reentry Review on Medium.
For justice-impacted individuals, disclosing a criminal record honestly during the hiring process is presented as the correct path — the one that fair chance hiring rhetoric recommends. What happens when that transparency leads to rejection anyway is a question that fair chance conversations address less often. This article examines that gap: what it looks like when the process fails the people it claims to serve, and what systemic change would require.
Rita Williams’ full article on fair chance hiring, record disclosure, and the experience of rejection after transparency is available at the Resilience Education Reentry Review on Medium.
Rita Williams, You’re Transparent About Your Record During the Recruitment Process, But You Still Face Rejection. Now What?, Resilience Education Reentry Review (June 2, 2025), https://medium.com/re-entry-review/youre-transparent-about-your-record-during-the-recruitment-process-but-you-still-face-rejection-16ce98d17229.
Williams, R. (2025, June 2). You’re transparent about your record during the recruitment process, but you still face rejection. Now what? Resilience Education Reentry Review. https://medium.com/re-entry-review/youre-transparent-about-your-record-during-the-recruitment-process-but-you-still-face-rejection-16ce98d17229
Williams, Rita. “You’re Transparent About Your Record During the Recruitment Process, But You Still Face Rejection. Now What?” Resilience Education Reentry Review, 2 June 2025, medium.com/re-entry-review/youre-transparent-about-your-record-during-the-recruitment-process-but-you-still-face-rejection-16ce98d17229.
Williams, Rita. “You’re Transparent About Your Record During the Recruitment Process, But You Still Face Rejection. Now What?” Resilience Education Reentry Review, June 2, 2025. https://medium.com/re-entry-review/youre-transparent-about-your-record-during-the-recruitment-process-but-you-still-face-rejection-16ce98d17229.
