If you are a young Ohio person going to grad school or starting your career, you need to be aware that an OVI conviction could end your career before it even begins. How? If you intend to work in one of the professions, you need a license in order to do so. However, the licensing board may refuse to give you one or may rescind the one you already have if you receive a conviction for OVI or any other serious crime.
The Houston Chronicle warns that licensing boards look with disfavor on anyone with a criminal record who attempts to get or maintain the licenses they issue.
Other career roadblocks
Unfortunately, an OVI conviction can seriously hamper your ability to get hired for other types of employment as well. For instance, you likely will not be able to get a job that requires you to do any of the following:
- Work with children
- Work with mentally challenged adults
- Work in an IT department that handles sensitive information
- Work at any job that requires you do drive a vehicle, particularly jobs requiring you to have a commercial driver’s license
Background checks
Whatever jobs you apply for after your OVI conviction, your prospective employers almost certainly will run a background check on you. Consequently, they will obtain the following negative information about you:
- The court records from whichever court convicted you of OVI
- The incarceration records from any jail or prison in which you served time
- Your Ohio driving record reflecting your OVI conviction and any driver’s license suspension or revocation that resulted from it
- Your driving records from any other state(s) that likewise suspended or revoked your driver’s license because of your Ohio OVI conviction
Prospective employers may well see you as a poor employment risk once they review all of the above. They may well give the jobs you want to other applicants who have the same qualifications you do, plus a clean criminal record as well.
