Should I reveal my criminal record to new employers?

I was fired from my job for a wrong decision I made. I acknowledge my wrongdoing and have since paid for it. I want to start over again but my past looms over me. What do I say to a potential new employer when they ask why I left my former job? Won’t telling them the truth render me persona non grata hence forever unemployable? Peter .

Dear Peter,
Your question hinges on one of the cardinal pillars in employee relations, and that is integrity. We all know that everyone makes mistakes and everybody learns from either their own mistakes or from the mistakes of others.
It is also important to note that you took responsibility for your mistake and you are regretting it.

Ordinarily, when most people make mistakes, they look for scapegoats. The scapegoats include everybody else but themselves.
Some even take measures to cover up the mess they created and pretend it never happened.
This means that there was no learning from the mistakes made. It, therefore, takes real maturity for one to own up when they have made mistakes and then take action to correct what went wrong, while seeking lessons from the same mistakes.

That’s the kind of person any employer who treasures integrity as a value in the workplace would be looking for.
I advise that you should first of all forgive yourself. When you feel forgiven, you will experience freedom mentally which inevitably will rub off people you interact with and these may include potential employers.

Be ready to give a testimony incase you are invited for an interview and asked why you left your previous job.
Your answer should focus on the lessons you learnt from your mistakes.

Moses Ssesanga
Head Human Resource
NMG - Uganda
[email protected]