BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Convicted Marijuana Grower Turned Successful Web Developer

This article is more than 7 years old.

When Chad Latham was convicted to spend 15 years behind bars for growing marijuana, he couldn’t have predicted what the future would hold for him. A decade into his sentence, marijuana was legalized in his state (Washington), and shortly afterward he received clemency from President Obama.

Sent out into the world a free man, Latham had some recalibrating to do. The looming question, of course, was "What now?"

Photo Courtesy of Pexels.com

In his teenage years he’d been interested in computers, and it had stuck. He’d managed to keep up with his computer skills in prison...even without access to the Internet. He read books and worked at the computer lab in prison, where devices were outfitted with approved programs. A few other inmates that were passionate about computers got together and had private sessions, learning how to code.

Upon his release, Latham enrolled in Galvanize’s 6-month Web Dev Immersive in Seattle, after reading about the coding camp phenomena while in prison.

A few months finishing the program, he now works as a frontend engineer at one of the top tech companies of the world.

Many getting out of jail find it difficult to reenter the workplace. The employment barriers facing former inmates are often severe, making a smooth re-integration difficult to impossible. In our interview below, Latham discusses his experience with this barrier, and how he managed to overcome it.

Bradford: After you were released, what was your plan? Was the Galvanize bootcamp your first option?

Latham: My goal I set for myself when I got out of prison was just to get any job in the computer field, so that I could begin to establish a little bit of history again, and my long-term goal was to work myself into a coding position. But [the bootcamp] was basically my second option. My primary plan was to go to work immediately, try to get back into the industry through working, you know, since I already had history in the field.

Bradford: And that fell through?

Latham: Yeah, when I got out, I ran into quite a bit of resistance from even low-level IT positions. One of them was the Goodwill. I went all the way through three stages of interviews at the Goodwill and then was denied because I had too much criminal background to work at Goodwill. Really surprised me on that one. Because my background was all growing marijuana. That's it.

Bradford: Right--nothing violent or anything.

Latham: Exactly. But it actually worked out really well, because after I was denied a few different jobs, my family was extremely supportive of me going to school and pursuing my programming career. That's really what I wanted to do anyway.

Bradford: So tell me about the Galvanize program. It’s basically full-time, 9-5, for six months, isn’t it?

Latham: It's full-time, May to October. As far as I know, it's the longest bootcamp out there. It turns into roughly 60 hours a week of school/homework time. You know, I probably put in more like 70. I was really focused on trying to get as much as I could possibly get out of the program, because it's also fairly expensive. So, you know, I kind of viewed it as the time to invest in myself.

Bradford: Would you say there’s anything notable about Galvanize as opposed to other programs?

Latham: The interesting thing about Galvanize is that it's not just a school space. It has a school mixed with a technology startup atmosphere. And they also have meetups for the Seattle area there, so you have different events and things going on all the time that kind of get you really mixed into the community.

Bradford: Is that how you made connections for the job you have now?

Latham: Yes--one of their senior engineers came to our presentations and saw me present, and that's how I ended up making that connection. Then I applied, and it just took roughly about 6 to 7 weeks to go through the application, interview, and acceptance process.

Bradford: Cool. So, I have to ask this, because you said you were having some issues doing jobs before you did Galvanize--afterward, did you still have push-back from having a criminal record?

Latham: Yeah. No, I really didn't. I had two job offers, and neither of them cared about the background. With my company now, they asked and I had to declare it and they were okay with it. But as far as the other company goes, they didn't even ask about the background. A lot of the companies I talked to, all they were concerned about was, "Can you code? Do you work on these types of projects?" They were more interested in "can you do the job" than "what was your history."

Bradford: What about your experience at Galvanize itself? Did you mention your history to them?

Latham: Yeah. So, I don't know if I needed to disclose it or not, but I did. The very first thing I did when I was looking into the school, I called them up and told them exactly what my situation was and asked them for their input. Did they think that if I went to their school and was a successful graduate and worked really hard, that I would be able to get a job afterwards. And they did some looking into it and came back and said, "Yeah, we think it's a good choice for you. Just know that there's no guarantees, but if you differentiate yourself from the rest of the students by doing really well, then you should be just fine."

Bradford: Do you think your experience would have been different if you had committed a different type of crime?

Latham: Probably. And since in my state – I'm in Washington State – they've now legalized what I did. So it's a completely different world atmosphere around here. Even though I don't ever discount that – I mean, it was illegal when I did what I did, and that's the price I paid. But, you know, there's a lot of people around here that are just like, "Why were you even there?"

Bradford: Considering that, though, the fact that you still initially found it difficult to get a job is kind of telling about the post-prison environment for convicts.

Latham: It’s hard. They won’t even look at your application [if you’ve checked the criminal history box]. But another thing that's really interesting in Seattle specifically, they made a law a couple years ago called Ban the Box initiative, which basically requires that all employers not ask the question until there's a job offer on the table.

Bradford: That’s really interesting. That seems like it would make it more fair.

Latham: Yeah. So they have to go through the entire interview process and actually decide if they want you, and then offer you the job, and then you have to disclose your background. So they usually give you contingent job offers based on background checks. It gives them a chance to get to know you and decide whether they want you or not based on the merits rather than your prior history.

Bradford: Lastly, how has it been having your first full-time job after prison?

Latham: It's wonderful. I mean, it's really the key to enabling a good life. Even in prison, I was focused on being as productive as possible. I worked in the computer lab and held computer classes and earned a bachelor’s degree while I was there. You definitely have the option to sit there and do nothing. That's your choice. But you have to work to make life work.