How a Domestic Violence Conviction Can Affect Your Career and Job Prospects

Domestic violence carries serious penalties upon conviction. But people may pass judgment on you even before your case is settled. Friends may stop connecting with you and your spouse may badmouth you to colleagues and relatives before you can defend yourself. A domestic violence conviction will make it harder to repair your professional and personal relationships. Indeed, this could impact your career path and job options for good. Thus, to avoid these consequences, you should have a domestic violence lawyer near me helping you work on your defense.  

Although the domestic violence allegation may raise suspicions, people see a conviction as evidence of guilt. To reduce the impacts of a domestic violence charge, you must avoid a conviction or have the charges dropped altogether. Without a defense lawyer help preserve your future, it can be hard to:

Keep Your Current Job

While you may be able to return to your current work before the court date, you may have to take some time off, so you meet with your lawyer or attend court. Your boss might face public pressure to fire you or consider you a possible risk to their customers. Upon conviction, you spend time in jail and your employer has the right to let you go. 

Finding a New Job

A criminal conviction must be reported on future job applications. Although employers may overlook some offenses, they may not give you a chance, so they just move on to other job candidates. No matter how you lie about the conviction on a job application, a background check can disclose your criminal record. Plus, laying on the job application will disqualify you from employment. 

Stay In Your Preferred Field

Those who have an assault record cannot work in a lot of industries such as healthcare and education. A domestic violence conviction may end your career if you work as a social worker, work with children, or have a public-facing job. 

Maintain Licenses and Certification

A criminal conviction can result in the revocation of your professional license or the loss of certification. Also, you could lose membership in peer and professional organizations. 

Change Career Paths

You may try to go back to school after conviction to undergo training for a new job. Sadly, college applications are scrutinized the way employment requests are. Colleges and universities can reject your application if you have a criminal record. 

Because of the possible effects of a domestic violence conviction on your career and job prospects, you need a defense attorney with experience in this case. You need a lawyer who will review the evidence presented by the prosecutor, ask the right questions, and defend you successfully in court.