I've seen it happen, no way. Right to work, too, sigh.

To be clear I moved from the Oakland area down here, so it's not like I came here from Cleveland. Also, I have no ill will for Google and just hope I can move on with my life, while warning people what they're getting into.

I've dreamed of working at Google since I was a teenager. Finally my career trajectory lined up and I got there. Then I have to come to terms with my dream company acting like an incompetent fast food chain in terms of HR. Tough enough without a lawsuit.

Moreover, that's not how it works in SV. Assuming you do good work, nobody will care if you sued Google and settled except perhaps Google. I know plenty of engineers who were fired from companies like Facebook and Twitter for perfectly legitimate reasons and are now working at similarly-awesome companies as engineers. And this is a situation where the termination was 100% warranted and broadly known in "the incestuous Valley."

I would have fired them had they done the same and I would have also hired them at another company, assuming they learned their lesson and otherwise seemed like people with integrity.

That's the thing, is this stupid college mistake on my record undermines my integrity. Never mind that I've been employed at multiple companies and been trusted with user data far and beyond what Google would ever trust me with.

I would have hoped that after a five year history in this industry, I would have demonstrated some integrity. Not even my character references, who will happily vouch for my integrity, can sway these people.

Remember folks, HR is not your advocate. They are risk mitigation.

Thank you for the support, I really appreciate it.

One strategy is to try to hide your past, figuring it won't hurt you with the latter two and might incrementally help you with the former. I wouldn't adopt this strategy.

Instead, assuming it truly is "minor," I'd own it. Write a blog post about how your past has made it harder for you to find work. Talk about what you did, specifically, and all your feelings about it then and now.

Don't name names of companies, but perhaps share some (anonymized) stories. Whatever you do, it can't sound like sour grapes. You have to be magnanimous to the last drop. You have to swallow every last bite of indignation you have. You need to say and believe things like, "If I'm honest with myself, I can understand why Company X made the decision they did even if I felt they handled it inappropriately and ultimately made the wrong decision for the wrong reason."

Try to tie it into a larger story, perhaps raising questions about whether the tech world is really a meritocracy, e.g., "Silicon Valley is a Meritocracy, Unless You Broke the Law as a Kid." Maybe try to reach out to other folks who have had similar experiences, e.g., "Are you an engineer whose past makes it hard for you to find work? You're not alone."

The response on this thread alone should be good enough evidence that folks would be interested in the story.

This will do a few things. First, it gets you exposure. Second, it immediately gets the attention of folks in the neutral and positive camps. The former will go, "WTF? We don't care about this. How stupid of people to reject a candidate for those reasons; let's interview him." The latter will go, "Holy shit! This is our kind of guy; let's interview him!"

You have nothing to lose, really, because this information is going to come out over the course of any interview no matter what. Turn it into your armor rather than resign yourself to having a sword in your belly.

This is a community of hackers in both senses of the word. Computer Tampering is a felony on the same level as manslaughter in one place I've lived. I like your thinking.

I've also e-mailed you, and appreciate your advice, yet again.

I don't see what harm there would be in getting a professional opinion, anyway.

It's just not worth it, and they know that, which is why they treated me like shit.

I would. Unfortunately I'm up north in Sacramento. I don't know how long ago your ordeal was, what your situation is now, or your engineering background, but feel free to ping me.

I'm moving out to the Bay Area next year (for non-work-related reasons) and while I hear plenty of good things about working for Google, I would never do it. For me personally, choosing to work for them would be an implicit endorsement of their hiring/personnel/privacy/politcal practices, which I can't abide.

Bad enough that it should happen once (to the parent), but repeated incidents would point to some gross organizational dysfunction.

I served my probation sentence and am beyond tired of being punished for the same thing. If hiring people are reading this and understanding just that last sentence that I typed, then I'm happy.

Criminal? Civil?

A further corruption: I've read that, even when there is a will to "take a chance" (aka employ and treat as a member of society) people with a criminal record, businesses can face obstacles -- sometimes insurmountable, for a smaller business -- to do so. One particular one: Insurance companies audit for such employees, and either cancel insurance or raise it to unaffordable rates.

America: Land of hypocrisy.

Never been to the States, but shouldn't there be a law against this?

Yes, there are laws and court cases that should change the outcome, but that means a lawsuit.

In other words, US employment frequently comes with a lot of implicit assumptions about your lifestyle.

Edit to add: fortunately random drug tests aren't very common in the tech industry.

I'd love to hear what else you can dish about that.

The direction is folly. I'll just say that.