Dive Brief:
Goodwill Industries International and Accenture are launching a virtual reality tool that allows job seekers with criminal backgrounds to practice their interviewing skills, interact with human resource professionals and hear from workers who have found employment after incarceration, the organizations announced April 7.
Through the project, called Project Overcome, job seekers will learn to “speak comfortably about their incarceration” and use up-to-date technologies.
Ten nonprofit Goodwill organizations around the U.S. will implement the project.
Dive Insight:
A handful of stakeholders are attempting to address the difficulties job seekers with criminal backgrounds face. State and local governments are enacting legislation that implements stronger protections for such job seekers. Illinois, for instance, recently passed a law that forbids employers from taking adverse actions against job seekers and workers based on past criminal activity, unless certain exceptions apply.