Permanently means permanently

De Beers trained the world that ‘a diamond is forever.’ You know what else is forever? Certain crimes remaining on your record. Those crimes can make you ineligible for certain jobs...forever. Unfortunately, I have come to understand that training the entire world to remember a marketing slogan is easier than forcing some people to appreciate the permanence of a criminal record. Let me attempt to enlighten you once again on what 'permanently ineligible' means.

At risk of repeating myself from previous posts, know that all jobs have background criteria that must be met in order for you to be eligible for that job. The criteria for many jobs is pretty basic– be a permanent resident of the country, for example. On the other side of the spectrum, you’ve got quite the laundry list of potential requirements. Schools have strict requirements because you are around minors, and there are several crimes that make a person permanently ineligible to work for schools. I will not get into the specifics; you're just going to need to take my word for it. Or, if you’ve got an active imagination, use that. Yuck.

Anyway, unless you get your record expunged—a very long, very difficult, very low probability of success process—your crime will remain on your record forever. It doesn't have an 'expiration date'. [Sidebar for the lawyers out there: we're going to keep this simple because I'm not going to get into specific legalities of certain things. No expiration date. Done.]

Not surprisingly, then, we always have a good chunk of folks who apply for a job with a school and end up disqualified based on something in their background.

[Sidebar: Actually, maybe I should be surprised by how many people are ineligible to work at a school? <thinks for a moment> I’m not sure.]

In any case, let’s move on: A non-trivial fraction of the disqualified candidates are, in fact, permanently ineligible to ever work at a school ever again. And, worse, a depressingly significant fraction of those people tend to apply several times per year for years to the same school position for which they are ineligible.

Yes. Sigh.

I have, innumerable times, spoken with someone who applied for the schools and relayed the news that they are ineligible for whatever reason. They are always shocked that they are not eligible and request to be transferred to HR to discuss the details (which, of course, I am more than happy to do). I am now wholly unsurprised when the person I transferred to HR last month applies again this month for the same position. But, despite being trained over and over again, I continue to be surprised that they are shocked (again) to learn that they are (still) permanently ineligible.

Apparently I’m a puppy that can’t be potty trained.

Permanent means permanent, people. Pick your favorite synonym: perpetual, everlasting, forever, set in stone...you get the drift. What made you permanently ineligible the last time you applied hasn't changed. So quit applying for the same bloody job every month or two that you cannot work (and quit being surprised by it every single time!!). I'm tired of explaining what you should already know.