Finding CNA job with mistake

[Curiousdog]

Hello,

I made a mistake 9 years ago by putting myself in the wrong place (college party) at the wrong time (4am). It was reported as theft (my cousin took a cell phone from a party) and assault (the owner of the phone punched my cousin in the face, starting a fight). For political reasons (a girl was murdered there by an unknown burglar, and numerous robberies went unsolved that night), the charges were changed to first degree robbery 24 hours later. I was facing 3 years minimum mandatory in jail and went through a very traumatic experience that led to a plea deal of second degree robbery without any jail time. The judge said at the day of my sentencing that it was not a robbery.

With the belief that I would never have a career, I became an alcoholic. This would all change when I was accepted into a 4 year university after I received a bachelors degree. I made the deans list regularly, improved my writing skills tremendously, almost had straight As one semester, joined many student organizations, held 2 student organization leadership positions, placed in the top 10% of my business class, placed in the top 15% of the overall undergraduate class, volunteered for many causes, and completed 2 internships.

Then came time to find a job. With my felony, I couldn't even get a job with a temp service. I applied to 700 positions. All were dead end jobs, but my fellow classmates also received dead end jobs. I opened my second construction business and it went nowhere. I recalled my probation officer urging me to become a nurse. I had family members who urged me to become a nurse. I met felons who were nurses. I know 10 guys who became nurses.

I called the Dean of Nursing at my college and she said that, unless it was a sex offense, it was possible. I decided to test the waters and get my foot in the door by becoming a CNA. The board stated that there are people who have gotten into far worse trouble than me who became nurses (a kleptomaniac, a man with an extensive felony record) and the only person that they denied a license was a guy that posed as a nurse without a nursing license.

My question is regarding finding a job. How many applications do you think I would have to fill before I got a yes? I know someone with a clean record that only had to fill out 3. I also heard that males were in demand because of lifting the patients. Thank you for any info.