Frequently asked questions

Lead with what you can do, not your record. Your record does not go on your resume. Use a format that puts skills, certifications and real work first, including work you did while you were inside. Handle the gap honestly and briefly. Steel Man Resumes is a free tool built for exactly this: tell it your real story and leave with a resume, a cover letter and a career report, no account needed.

Do not invent a cover story. Put real things in the gap: jobs you held inside, certifications, classes, programs you finished. In the interview, keep it short, own it, and move to what you have done since and why you are ready now. Steel Man Resumes helps you write and practice that answer before you are sitting in the chair.

It depends on the job and where you live. Many states and cities have ban the box laws that stop employers from asking about your record on the first application. Some jobs, like health care, schools and finance, require a background check no matter what. Never lie on an application: that can get you fired later. Steel Man Resumes has a free disclosure planner that helps you decide when to bring it up and what to say. This is coaching, not legal advice.

Yes. The Forge is free with no account, no email and no credit card. Bring a resume, a phone photo of a paper one, or nothing at all, and leave with a resume, a cover letter and a career report. The Refinery is also free: create an account to tailor your resume to a job, plan what to say about your record, practice interviews, find jobs and track your applications. If you want Troy to write your resume personally, contact him for pricing.

The Refinery is your free private workspace for the whole job hunt. Aim your resume at one job, build a disclosure plan for the record conversation, practice the interview by text or out loud, search jobs, track every application, and keep your documents in an encrypted vault. Everything you built in The Forge is already there when you sign up.

The tools cost nothing: The Forge and The Refinery are free. A resume written personally by Troy is also available; contact him directly for current pricing. The tools are free because they scale. Troy's time is what costs money.

Anyone who needs a job and has something in the way: a felony or misdemeanor record, time in prison or jail, a gap in work history, recovery, homelessness, leaving a violent situation, job hopping, or no degree. Programs and practitioners call this justice-impacted employment. Steel Man Resumes was built by someone who has been there, on a decade of direct service.