Add the jobs you hire for and every tool in this
journey computes on them: your wages, your competition, your talent shed.
Find and recruit
The Table: interview coaching for the hiring chair
Prepare to interview people returning from incarceration, in recovery, leaving the military or living with a disability: what you may and may not ask, the mistake most employers make, practice from both chairs, and a structured interview you can print.
Built from The legal rails for each group as of October 2026 (ADA, EEOC arrest and conviction guidance, Indiana Code 35-38-9-10 on expunged records), structured-interview evidence (Sackett et al., 2022; Kuncel et al., 2013) and if-then commitments (Gollwitzer and Sheeran, 2006)
Five population briefs, seven hiring-chair modules, every scenario the candidates practice, and a four-step interview builder that prints a scored guide. Everything you build stays on your device; nothing is sent to Invest Hamilton County.
The interview is done. Here is the decision framework, the incentives as they actually stand, and the first-90-days plan.
Strong candidate, record disclosed, interview handled well on both sides. What remains is a defensible yes and a first-90-days plan that makes the yes stick. The incentive picture, honestly, as of August 2026: Federal Bonding is active and free. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit lapsed December 31, 2025 and is in hiatus; Congress has reinstated it retroactively before and a bipartisan five-year extension is pending, so keep screening and keep documentation, but do not build the business case on money that is not currently authorized. Indiana's HIRE program and WorkOne services are active.
The defensible yes: “Your boss asks: how do we know this is a sound hire?”
Strong move
That file answers your boss, your insurer, and 2 a.m. you, all three. The assessment shows job-related reasoning (EEOC, 2012). The bond caps the downside at zero cost. The evidence base says second-chance hires perform at or above peers with better retention where measured at scale (SHRM, 2021; Johns Hopkins, 2017). You are not asking anyone to take a leap. You are showing them a process that already landed.
Depends on the room
Two problems. WOTC is in hiatus right now, so the centerpiece credit is not currently claimable, and framing the person as a subsidized risk poisons the well with any boss who repeats the frame. Incentives are the garnish. The dish is a good worker your competitors keep screening out. Lead with the worker.
Costs you something
You probably do, and good feelings are how this hire gets reversed at the first bump. The documented process is what protects the candidate from a future manager's bad feeling, which is the mirror image of today. Write it down while it is easy.
Making it stick: “Offer accepted. What do the first 90 days look like so this succeeds?”
Strong move
The research on programs that work keeps finding the same ingredients: normal expectations, one consistent human, and logistics handled without drama. A parole check-in is an appointment, the same category as anyone's physical therapy. The worst pattern is the special-fragile-hire treatment, which isolates exactly the person who most needs to be ordinary here. Normal, with a named person. That is the program.
Costs you something
Close watch is surveillance wearing a lanyard, and the team will conduct it as such. If the person cleared your process, they get your standard trust. One named point person for questions beats five worried observers every time.
Depends on the room
Close, and the pure version quietly fails people over logistics that cost you nothing: a supervision appointment that conflicts with a mandatory Tuesday meeting becomes a firing offense nobody intended. Equal expectations, yes. Blind logistics, no. The schedule-awareness piece is the difference.
Now you, out loud
Draft your incentive-stack one-liner for the file, current as of today, so the business case is honest.
One way it can sound
“Federal Bonding: active, free, covers six months. WOTC: lapsed and in hiatus as of August 2026, documentation retained in case of retroactive reinstatement. Indiana HIRE and WorkOne: active placement support. Business case rests on the candidate and the retention evidence, with incentives as upside.”
Keep these
The file beats the vibe: assessment, references, bond, evidence.
Incentives are garnish, and WOTC is currently in hiatus. Say so in the file. Honest business cases survive audits and bosses.
Normal expectations, a named person, drama-free logistics. That is the whole retention secret.
The Table, part of Alex for Workforce and Alex for Business · alexhamiltoncounty.com · Free practice, both chairs · In crisis, call or text 988
The Table gives general information and coaching
support. It is not legal advice and creates no attorney-client relationship.
It never screens, assesses or treats anything. For your own situation,
including expungement, licensing or what you must disclose in a regulated
field, talk to a licensed attorney. Free and low-cost help:
Indiana Legal Services,
the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic,
and your local public defender's reentry program. In danger now: 988, 911,
or the Indiana Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-800-5556. Facts current as of
October 2026.
Programs that fit this work
Add roles to your set and these rank to your own hiring.
Eligibility is set by each program, not by us.
Free job matching, career services, and labor market resources for job seekers through WorkOne centers. Helps employers find workers and job seekers find jobs.
Who qualifies:
Universal access, ALL job seekers and employers, no requirements. Free.
WorkOne reimburses employers up to 50% of a new employee's wage during a contracted training period. Minimum wage: $13.50/hr for adults, $11/hr for youth. WorkOne pre-screens and refers qualified candidates.
Who qualifies:
Participant must be WIOA Adult/Dislocated Worker eligible. Employer: public, nonprofit, or private sector. Must not show pattern of failing to retain OJT worker…
Places youth ages 16-24 in employer worksites at ZERO cost to the employer. WorkOne pays all wages and workers' compensation. Youth attend weekly career workshops. Hamilton County contact: Dorothee Cooke.
Who qualifies:
Youth meeting WIOA Youth eligibility. In-School: 14-21. Out-of-School: 16-24. Must be low-income (ISY) or face barriers (OSY).
Federal tax credit for hiring people from certain groups, such as veterans, SNAP recipients and people with a conviction. It applies only to people who began work on or before December 31, 2025. Congress has not renewed it for later hires as of September 2026.
Who qualifies:
Employer hires from targeted groups. Ten target groups under 26 USC 51(d) (veterans are split into five sub-groups with different wage caps), including: TANF re…
Free fidelity bonds ($5,000-$25,000) for employers hiring individuals with barriers: ex-offenders, individuals in recovery, poor credit history, or dishonorable discharge. Covers first 6 months of employment.
Who qualifies:
At-risk individuals: ex-offenders, poor credit/bankruptcy, recovering substance abusers, dishonorable discharge, lacking work history, TANF recipients.
Ask about the local labor market in plain language, on top of
your dashboards. Answers carry their sources and point to the tools for the
math. It is an AI coach, your chats are private, and they are never used to
train anything.
The Analyst Coach is a $50/mo add-on · monthly only for
Member or Industry or Premium or Coalition accounts.
Sign in or
see plans.
In crisis? Call or text 988, free, 24/7.
Built by Alex, the Hamilton County Data Hub, from BLS wage records, Census commuting and business patterns, O*NET skill profiles, and licensed Lightcast postings. Wages are set by employers. Ranges, never promises.
