Can drunk driving change your career?

Drunk driving is a serious crime, but some people end up treating it like a non-issue, especially when facing a first-time offense. But getting one DUI conviction on record can do a lot more damage than you expect.

In fact, one DUI conviction could end up altering your entire plan for your career path.

Financial penalties

The College Investor discusses the ways that a DUI could potentially change the life of a college hopeful or a current student.

First, though it is rare, it is still possible for a college to expel a student due to a DUI conviction. This most often happens in cases where the student caused massive property damage or harmed another person in the DUI event.

More commonly, a college will enact its penalty in financial ways. Typically, the college will revoke any support it previously offered the student in question. This can include gifts and awards, scholarships, prize money for essays and more.

To further the financial difficulties, many colleges will also bar a student from using on-campus housing. This means they must pay full price to stay in an off-campus unit, which is often prohibitively expensive in college towns.

Career path changes

As for career options, many career paths do not hire people with a DUI on record. This includes all jobs that have to do with children, government positions, and jobs that require a commercial driver’s license (CDL).

The denial of entry into a career path can potentially alter your entire future, goals and all. Thus, it is important to take a DUI charge seriously when it first occurs.