Each year in the United States, 600,000 people finish serving their sentences and are discharged from state and federal prisons. But often, that’s when the real struggle begins. Though they are no longer behind bars, former felons are forever confined by their criminal record—most job applications require candidates to check a box if they have been convicted of crimes in the past.

Siding with the “Ban The Box” campaign—an effort launched in 2004 to end employment discrimination for ex-inmates—President Obama announced on Monday that his administration would do its part. Along with a series of new grants (including $8 million that will be allotted over the course of three years for programs that support education opportunities after incarceration) Obama instructed his Office of Personnel Management to delay inquiries about criminal history in Federal job applications.

“This action will better ensure that applicants from all segments of society, including those with prior criminal histories, receive a fair opportunity to compete for Federal employment,” an official statement from White House explains.

While the move will likely boost the chances of competing for a job with a criminal record, the issue often doesn’t end with applications.

Responding to the news of Obama’s order, Reddit users shared personal stories about how past crimes can make it more difficult to keep a job or receive a promotion when background checks reveal a record after the person is hired.

“With a record you are really pigeon-holed for a long time,” Vinny, who asked to use a pseudonym out of fear that he could lose his current job, shares with Upvoted. The crime he committed when he was 18 cost him several job opportunities and promotions, since he left prison a decade ago.

Initially, Vinny could only land gigs as a day-laborer, which made it difficult to make ends meet. But a year after he was released he was able to obtain a job with UPS. “For the first time, I felt like I actually had a future,” he shares. “I could actually do something.”

Vinny was so elated he got the initials UPS tattooed on him: “I was just so thankful and grateful to have a good job.”

His joy, unfortunately, wouldn’t last. He worked hard for six months and was rewarded with a promotion. That promotion, though, came with a required background check.

“This time, it turned up my record,” Vinny says. “They came to me and said, with this record you can’t be management.”

Since then, Vinny has moved on professionally to a new gig. These days, he works for the State government but declined to reveal his position to maintain anonymity. But, he says, he still feels trapped by his record, knowing it will be much more difficult to earn a promotion or even another job in the future.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, businesses that deliberately ban the hiring of people with criminal records are violating the Civil Rights Act. Still, the 65 million workers in United States who have been convicted face disproportional rates of unemployment.

According to research conducted by the Center for Economic and Policy Research in 2010, only 40 percent of polled employers said they would consider hiring candidates who had a committed a crime—even if they had more experience and stronger resumes. The researchers, who analyzed the economic effect, found that employer discrimination cost up to $65 billion a year in lost economic output.

While Obama’s order won’t stop employers from opting out, it will at least offer people with records the chance to demonstrate that they are strong candidates, rather than being immediately dismissed. It’s a step in the right direction.

“It would have helped me tremendously,” Vinny explains. “When you check ‘yes’ on the box, they just don’t give you a chance.”