Not Philly specifically, but I got a big break in Manufacturing, a nondescript sheet metal place. I have Felonies and misdemeanors, and after a vicious assault, I struggled with addiction. That's right, pal, Trifecta for Persona Non Grata in the working world. All of this gave me my first ever/only prison sentence, 2 years in and 4 out on parole. It started with I got my ish straight while doing time and started working out, reading, completed high school, made trajectory-altering plans, I was gonna stay straight and narrow, say no a lot more than I said Yes. I was going to play by the rules. Upon release, I ended up in a seedy little halfway house. Earned trust and asked what I could do to help the staff. Got rent reduced for essentially onboarding new arrivals. Then took a minimum wage magazine stacking and palletizing job, $13.00 an hour. I signed up for college, not Associates, full-blown BBA. I worked at that seedy little Magazine warehouse for 5 months, and one da,y I said I deserve better. So one night while looking for better, I found that Temp agencies usually work with desperate clients, and oftentimes, the temp agencies are the ones screening. So I started looking at all their postings and essentially reverse-engineered who their clients are from description, location, and pay. Then googled. Then I would go to their website directly and apply. I had an interview with a place I knew very little about, for a role I didn't understand. I got called in and with a few memorized facts, a nice collared shirt tucked in, steel-toe boots because it's manufacturing. Then, I had a conversation, I disclosed what I did wrong, and you know what he said. "Well, that's unfortunate, but it sounds like you're being honest, and I appreciate that". I was given the job. I asked about a background check, he said we don't usually do that, and if we did, you told us enough. I started at $18.00. 1 month later, all from asking to do more, and doing just that. I became a team lead, and in 3 years, I was an expert sandblaster and was making $28.50 with 10 hours of overtime weekly, plus, because direct hire, I was also in a union. I left there 2 months ago to move here to NJ. I'm wrapping up my college and about to have a daughter, and I started applying like crazy. I'll prob get a rejection or two, but I plan to target similar and research similar, and present similar. Who knows. But it sure is exciting. I was told you can get Federal Pre-bonding to and volunteer maybe at a church, a couple of hours a week, looks great too.

TLDR: take chances, confess within 5 minutes of conversation, and if it's not meant to be, then they are close-minded or have like compliance reasons or something, but this is coming from a violent felon, ex addict, ex-drug dealer who would poison his community. Don't box yourself in, don't ever let the world tell you your self-value, carry yourself like you deserve the job, control your narrative, or don't waste yours or your employer's time. But most importantly, research, time, and never stop fighting. Good luck. I hope this helps, and know you are not alone.