Convicted felon and can't find a job?

I am going to start by telling you that I am a convicted felon I live in Virginia probably the worst state to commit a crime in. I was convicted of grand larceny, Burglary, and possession of a concealed weapon. All together I served 28 months. I had been locked up before and came home with the wrong mindset which is what had Caused me to go back. The mindset I had before was to come home and get back in the streets to get some money. This time I came home and said I am not gonna rest until I find a job no matter what it is. Well I came home on Monday I had an interview Wednesday and started working on Friday. If you are out here struggling right now I am here to tell you that if you pay attention and use the information I am giving you and apply it to your own life you will be fine. I knew just coming home I wasn't going to get the most glamorous or highest paying job so I didn't even let those thoughts enter my mind. I told myself I am going to find the job that will hire anybody and that's what I did. My first night home I was on the phone with my ex-girlfriend and told her the situation I was in. I told her I needed a job and asked her if she knew who was hiring and she told me go to craigslist and click on general labor and someone on that page will hire me. The first thing I had to do was make a resume. I made my resume that very same night and emailed it to every employer under general labor and I got a call the very next morning. It wasn't as hard as I though it was, these next steps are things you should do that will help you to gain employment as quickly as possible.

Create an updated resume

Network

Be as professional as possible

Don't let your pride get in the way of finding a job

You will get what ever you put into your job search nothing more this is what I kept telling myself. That first night home and I prayed on it and I remained persistent I didn't sleep the first 4 days I was home I must have applied for over 300 jobs but it paid off.

creating a resume

Professionalism is key when applying for a job. You want to have a professional image for any job because that is what they are looking for when hiring. Your professional image should reflect the type of work you are applying for. Lets say you apply for a cashier position at a grocery store the image that you want to portray is one of a friendly, approachable, knowledgeable person. When creating a resume your job is to incorporated all of your strengths into it and portray that professional image in which you are seeking.

When creating a resume it is best to use a template. Through personal experience I have to say don't use the ones that you see on the internet because it will let you make your resume but you wont be able to print, copy, or paste it unless you pay for it (why pay for something when you don't have to.)
If you don't have a computer go to your nearest public library ( library cards are free ) and open up
Microsoft Works word processor as seen below.

Click file, New, Templates, and voilà.

This will make creating your resume much easier and make it look very professional.
When actually creating it the key to making it look good is to making it sound good.
Lying on a resume is dishonest but then again: It seems like everyone does it.
But in all seriousness you shouldn't le drastically on your resume because it will catch up to you.

Regardless of the risks, this old Forbes (pre-recession, but still) article says about 40% of people lie on their resumes. The most common lies listed on are: