The Specter program was a vocational work program offered by the Florida Department of Corrections from 1997-2012. Using propensity score matching, inmates who earned a Specter vocational certificate had statistically significantly lower rates of recidivism within three years of release from prison compared to inmates who had not earned a certificate. However, those who earned a Specter certificate did not have statistically significant improvements in postrelease employment within three months of release. As a result, we will discuss the possibilities for conflicting findings regarding employment and recidivism as well as potential avenues for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)