whistle blower in difficulty

Abigail has learned that rather than prospective employers hearing about her whistle blowing from someone who wants to destroy her career, it is to her advantage to be upfront about it from the start – even though her honesty is making her job hunting more difficult than it should be.

"As far as I can see," sighs Abigail, "my employment prospects have been shot to pieces by blowing the whistle on a former employer. Word has got around in the tight-knit business community, and I believe I've been blacklisted as a potential trouble-maker."

"OK," agrees Abigail, "it means that some employers are going to fear that their dark secrets are going to be discovered by me and I'll blow the whistle on them, too, but I feel that honest employers would welcome having a decent employee like me on board. Right?"

“And an honest employer is the type of employer I am looking for,” says Abigail, “but I haven’t found one yet and I’m beginning the think they don’t exist!”

Abigail believes that honesty at interviews is important. She believes that even if people have committed a real misdemeanor it should go in their favor if they stated right from the start that they made a mistake and have paid the penalty for it.

"Most employers are not going to employ convicted felons no matter how unblemished their record has been since the incident," says Abigail, "but some are going to be a lot more lenient and impressed with an honest approach."

Abigail feels that it’s important to be honest about anything that could be construed as being a bad risk to your future employment - sexual harassment, brawling, drunkenness, drugs, hacking, etc. But she doesn’t believe in overdoing honesty.

"It's enough to state the facts, and leave out the juicy bits," laughs Abigail, "especially if you were caught bonking the boss in the broom closet or found guilty of some other silly misdemeanors - most of which happen at workplace Xmas parties."

"If you didn't get fired for an incident," says Abigail, "there's really no need to spill the beans about this sort of thing at job interviews. But if you did get fired for something like this I'd make light of it because the interviewer would probably see the funny side of it."

“Unfortunately, there’s nothing funny about whistle blowing,” sighs Abigail, “and I’m just hoping that an employer appreciates the importance of what I did and above all wants an honest and patriotic employee.”

Read more by Abigail:

haunted by whistle blowing

what are referees saying about you?

The interview circuit’s grapevine

Democratic hacktivism?

Cyber wars and Chinese time bombs

tailoring resumes to jobs

Stephanie, 28, believes a mistake many jobseekers make is to use the same resume for every job they apply for. She has two basic resumes -- one upmarket and one downmarket -- and alters them slightly for each position she applies for according to the particular requirements of the employer.

"I'm not only looking for the job I want but also a bill paying job to tide me over," says Stephanie. "I use the basic upmarket resume for the jobs I want, and the basic downmarket resume for the bill paying jobs. Once you've got these two basic resumes, it's really not too much of a hassle to tailor them to particular jobs."

Right now, only two of Stephanie’s roommates have a job and they are carrying her and two more unemployed girls until they get a job. Stephanie is hopeful of getting the job she wants, but if that doesn’t happen within a month then she is willing to take on an immediate bill paying job.

Her job seeking knowledge and skills are excellent and she enjoys helping the other two unemployed roommates target jobs in a more professional manner.

For the type of job Stephanie wants, her basic upmarket resume accentuates her educational qualifications, skills and experience in that order. She puts her qualifications at the top of the body of her resume and makes them bold. She makes them jump out at the person responsible for doing the culling of job applications.

For those who are not good at presentation formatting, Stephanie suggests getting a professional to type their upmarket resume.

"For the type of job you want - especially if it was advertised on the Net - there are going to be hundreds if not thousands of applicants and from all over the world, too," says Stephanie. "You need to make your resume stand out from everyone else's and while the number of degrees and diplomas you have may not necessarily get you the job, it might just give you the edge in the selection process. Take advantage of that edge."

"Unless you were required to do so," warns Stephanie, "do not spoil the impression of your upmarket resume by including your academic results. That is far too much information. If your degree or diploma was conferred recently or a long time ago, this may go against you, so I think it’s a good idea to omit the year. Use your judgment."

"The same goes for the name of the institution conferring the qualification," says Stephanie. "If it is a well-known university or college, play it up. If it isn’t, then use your judgment on whether it might be better to omit its name."

"For the basic upmarket resume," says Stephanie, "you also need to place your most upmarket skills first (eg managing, analyzing, etc) and omit your downmarket skills (eg typing, telephone skills, etc)."

"It is also a good idea," says Stephanie, "to omit any short-term downmarket jobs you have had recently, or play them up so that they do not sound as downmarket as they really were. And do not be too specific about the dates either!"

"Saving space on a resume is important," says Stephanie, "so drop what might be used against you and highlight what employers need to know."

Following is an example of what Stephanie means by strategic placing on an upmarket resume that will help you get the job you want:

Stephanie Duncan

Qualifications: BA, MA (UCLA)

Skills: Project Management

Recent Employment History: Resources Officer, Acme Products, Oct - Nov 2006

Compare the information given in the upmarket resume with that given below for Stephanie’s downmarket resume. It is the same person, but you would never guess!

For the bill paying type of job, Stephanie uses a resume that accentuates her skills. She puts her skills at the top of the body of her resume and makes them bold so that they jump out at the person reading the resumes.

"For this type of job," says Stephanie, "your resume presentation is really not going to be as important as your skills, so don’t waste money getting a professional to type it unless, of course, you have money to throw around."

"The mistake many job seekers make when applying for a bill paying job," says Stephanie, "is that they include their qualifications. You will be considered over-qualified for the job and rejected outright if you do this. I appreciate that it’s tempting to show off - after all, we all worked hard for our qualifications - but the job you need in order to pay the bills wants a hands-on worker, not an Oxford Don."

"The aim of a downmarket resume is to get an interview for a job to pay the bills. In order to do this," says Stephanie, "you need to downgrade yourself. But only on paper. Nobody wants to employ a smarty for a downmarket job, but as soon as you are in the job, anything can happen. They could love you and promote you to a managerial position if you are lucky - so it's silly to get too hung up about downgrading yourself."

"One small thing," warns Stephanie. "With downmarket resumes for bill paying jobs, prospective employers like to see exact dates of previous employment so even if you were employed for two weeks somewhere, put that in and make sure you state the exact date you started and finished."

Following is an outline of the strategy Stephanie uses on her resume for the downmarket job she needs to pay the bills:

Stephanie Duncan

Skills: Typing 35 wmp, Customer Service, Team work

Recent Employment History: Mail Room Attendant, Acme Products, Oct 19 - Nov 9 2006

"Remove the name and if you can tell it's the same person then you are mighty smart," laughs Stephanie. "And if you can't then it just goes to prove that a little fudging can get you what you want. And I don't think I am being unethical with my two resumes. I am not lying, I am fudging. there's a difference."