great article. good cautionary tale/warning

on a related level.... james joyce noted in his writings/journals that one should NOT commit to writing down confessions or other things that could be discovered from the people you wanted to hide the info from

it kinda relates to this woman "e" as she is referred to in the slim volume known as "giacomo joyce" which is a re-print of his journal and literary sketches of some of his work. "e" is a character ultimately in "ulysses" that some scholars believe was a student of joyce's with whom he had some romantic interest (but likely did not consummate) the point being that if he had written about being smitten w/ "e," nora would have found out and he would have been even more in the dog house than he normally was

extrapolate for job seeking

I just took out most things that people could have a problem with. If they have a problem with what is left, I doubt I would really be interested in working there anyway. Do you think it helps that you have to know my middle name to look me up? Should I go all the way incognito?

Do you think it helps that you have to know my middle name to look me up?

i think it helps. but how incognito do you want to be?
have you written any scholarly papers that are online or school related? i'm sure employers would like to see that - did you use your middle name in your graduate school work or in anything that would actually help you get a job?

I usually put the middle initial on resumes but that shall come to a halt. No papers are online that I know of. Maybe I should go ahead and change my name legally to my husband's for "professional" me and keep the old one for stuff like MySpace. Even at rated G, I am a little odd for corporate USA. My professional accomplishments speak volumes though and I wonder if they'd even care to look at MySpace when I have tons of other job-appropriate references and completed/successful projects?

I wonder if they'd even care to look at MySpace when I have tons of other job-appropriate references and completed/successful projects?


they want to know if you're secretly trolling for hot young guys online?

I wouldn't want to work for a company that had a problem with 'blunts'.

I hate the whole HR as private detective idea...it just sucks. I have buckled always under how corporate America has chosen to treat the work environment. They try to brainwash you into whatever boring bandwagon of "quality" they have chosen to pay some random consulting company huge amounts of money to implement. It is ridiculous when the work you are hired to do is so stressful anyway and they are choosing to make people even more stressed that they are spying or waiting for you to fuck up somehow.

The next job at a hospital that I get, I am asking for a lab coat to wear. I'd rather just cloak myself in anomynity than constantly deal with what I deal with now.

i hate the fact that when i am googled, i get a hit for something that i did stupid when i was 18. i didn't get in trouble, but boy did they ever make me sound stupid. it's in the archives from a university newspaper and i am kind of not too pleased with that. do you think they'd remove that?

I google me and there are 10 zillion others who have accomplished far more than me, from soccer brilliance to fashion writing to bad fantasy art. Maybe I am more hidden than I think.

I hate the whole HR as private detective idea...it just sucks.


in 1999, i was an independent contractor for one of the rainbow media holdings television channels. i am incorporated, and invoiced them for my time and services. the idea was that they didn't have to pay payroll taxes, social security, benefits, etc and i wasn't the only one who worked this way. the way i saw it and explained it to them, my corporation was a temp agency for the services of a live television professional. that my corporate identity and the person doing the task were the same individual really does not have anything to do with anything.

i did not have to be there to perform my work save for the 1/2 hour i was in the control room during broadcast, but i was there (this is important, legally in labor law) because it was easier to use their infrastructure

about 3 months after i'd been doing my thing (i launched a series of live talk show format programs for them), they told me i'd have to go on their payroll. i figured, ok... what the hell.

however, instead of just giving me a w4 to fill out.... i got a whole packet - complete w/ forms for me to sign allowing them to do a credit check on me, drug test etc.

well, even though i can pass a random drug test any day, i'm a million percent opposed to that. so i said, "no thanks" and completely left the gig

i mean ----- credit check???? what the fuck? i asked the person who brought me on if rainbow media holdings was going to issue me a mortgage or credit card.... what does my credit worthiness or lack thereof have to do with getting a job? ostensibly, i have a job because i want to have money which will in turn maintain a healthy credit profile because i am not broke because i am gainfully employed or paid by some entity that lets me actually do the work in exchange for the money they give me. its a fucking transaction. what's so hard about that? why all the bullshit?

and people wonder why there's a huge blackmarket level cash underground and people who work under less than scrupulous circumstances who are NOT illegal aliens

its so offensive that i'm still pissed off 7 years later

i launched a work stoppage campaign that point for point addressed their stupidity; they did not think it was funny. i wish someone HAD written about it, though....

Unfortunately, I think credit checks are the norm nowadays for employers.

this might be worse than what any myspace page could do to my reputation

http://www.joeymayes.com/

[quote]and people wonder why there's a huge blackmarket level cash underground and people who work under less than scrupulous circumstances who are NOT illegal aliens[/quote]

Although I'm trying hard to veer away from the criminal lifestyle of my past as a way to keep me alive and out of prison longer, because of who and what I am I long ago gave up on the idea of getting a straight job.

I can't even recall if they checked my credit in this last job, but I did get drug tested for the first time. In one way, I get it, it is a healthcare gig and drug abuse is a huge problem. But, this goes on everywhere. Credit checks however...that is just fucking invasion of privacy. They have you in a grip and know you want/need money from them so I think they have convinced themselves that this is info that will somehow divine what sort of job you'd do for them.

I mean, what sort of education do these HR drones have? The one at my job is alright but she is such a robot and talks to most people like they are pieces of shit.

squares. if you don't want to get in trouble signup on your account with a fake name. i googled myself using my shortened name i use and lastname... got 42 replys but nothing bad and nothing about me. did my whole first name and lastname and got nothing 1 hit from my family's genealogy site. did my whole first name + middle name + lastname and got zero hits. i'm clean. one time i search my whole first name on myspace and got 3 other users with my first name because i have a ultra rare name.

Damn I guess I'll never get a job real now...

Credit checks however...that is just fucking invasion of privacy.


exactly. unless the employer is giving me a credit card and/or mortgage, my credit file is none of their fucking info. regardless of if my credit is good or bad.

what does it have to do w/ my ability to do a job?

if the job calls for someone to be bonded - and you know that - then of course, you have to be eligible and a credit check is part of the gauntlet.... but for someone to write host continuity banter and yell, "camera one, take!" and snap their fingers.... credit check? no fucking way.

Drug tests are so pointless. Everybody knows you can get all fucked up on amphetimines Friday night and pass the whiz quiz by Monday...

are there any employee/privacy rights laws that would prevent a company from being able to perform credit checks on prospective employees? there has to be something...

What they would glean from my credit is that I like to carefully balance a few credit cards on the precipice by paying just over the minimum each month, but always on time for years and years and years.

Oh and I have successfully paid off many many car loans.

And I was so dedicated to my profession, that I went into mad student loan debt (maybe that could count for me in their twisted logic).

My father just got a new job about a week and a half ago after being out of work for some time. My parents do not have good credit. After being hired he got a bit of a disturbing phone call. It seems that the company that hired him performed a credit check on him and the results were not to their amusement. He has been put on "probation" through the company now.

Basically, if you have bad credit, it gives a company reason to not trust you. Bad credit = scumbag.

bad credit also often means your employer doesn't pay you nearly enough
they ever think of that one?

i am vehemently opposed to any company giving drug tests. i don't smoke enough to have to worry about passing anything unless it's one of those fancy schmancy hospital ones that only medical professions shell the money out to give. i just think that unless you're operating heavy machinery or doing surgery, they shouldn't pry into what you've been doing.

bad credit though, i'd be kinda fucked on that one. i've got most of my stuff paid off completely. i have assloads of student loans, but i'm going to grad school in the fall. i have 2 things that i have left to pay - one of which i will NEVER pay because i don't agree with it. university of memphis checks credit to determine "reputation" or whatever for their potential employees, which could be why i just got passed up for a job there. (because the interview went fucking amazing and then i never heard from them...ugh.)

It is just insane. I got out of my bad credit hole but then got into debt again once the 7 yrs were up. It isn't anything out of hand (except the student loans) and everything could be completely paid off within 2-3 yrs, but I still get so paranoid anytime anyone checks it. What are employers trying to do? Don't they know people go into mad debt and default on their loans when they are unemployed? Shouldn't they be happy to be helping someone get their shit together? If they were impressed with the person and with their qualifications, what the fuck should their FICO mean to them?

See, employers don't want to hire people who have spent any amount of time unemployed. I don't want to get all conspiracy theory, but it is a form of social control. People are "rewarded" for being good worker drones, and they're punished for not toeing the line. Of course it's bullshit, that's why I don't forsee myself ever becoming a part of the straight world. I mean, the guitarist in one of the bands I'm in can't play bars in the city he works in because of the off chance that a co-worker walks in. It's fine if people are willing to make those kinds of sacrifices, but I don't have the luxury of choice in the matter. I was born and raised the way I am and there ain't much I could do about it if I wanted too, which I don't.

I am a firm believer in keeping the work world separate from my real life. That is why I rarely make "friends" at work. I go in on time, do a good-to-great job and leave with the higher-ups thinking I rule because I end up saving them money or getting them more money and the middle of the road "drones" whose stupid ice cream socials I don't attend thinking I am kindof a weird stuck up bitch, but they aren't my references anyway, so fuck them.

I know who needs to have their bread buttered for my benefit!

I was asked during my last interview, for a job I got, why I went to grad school 6 years after I got my BA. I had never been asked that before. But the guy was a doctor and those fuckers basically are school machines...I told him the truth (that I wanted to travel before locking into school again) and he accepted it but was completely perplexed why I would EVER do that!

i am vehemently opposed to any company giving drug tests.

The last time I was at Pep Boys (several years ago), I noticed a sign on the door saying they proudly drug-test all applicants. I proudly stopped shopping there. I mean, god forbid that someone who sells auto parts all damn day might wanna smoke a little weed in the evenings...

Thank you for that news. I don't think they have Pep Boys here but they do down South, so when I go back, it is AutoZone all the way.

Well according to this informative page, AutoZone does drug testing too.

I was asked during my last interview, for a job I got, why I went to grad school 6 years after I got my BA. I had never been asked that before.


seems like employers HATE lapses.... but the two good answers (i know this from helping grad school applicants in one of my mercenary consulting ventures) are to travel and get to know other cultures, etc.... AND working to get real world experience and to earn money to afford to go to grad school. it HELPS if your work experience has something to do w/ what you study.

alternatively, some disciplines WANT YOU to get real world experience before education - many MBA and CPA programs require it

autozone does drug testing too. i applied for a job there a few years back and one of the things that you have to sign when you apply is a waiver.

i took time off of work to go to school. they best shut up about that. heh. i worked and then stopped and then worked and then stopped. what should i tell them about stopping school? that i didn't have the money or i got fucked up? lol. this account is so not registered in my name so i don't care.

i've taken one to get into west point and one to work at a major huge corporation and passed both of them 2 days after smoking. i just drank a fuckload of water.

I said that I really wanted to travel and experience living in a big city as I had always lived in the South. I then discovered that the doctor liked this answer as he had grown up in a small town in Texas and did not move anywhere until he went to med school. I was in like Flynn after that.

I'm not surprised at all. Just one more way the assholes in charge want to control every aspect of you,right down to your very conciousness.

I'm Joe Pestilence for a reason. I get pissed when people refer to me by my real name even when i'm not online. For once my Uberparanoia is justified,as i always thought there was someone out there snooping on us,this just makes it "official". My most recent ladyfriend was fired from her job at Whole Foods for posting a shit-talkin' about work blog on her the My Space account so i have second hand account of this in effect.

If you think your bosses trying to check out your business is bad,i also read an article about how the Pentagon is "harvesting" info on cyber-social network sites to create profiles on individuals out there on the Net to monitor habits,opinions and behivior patterns. Of course this could be a bunch of Consiracy Theory hooey,but why do i get the feeling my sarcasm might get me sent to Gitmo?

Better watch what you write...

Better watch what you write...

Fuck that, just start packin' heat.

p.s. pseudonyms are no protection from the government who have access to everyone's IP addresses, and from there can very likely use logarythms to pick out patterns in writing style in the case of a multi-user computer.

I can't believe the hoops people are willing to jump through to get a job. Isn't there a point where self respect kicks in and you end the interview process before having your entire life dissected by some HR twat? If enough quality prospects walked away when a company starts becoming too nosey, employers would have no choice but to stop it.

Isn't there a point where self respect kicks in and you end the interview process before having your entire life dissected by some HR twat?


my professional fantasy is to make a car commercial.
i once relented to a head hunter and got myself interviews at advertising agencies. i was interviewed at Y&R and went through a round of interviews and then at one point, the HR person who i believe was going to offer me the job started boasting of their client roster.... i guess i should have asked them at the outset.

they do ads for the Army. "be all that you can be" that's Y&R
i said, " i am sorry i wasted your time; i can't work here because i can't support anything the army or its hired hands do." the HR idiot didn't understand.

its not the same thing... but i felt like i had to. i did walk away from rainbow media holdings after they tried to make me consent to a credit check just for the privilege of being on payroll rather than me invoice them. they didn't understand why... and a lot of my co-workers didn't either. unfortunately, people are scared of being unemployed

how the Pentagon is "harvesting" info on cyber-social network sites to create profiles on individuals out there on the Net to monitor habits,opinions and behivior patterns.
Not true.

Of course this could be a bunch of Consiracy Theory hooey,but why do i get the feeling my sarcasm might get me sent to Gitmo?
The Government does not spy on Americans. Nor do the corporations. We just want everyone here to be safe. That's why we have the black helicopters.

I believe most companies drug test because insurance companies pressure them to do so. Liability stuff, yadda yadda.

I honestly don't care about a drug test. I really don't. But spying on your outside private life??? That is sneaky and despicable and it should be frowned upon. I am honestly considering getting rid of my MySpace account because when I search my first and last name...I am the first face to pop up. I am going to take my pix down. I'll pull a flesheater99 and put up some photo of a 12 year old Latina chick.

honestly don't care about a drug test.
Me neither, I figure it is part of being in the medical field and it is really not a big deal.



I guess in a way I am lucky to have two very common names. I can google and search my space and hundreds of things come up before me. Between songs, famous people (including sports), books and movies most people have my first or last name on their page.

Yeah, if you aren't giving them here in a hospital, where would you give them? This is drug central.

no joke. i've seen several nurse overdoses and one of them had a pharm book in one hand and a needle in the other. he went down in the drug room of the hosptal.

Holy crap. Never seen it but my dad worked in a mental health center for years with an onsite pharm. There were a lot of problems up in there. Lots of buddy psychiatrists prescribing meds to each other and no oversight. This was the 70's. Can you imagine now with all the new drogas???? Even with oversight, stuff goes on like crazy.

Everyone I know who got involved in the medical industry (pharm techs and phlebotomists) all were junkies first. They got into that field cause they figured they knew more about it than most.