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Topic: Can a past personal essay hurt my job prospects?
| Author | Message |
| Xenophiliac | Posted – 10/18/2007 12:17:34 AM | show profile Part 2 of the stolen intellectual property issue as I mentioned in my other post is that the nature of the reprinted-without-my-permission essay is personal -- it's about something I did in the past that, let's just say, is on the wild side -- nothing criminal, but definitely not mainstream. The article itself isn't online, but since it's now in a widely used textbook, there are a half-dozen essays students have written that refer to my piece, sometimes out of context, making it sound even racier than it was. (I wrote it before Google and had no idea this would happen). I'm trying to find corporate and tech writing gigs, and I'm wondering if this is going to hurt my chances. I'm freelance now, but I may want to re-enter the workforce someday. Should I be worried? What should I do? |
| writesonwater | Posted – 10/18/2007 12:47:16 AM | show profile You're not Ted Kaczynski, are you? ;) Has this come up in interviews, etc? Believe it or not, you may consider altering your name. I have done this because of an abundance of writers with my name -- editors would google me and assume I'd done that work. And not all of it would I be proud to have attributed to me! So now I'm S. Writes Onwater. First initial, middle name. Lots of people have a "past." Including the people who interview you. Everyone has something they grimace about. Not that widely distributed, generally. That said, I'd try to distance myself from it. I might not bring it up. Worst comes to worst and they bring it up, perhaps have something to say. If it's not that bad, I might make light -- cover my face with my hand and groan "I was young. So, so SO young." Then be your professional self and make an impression that leaves no doubt that you're a very different person now. Just a thought. |
| writesonwater | Posted – 10/19/2007 2:35:49 AM | show profile I know of a serious blogger who is living down a college-era picture someone dug up of him in underwear drag, smeary lipstick, sloppy grin, wine bottle. He even put it on his own blog so it didn't look like he was hiring a seamy past -- it was just a youthful sloppiness, a frat prank. End of story. Own it and get over it -- "Leave them nowhere to go" was the advice Harrison Ford's Jack Ryan gave the U.S. president character in Clear and Present Danger, who followed the advice. Asked if a money launderer was an acquaintance of his, he said "We were very good friends," or something to that effect. |
| writesonwater | Posted – 10/19/2007 5:03:15 AM | show profile I meant HIDING a past, of course |
