CAREERS NOW 03-01-09

Rejected For Sins of Employers

DEAR JOYCE: As a career coach, I was asked for advice by a nervous client who formerly was employed by a company that became infamous for being tainted by fraud. He has to list the company on his resume, a fact that he believes turns off employers. "It's like I'm damaged goods," he says. My client wants to know how to handle this potential career-ender. Suggestions that I can pass on? - N.L.

Many hiring decision-makers and their recruiters blow off candidates who were employed by a bad-rap company, whether it was a Ponzi-scheme operator or a failed bank or otherwise disrespected for one reason or another. The hiring attitude for branding the employee with the reputed sins of the employer starts like this:

Why take a chance on hiring a bird of a bad feather, especially today when there are so many high-flying and spotless candidates vying for the same jobs?

To move forward from that hurtful perception, here are a few suggestions for your client and others exiting from a company with a not-so-hot reputation.

-- Get interviews any way you can. Don't be surprised when you run into titanium resistance in the initial screening process. Bypass that roadblock by calling on every connection known to humankind in your effort to line up interviews with hiring managers. You want personal introductions with a few good words about you. Additionally, contact recruiters you've worked with in the past, whether as customer or candidate.

Only in an interviewing environment will you have a good chance to "change the conversation" by redirecting focus on how your qualifications and strengths will improve the balance sheet. If this task is Greek to you, you really need the services of a wise career coach who can guide you through your specific maze (no two mazes are exactly alike).

-- Classify your former company's sin. Coming from a company that collapsed because of poor business decisions is far less problematic than having worked for one facing criminal charges.

In the first instance, you want to show that you're not dumb; in the second, that you're not a crook.

-- Analyze your involvement. Most rank-and-file former employees were not responsible for the conflagration at a troubled employer and need not fear.

But what if you were a top-level executive in the thick of nefarious things? Explain that although you made a serious mistake, you learned from that experience, you won't do it again, and that you seek another chance. (I don't think this will work for Bernie Madoff.)

-- Explain your previous role. If innocent of wrongdoing, identify yourself as an excellent and blameless worker caught in the crossfire. Develop ready lines to avoid being branded with the others' misdeeds. Two examples:

(1) "I'm sure you are fair enough to understand that although I worked at a place with problems, that employment doesn't make me a risky candidate. In fact, the exact opposite is true. May I share a few highlights of my experience that can benefit your company?"

(2) "I perfected many skills at the bank where I worked, but the cause of the bank's collapse involved decisions way above my pay grade. Instead, I carried out the kinds of day-to-day responsibilities and projects necessary for the success of most functioning businesses, including your excellent company."

-- See how others have overcome. A look back at the career evolutions of the employees of Enron, a company that imploded in a wave of accounting scandals in 2001, shows that many of the displaced people found jobs at rival energy companies or investment banks. Others became entrepreneurs in starting such related enterprises as asset management firms. Others turned to such thinking-outside-the-box start-ups as arranging fantasy tea parties for young girls or installing underground sprinkler systems that make it easier to water lawns. A 54-year-old woman found there was life after Enron when she spent what she described as a "very fulfilling" year as an organizer for a teacher's union.

Although the economy is in far worse shape now than it was when Enron died, you may find inspiration in learning how other people have battled back when visited with the sins of the company.

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