George Orwell would have lost his mind
While job
seekers still have small amounts of wiggle room, that space continues to
dwindle. Virtually everything appearing in one’s résumé these days is subject
crosschecks and electronic verification. Beyond a routine background check, a
low-end position at Wal-Mart might not be subjected to in-depth scrutiny, but venture
into a substantive position, and that definitely would not be the case.
As the level of
risks, liabilities and responsibilities for an opportunity increases, the level
of probing likewise expands. In addition to merely pulling credit reports and court
records, driving records are pulled, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts examined, college
transcripts reviewed, and references not only contacted, but the general quality
of those individuals listed can be taken into consideration.
Officials within
the Bureau of Criminal Investigation inform me that once they have a driver’s
license, they have access to your bank information and a whole lot more. Once
you sign up for medical coverage—violà,
your entire medical history is exposed. Google, by the way, keeps a record on every
website you've ever visited—forever.
Once the mounds
of easily accessible public information are amassed, it can then be compared to
what appears in your résumé. Subtle discrepancies can then be examined and scrutinized.
What once might have taken more than a week to gather, evaluate and synthesize can
now be electronically processed within 24 hours.
For job seekers
attempting to make a drastic career change or use a functional résumé, this
poses a significant challenge. (For edification,
a functional résumé is used to camouflage a spotty work history, conceal significant
time gaps and disguise careers that have regressed.)
In the distant
past, the once immensely popular functional résumés were especially favored by
those who had done prison time. Today, they have fallen into desuetude with suspicious
employers. For those considering a functional résumé, proceed cautiously. The
use of a functional format is tantamount to a declaration that you have
something serious to hide.
Shifting careers
and designing an effective résumé pose a twofold obstacle. The first challenge is
putting the experience down in an electronic format—and, doing it convincingly!
Therein lies the rub. When you encounter such an epiphany on your road to
Damascus, the time has arrived to see a professional writer.
How does one
persuade an inquisitive employer that just because you were good at one thing,
you will excel at something different? Even worse, how does one convince a technologically
perceptive employer to take a risk with someone who lost interest in a previous
career?
It is highly
unlikely George Orwell would have been able to function in today’s artificial
intelligence, Google-logic environment. IT Developers tell me they have opened
a Pandora gateway into everyone’s private lives. It ain’t like it used to be folks,
and the bread crumbs you've scattered along life’s highway includes your social
DNA.
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© 2012
by Robert James. James is a professional résumé guru and interview trainer
who works for clients worldwide. He can be emailed at: rjames279@gmail.com.