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Personal stories about toxic jobs and workplace woes.


May 12, 2010

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





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