Will My Atheism Hurt My Career?

Dear Evil HR Lady,

I’m a graduate student at a top international relations program, currently searching for internships and soon to be searching for jobs. My problem is this: when an employer searches my full name, the first result they get is my old profile at a social networking site for atheists. I’ve taken the profile down, but have not been fully successful in removing it from Google’s search results. I’ve tried to make my LinkedIn more prominent in the searches, but it’s not showing up so far.

I’ve talked to friends and some have said that if they were an HR and saw that I’d had a presence on such a site, they’d never hire me on the assumption that I was some sort of radical. Do you think that’s true? I could go on and on about how I’m not, how I got valuable leadership experience running a campus atheist group as an undergraduate, how I carefully avoid discussion of religion in professional and personal settings, but that’s not the first thing the HR will see . . . all they’ll see is my name attached to an unpopular and misrepresented social group.

My question, then, is this: is my worry that employers will get a negative impression of me realistic? Is there a risk that this could cost me a job? More generally, how can I discuss the leadership experience I gained when there’s about a 50-50 chance the employer strongly disagrees with the work I gained it doing?

Will My Atheism Hurt My Career?

Don’t Ban Pre-Employment Credit Checks

Many states are considering limiting employers' abilities to use credit checks as part of a pre-employment screening. Is this practice invasive or practical?

Don’t Ban Pre-Employment Credit Checks

Vegetarian Discrimination

Whether you're a vegetarian or a meat eater, if there's nothing for you to eat a company party, you can feel unappreciated. Here's what to do about that.

Vegetarian Discrimination

Are Today's Workers Too Immature?

Are nit-picky workplace rules and government legislation necessary to force us into acting like grown ups, or is this just unnecessary intrusion into workers' lives?

Are Today's Workers Too Immature?

Why Is It So Hard to Get a Low Paying Job?

Dear Evil HR Lady,

I would like an insider like yourself to answer this instead of getting my info from crazy internet conspiracy theorists. You give wonderful advice to working professionals, but I'm wondering if you won't take a moment to give a hand up to us "regular Joes."

Why is it SO hard to find a JOB? Just a regular job? Do you know of anyone who could entertain that kind of opportunity AND pass the UNICRU test honestly? "Leave It To Beaver" intelligent, honest, friendly, and yet unambitious? Why are these employers so full of themselves and out-of-touch? This isn't Lockheed-Martin, it's a GROCERY STORE. I know... "In the ultra-competitive modern market we have to make even the mundane exceptional." Yet every time I go into one of these places I can't help thinking "THESE people are what they're screening so hard to find?" And YES - I don't WANT to work there, but I must work SOMEWHERE. Even before the economic crisis hit, this was unnecessarily difficult.

Why Is It So Hard to Get a Low Paying Job?

Why Is the Recruiter an Idiot?

Dear Evil HR Lady,

I am curious as to why companies have people who have no idea what a position does conduct 1st round telephone interviews? Makes the job hunting process even more frustrating.

There are two answers to this question: One nice and one not so nice. Let’s start with the answer that gives recruiters and companies the benefit of the doubt.

Why Is the Recruiter an Idiot?

My Boss Harasses Me, What Do I Do?

Your boss treats you differently than your coworker of a different race. Your coworker seem to always be watching porn when you walk by his cube. Your team leader makes fun of your accent. You want the harassment to stop, but what do you do?

My Boss Harasses Me, What Do I Do?