Hello. I happen to know someone who is in a bit of a bind. After
finishing his postgraduate studies, he hopes to get involved in
government or commercial research in the defence sector. He just finds
work in that area cutting edge and exciting. His doctorate thesis is
certainly going to be relevant to such fields.

Unfortunately, he has some alternative proclivities which may prove to
be an impediment for such a career. Without going into specifics, lets
just say he likes assertive women.

From observations on recruitment policies in such fields, employers are
extremely paranoid about anything which can be used as a "lever" to
pressure or blackmail a prospective employee into duplicity. In fact
IIRC I had another friend who applied for a similar employer and got
asked rather probing questions such as "Have you ever had a single sex
relationship?"

The thing is that he's dedicated to his work and if someone were to
reveal such information about him, he wouldn't care. He is not close
enough to anyone to be affected by negative impressions of him should
revelations about his proclivities be known.

What do you suggest he do? Do you think he will likely be rejected by
employers working on sensitive areas because of his inclinations?

He is willing to try abstaining from sex altogether. However there is
no guarantee it will work and there is also no guarantee his past
indulgences in such areas will not come to light.

What would you advise him to do?

Random Observer wrote:
Hello. I happen to know someone who is in a bit of a bind. After
finishing his postgraduate studies, he hopes to get involved in
government or commercial research in the defence sector. He just finds
work in that area cutting edge and exciting. His doctorate thesis is
certainly going to be relevant to such fields.

Unfortunately, he has some alternative proclivities which may prove to
be an impediment for such a career. Without going into specifics, lets
just say he likes assertive women.

From observations on recruitment policies in such fields, employers
are
extremely paranoid about anything which can be used as a "lever" to
pressure or blackmail a prospective employee into duplicity. In fact
IIRC I had another friend who applied for a similar employer and got
asked rather probing questions such as "Have you ever had a single sex
relationship?"

The thing is that he's dedicated to his work and if someone were to
reveal such information about him, he wouldn't care. He is not close
enough to anyone to be affected by negative impressions of him should
revelations about his proclivities be known.

What do you suggest he do? Do you think he will likely be rejected by
employers working on sensitive areas because of his inclinations?

He is willing to try abstaining from sex altogether. However there is
no guarantee it will work and there is also no guarantee his past
indulgences in such areas will not come to light.

What would you advise him to do?

Abstaining from sex will not erase his past.
If he does not go for the jobs because he is worried what may be asked, then
he will never get in that area of work at all. If he doesn't try it he will
only lose out.
Go for the job and wait and see what comes up in the interview?

On Sun, 19 Jun 2005 01:00:16 +0100, "Random Observer"
wrote:

Hello. I happen to know someone who is in a bit of a bind. After
finishing his postgraduate studies, he hopes to get involved in
government or commercial research in the defence sector. He just finds
work in that area cutting edge and exciting. His doctorate thesis is
certainly going to be relevant to such fields.

Unfortunately, he has some alternative proclivities which may prove to
be an impediment for such a career. Without going into specifics, lets
just say he likes assertive women.

From observations on recruitment policies in such fields, employers are
extremely paranoid about anything which can be used as a "lever" to
pressure or blackmail a prospective employee into duplicity. In fact
IIRC I had another friend who applied for a similar employer and got
asked rather probing questions such as "Have you ever had a single sex
relationship?"

That's the key - it's the blackmail bit.

The thing is that he's dedicated to his work and if someone were to
reveal such information about him, he wouldn't care. He is not close
enough to anyone to be affected by negative impressions of him should
revelations about his proclivities be known.

Then - my guess - is that it wouldn't be a problem. These days as long
as it is legal and you are open about it, you're likely to be ok.

What do you suggest he do? Do you think he will likely be rejected by
employers working on sensitive areas because of his inclinations?

He is willing to try abstaining from sex altogether. However there is
no guarantee it will work and there is also no guarantee his past
indulgences in such areas will not come to light.

They also tend to be more relaxed about historic illegal activity (use
of drugs for example), but that carries a "don't do it any more or else"
warning.

What would you advise him to do?

Go for it, and come clean with the vetting people at the first sensible
opportunity. Whatever it is, this won't be the first time they'll have
heard of it.
--
On-line canal route planner: http://www.canalplan.org.uk

(Waterways World site of the month, April 2001)