Finding work

[Missadventure]

I'm curious how people handle finding jobs during/after transition. IE. Do you disclose to your potential employer? How do they handle reference checks? etc.

My plan has been to continue working my crappy job until I'm ready to go full time, and then find a new and hopefully better job as a woman. But. Obviously if they go calling former employers asking if I've worked there, the former employer wont have the slightest clue what they're talking about and just say no. So I feel like I have to disclose during an interview. But, at the same time, I don't feel like I should have to because my gender isn't pertinent to my ability to do a job, especially if I've for all intensive purposes made the transition before working at that job.

[Tristan]

When I was in high school I didn't tell. If they figured it out normally they didn't say anything. And after I finished transition I decided I most def would not tell

[ErinM]

I'm in the situation of having to look for work soon too. It sucks because between my benefits and employee discount my HRT is free and my shift times were consistent (I'm in retail), so booking doctor and electrolysis appointment were easy. Sadly they've slashed everyone's hours down to nothing, so I can't afford to stay.

I'm debating if I should disclose to potential employers as well. Ive been full time for over 4 months and I've changed my name in as many places as possible (even my previous employer is willing to refer to me by proper name and pronouns), but my old name will still show up as AKA in credit reports during a background check.

[Tristan]

My thing is if you pass then don't tell.

[Missadventure]

Im currently working in retail too. Only the pay sucks and my hours are inconsistent (and also being slashed too). But, this is not my chosen career field. I took it because it was the first available job when I moved here, and I don't plan on putting it on my resume. But, I have over a decade experience in the animal welfare industry, and, that's the field I want to continue working in, so I'd rather than experience not go to waste.

Granted, I did just have the idea of coming out to all my former workplaces. Most of them are small non profits run by people who would more or less be understanding (non profit animal shelters are typically a haven for LGBT folk). Wonder if that would work... That way when a prospective employer calls to verify references using my girl name (which should hopefully be legally my name by then), former employers wont respond "who?"

I still need to do some thinking on the matter.

[ErinM]

Actually my previous employer was an animal shelter. It was nice because being a small organization I knew the HR manager well enough to try. Both her and my manager were happy to hear about my transition.

I didn't go back any further because my employer before that was 8 years ago, so my employee records should be destroyed by now.

My thing is if you pass then don't tell.

The problem for me is there is still a paper trail that can be found with a thorough enough background check.

My old name is still on my credit reports and even though my drivers license and health care card (most frequent forms of I'd) say female, the gender for my Social Insurance Number is still male.

At some point they will find out, especially with a background check like my current employer uses. They specifically ask for previous names. If I lie and they find out, it's immediate dismissal.

[allisonsteph]

I'm currently in this situation.

I am unemployed and in mid transition. I have been living full time since the day I lost my last job in September 2013, and have been on HRT for less than two weeks. I have filed the paperwork for my legal name and gender change, but it has not been approved yet (although it will be in less than two weeks).

I have identical profiles posted on major job search websites under both my old and new names, and have gotten pretty much equal response to both (which is to say virtually nothing).

I have been focusing on employers that are known to be LGBT friendly. The Human Rights Campaign has a comprehensive list on their website: http://asp.hrc.org/issues/workplace/list.asp?&page=1&order=OrgOfficialName,ASC
.

I have applied for a few positions with some of these companies and they have had fields for "preferred name" and "legal name". Others have a field for "other names used". As much as I'd like to distance myself from the past, I know it's just not realistic. I'm 45 years old and have a college degree and nearly 30 years of work history under my old name.

So far I have had one phone interview for a job that I applied for using my new name. The interviewer was quite confused when she asked for Allison and got me and my deep voice (think James Earl Jones deep) voice answering the phone. Once we established that she was indeed speaking to the correct person, things when smoothly from there. When she informed me that they do preform background checks, I was honest and informed her that all of my information would be found under my old name.

Is this an ideal situation? No, but it certainly beats the pain and anguish of not allowing myself to be the real me and living a lie just to secure employment.

[Hikari]

Some companies, like Target have LGBT Liaisons, and in my experience, if you leave things out during the application process and then contact the LGBT liaison with the information, they will add whatever is needed for their records while keeping whatever you need undisclosed from your actual store employees. The problem is that if you hide something that is found out later, for some companies that is grounds to fire you, many won't, but I have always been the type who likes to cover all my bases..... That being said companies without trans inclusive policies or LGBT liaisons, it just seems pointless to even risk disclosure to them, unless you absolutely know it will be found out anyway (like a background check required to work there).

[SandraB]

I've been struggling with this myself. I've been on HRT for four months now and will file for a name change next month followed by a gender ID marker on my driver's license.  As soon as that goes thu, I'll start actively looking for a job.
Right now, I can keep my current job as long as I present as male, but as soon as I go full time, they will not tolerate it (as will my home situation). All in all, it's a pretty scary situation, but I know I'll get thru it some way or another. Just not sure just where I'll end up though.

[Joan]

This is something that I've been thinking about quite a lot too. When I finally accepted that I would have to transition I kind of resigned myself to giving up the kind of work I'm doing now and that I would have to take a pay cut as we'll.

When the time comes to go full time we've decided to move to a bigger city as that will be more forgiving I think. Recently I'm wondering if I can find another job of a similar type and make a fresh start, but how do I preserve the 20 years of my CV? 

Has anyone gone back to previous employers with legal name and gender changes and asked them to update records?  Is that even possible?

It would be really good to hear from more people who have been there and done it. 

[JRD]

The company I work for has no policies in place for trans people and I work in a state with no protections. The supervisor and owner had met me years ago and I had an in since the manager dated my dad for years. I present well and there has been no issues. They've been quite good from coworkers all the way to the owner. Its not discussed and I do a good job and will likely become the manager of the store I work at when the manager retires. Since the store is in the same town I've lived in for years, there were some adjustments for some people to make, but they pretty much made them and prefer me to be there over some of the others since I don't make them feel like they are bothering me when they want to buy ice cream or need help finding something.

I believe a good attitude and willingness to work through things rather than go off on somebody or demand things will get you further than anything when it comes to any job.

[Misato]

There's really no reason to out yourself during the face to face interview process. If you do, there is the risk of the employer thinking, "Well why did they bring that up? Are they distracted by being trans? Will it affect their ability to work?" That last question serves well to make getting any job harder.

So, your #1 goal is to prove that you are competent for the job. Same task as everyone else because even though we are trans, we are just like everyone else.  I've talked to corporate HR on this issue and the manager of a board/card game store I do some side work for in prepping a lecture on this subject last year and competence, is in great demand to the point it trumps all.

Naturally, you will want to clue in your references so they know who they are being contacted about. Background check, there do I recommend offering the old name under, "Were you known by other names?" no matter how thorough you are in changing it. Too many poorly maintained databases are between you and complete stealth.

If your name isn't changed yet, as mine wasn't for a while, you can have a resume with your name because it's not a legal document. You can use your name in interviews too. Same as someone being named David going by Dave. But when you encounter legal forms, time to whip out the legal name.

Another thing to remember is there is nothing wrong with being trans. It's only problematic if you assume a prospective employer will discriminate against you cause believing you will be discriminated against with no proof that the company you are talking to will do it, is like talking to someone new with, "This person I'm talking to is a jerk!" in your heart. People pick that up pretty easily, and are put off by it. Give them the opportunity to be awesome, then deal with it appropriately if they prove themselves not.

Good luck out there!

[ErinM]

Has anyone gone back to previous employers with legal name and gender changes and asked them to update records?  Is that even possible?

I emailed the HR manager of my last employer and told them about me. It was a small organization, so she would be the one contacted if they called to check. Otherwise she has agreed to leave a note on my file to referencing my new name and gender.

I didn't go back any further because my understanding of my province's privacy law says that my employee records at those places were destroyed.

I've also updated my post secondary records with my name and gender (with new parchment), and the name on my high school records. I can't change the gender there until I can have my birth certificate changed.

[Joan]

I believe a good attitude and willingness to work through things rather than go off on somebody or demand things will get you further than anything when it comes to any job.

This rings really true to me. That's been my experience with every job I've had on this side of transition, and I hope it's the same on the other side.