There's an old thread about stuff like this. Someone suggested what I consider to be great advice for people like me. I changed all three names--first, middle, and last. If I'm ever again in a position where I need to divulge, I can write down my old name this way: J. Q. Citizen. That won't out me. If you changed your last name, you might try that. It might even work if you have kept your last name but have at least one different first or middle initial.

The last time I was asked to provide old names, the field wasn't even big enough for me to enter my full birth name. I don't remember what I did enter, but I called HR for advice. You might do the same, and mention the tickets.

I have some experience in the civilian world of defense industries. (BTW - If you value your soul and your mind stay far away. I just finished up 6 years in hell and am now celebrating my 1st aniversary of freedom and joy being a for real engineer again that can fix things)

First off you have your pre-employement criminal background check. Which is really a public records search. Name changes are part of the public record and it will get turned up. Since there is no SS number associated with it, there is wiggle room. But if name, address etc of old/new you match, then not so much room. Which then leads to actually what gets reported back to the employer. Discrepancies for sure I think. Lack of inconstancies I think  will fly better. All HR wants is CYA that you are not a No-Goodnick.

OK Hurdle one passed. Except.... Name, SS Num, and Gender comes back mis-matched from SS. Or, was that taken care of? Medical Insurance will also catch that.

If the time comes for a DOD or DOE security clearance don't worry. Since it is illegal for anyone with a clearance to say they have one, to about anyone, let's say I have heard from people who have heard from people who know things. One of the things they know is that there are transitioned TS's with clearances. I cannot say for sure but I am fairly confident the rules pretty much say they can't bounce you for that anymore.

Also, keep in mind about any employer of more than like 20 heads these days all have their boiler plate Non-Discrimination policy. Most cover sexual orientation as well as gender expression. But this has not stopped the company from having medical insurance policies that do discriminant against anything Gender related. (My trump card if or when that day comes. Feel free to use it)

Quote from: Jessica Merriman on May 02, 2014, 09:33:41 PM
But the OP is referencing NASA, Aerospace and defense. Those are heavy hitters for extensive background (full disclosure) checks. That is why full disclosure is best. I served as a PMC and trust me, those who fudged, misled or failed to mention items were blacklisted permanently. 

This is true.. I might as well just list my previous name on my application, especially if it's a bigger company. I'm just worried it will affect my hiring and that It will spread around my workplace. But I guess there really is no choice!

Quote from: JoanneB on May 03, 2014, 09:00:02 AMAlso, keep in mind about any employer of more than like 20 heads these days all have their boiler plate Non-Discrimination policy. Most cover sexual orientation as well as gender expression. But this has not stopped the company from having medical insurance policies that do discriminant against anything Gender related. (My trump card if or when that day comes. Feel free to use it)

That's because AFAIK non-discrimination polices can be written to apply only to discrimination when it comes to the employment itself, not to what insurance policies cover (because that also involves the insurance company, and unlike merely prohibiting discrimination against TSs when it comes to hiring/firing/pay/how you're treated on the job/etc. the cisgender population has a tangible financial interest - albeit a minor one - to not have insurance cover transition-related procedures). I'm not saying that's right, but there's a difference I thought I'd point out there. (If we were like most other developed countries and had a national health system, or if everyone bought their insurance through the exchanges without employers being in the equation, this would be moot. Same thing with the SCOTUS case about "religious" employers being forced to cover birth control that goes against their beliefs.)

Edited for clarification.

Quote from: Arch on May 02, 2014, 10:19:10 PM
There's an old thread about stuff like this. Someone suggested what I consider to be great advice for people like me. I changed all three names--first, middle, and last. If I'm ever again in a position where I need to divulge, I can write down my old name this way: J. Q. Citizen. That won't out me. If you changed your last name, you might try that. It might even work if you have kept your last name but have at least one different first or middle initial.

An even better idea is if you changed your last name in the transition process is to list just the old last name - don't even list any initials (so here it's moot as to whether or not they were changed). Especially if you're MTF they'll probably assume it was your "maiden"* or a "previous married" name without question (while putting down initials might be TMI and raise more eyebrows than a last name alone). I've mentioned this before, and is another good cover strategy if they have no practical need to know your full former name (in the OP's security clearance case, or where they need the full name to properly check your records, you'll still have to out yourself).

*As a side-note, if the name change amended your birth certificate (whether or not the changes are visible), in a legal sense your "maiden" or "birth" name got changed; this is mostly relevant for cases like what name goes down on things like a marriage license or your child's birth certificate (which I once had a debate with one of our members about). Although this disagrees with what most of us call the "birth name" if they ask for it on a legal document you'll need to see what context they want (name originally given at birth vs. name on birth certificate - as I had a non-trans-related name change that amended my BC I've found from personal experience they often mean the latter). For the purposes earlier in the post it's still a former last name and a valid way to avoid outing yourself.

Quote from: JoanneB on May 03, 2014, 09:00:02 AM
I have some experience in the civilian world of defense industries. (BTW - If you value your soul and your mind stay far away. I just finished up 6 years in hell and am now celebrating my 1st aniversary of freedom and joy being a for real engineer again that can fix things)

First off you have your pre-employement criminal background check. Which is really a public records search. Name changes are part of the public record and it will get turned up. Since there is no SS number associated with it, there is wiggle room. But if name, address etc of old/new you match, then not so much room. Which then leads to actually what gets reported back to the employer. Discrepancies for sure I think. Lack of inconstancies I think  will fly better. All HR wants is CYA that you are not a No-Goodnick.

OK Hurdle one passed. Except.... Name, SS Num, and Gender comes back mis-matched from SS. Or, was that taken care of? Medical Insurance will also catch that.

If the time comes for a DOD or DOE security clearance don't worry. Since it is illegal for anyone with a clearance to say they have one, to about anyone, let's say I have heard from people who have heard from people who know things. One of the things they know is that there are transitioned TS's with clearances. I cannot say for sure but I am fairly confident the rules pretty much say they can't bounce you for that anymore.

Also, keep in mind about any employer of more than like 20 heads these days all have their boiler plate Non-Discrimination policy. Most cover sexual orientation as well as gender expression. But this has not stopped the company from having medical insurance policies that do discriminant against anything Gender related. (My trump card if or when that day comes. Feel free to use it)

Haha, I am actually in engineering so this could be good advice. I would love to talk to you sometime about your experiences transitioning in this field and your jobs. Could I PM you sometime?

Quote from: Arch on May 02, 2014, 10:19:10 PM
There's an old thread about stuff like this. Someone suggested what I consider to be great advice for people like me. I changed all three names--first, middle, and last. If I'm ever again in a position where I need to divulge, I can write down my old name this way: J. Q. Citizen. That won't out me. If you changed your last name, you might try that. It might even work if you have kept your last name but have at least one different first or middle initial.

The last time I was asked to provide old names, the field wasn't even big enough for me to enter my full birth name. I don't remember what I did enter, but I called HR for advice. You might do the same, and mention the tickets.

Well unfortunately both my first and middle name initials are the same and my last name is the same, but that is a good idea.

Mikey, some people (like me) had a unisex middle name...if you do, you could try first initial, middle name, last name.

tgchar, I should have mentioned that as an alternative because it's what I was thinking when I was filling out my community college application. Duh.

Quote from: Arch on May 03, 2014, 10:18:02 PMtgchar, I should have mentioned that as an alternative because it's what I was thinking when I was filling out my community college application. Duh.

Usually on college applications they want to know what other names your academic records are under so they can properly allocate transcripts and make sure you are submitting records from all of your past colleges and not hiding part of your record. In your case did you update your records with all of your former colleges, and does your high school transcript (if they asked for it), show your new name? If not, then they'd probably need your full former name to be able to make sure they have your academic history straight. If all of your records are in line with the correct name then they probably wouldn't need to know to begin with. (An exception is if you're enrolling in a program where they need to check your criminal history, in which the same guidelines I've written about for employment apply.)

My high school refuses to change my records, but I didn't need to go so far back anyway. I changed my name when I was already an undergrad, and grad schools don't care about high school (at least, mine didn't, and I've never heard of a grad school that does). If I had changed my name while I was still in high school, I suppose that would have been the ideal route.

So my undergrad school already had me listed by my new name, but I did go back and change my name with the community college district where I was a student for a few years. The college was only too happy to oblige.

Later, when I legally changed my sex with the state and fed government, I returned to both schools and asked them to change my gender marker as well. I wanted all bases covered if at all possible.

I have heard that public high schools are not too keen to change things after the fact. I don't remember the rationale for that. I'm annoyed that my high school still has me by my old name, but trying to change that is not worth the effort.

Quote from: Arch on May 04, 2014, 01:42:16 PM
My high school refuses to change my records, but I didn't need to go so far back anyway. I changed my name when I was already an undergrad, and grad schools don't care about high school (at least, mine didn't, and I've never heard of a grad school that does). If I had changed my name while I was still in high school, I suppose that would have been the ideal route.

So my undergrad school already had me listed by my new name, but I did go back and change my name with the community college district where I was a student for a few years. The college was only too happy to oblige.

Later, when I legally changed my sex with the state and fed government, I returned to both schools and asked them to change my gender marker as well. I wanted all bases covered if at all possible.

I have heard that public high schools are not too keen to change things after the fact. I don't remember the rationale for that. I'm annoyed that my high school still has me by my old name, but trying to change that is not worth the effort.

I have the same issue with my high school. Actually they don't even reply to my emails when I try to contact them... I still have to change my name for my old community college for if I decide to go to grad school, but I looked on their website and it shouldn't be an issue. It gets a little annoying tying up these loose ends after living as male and not really thinking about trans issues for a while. Plus all these things that just come up along the way trying to live life. But at least it's getting better and times are changing.