How to Frame ‘Dubious’ Jobs on Your CV

A little piece about the challenges inherent in non-PG work experience. Fortune - Stripper on CV“Phone sex operator”? Or “Customer Service Specialist”? If you’ve had more-than-vanilla work experience, what’s the best strategy for your CV?

One person who is interviewed says that honesty is the best policy — if you don’t include certain work experience, you must be ashamed and, in that case, why did you do that work in the first place? That, however, is a complete oversimplification. Maybe you aren’t ashamed at all, but are quite reasonably aware that most prospective employers would judge you negatively for “salacious” work experience. Or maybe working in a certain industry wasn’t your first choice and you aren’t particularly proud of it, but given your circumstances, it was the best option for you at the time.

But let’s be real — how many people obfuscate with job titles and descriptions on their CV when it has nothing to do with concealing “scandalous” prior positions? I hardly think employers need be suspicious that applicants are only concealing a sexy past.

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