Tainted careers still salvageable
By Chad Graham
Des Moines Register
It's one thing when a nobody in the office is fired, forced to resign or subjected to profound disgrace. It's quite another when a somebody faces the same before millions of people.
Considering recent events of high-profile people who've plummeted from lofty perches, someone should start a school called the Institute for the Famous and Fallen.
Enrollment would soar.
Enrollees might include former Iowa State University basketball coach Larry Eustachy (embarrassing photographs and alcohol problem); ethics and family values maven Bill Bennett (gambling); actress Winona Ryder (shoplifting); former Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling (accounting inaccuracies); and New York Times reporter Jayson Blair (plagiarism).
Can the tainted revamp careers when everyone knows their sins?
It depends on the transgression, how skilled the fallen are in networking and how well they put the past behind them, say career coaches and image consultants.
Fortunately, experts say, the American public loves a redemption story of someone who has tumbled, fessed up, cleaned up and begun to climb the ladder again.
"So much of this depends on the nature of the offense and what one is accused of and guilty of," said Si Ewing, owner of Spence, Ewing & Associates, a job search consulting business in Des Moines, Iowa.
"You have to pick yourself up, dust off your feet and start all over again. You have to renew your faith in yourself and your ability."
• Step No. 1: Confess in public, and then get out of sight. Many experts agree that Eustachy steered the right course: He publicly apologized and admitted a drinking problem.
Intentional or not, the coach was wearing neutral colors at the press conference held before his firing — a good choice because it projects humility and approachability.
Next, "I would recommend a low profile for at least a month for Larry Eustachy," suggested Anna Wildermuth, president of the Association of Image Consultants International, based in Dallas. "I also wouldn't talk to the media for a while. Sometimes these things can become larger than life."
• Step No. 2: Put the problem behind you. There's no place to hide.
Millions of people read about the problem or saw it on cable news. With the popularity of Internet search engines like Google, a simple entry of someone's name can retrieve a host of information. The person might even be an answer to a Trivial Pursuit question.
It's important not to lie on a résumé or try to candy-coat answers during a job interview. Be frank. Be straightforward.
But, Wildermuth said: "Don't carry the excess baggage. There are people out there, that every time you talk to them they talk about the same topic. Get it out in the open and be done with it."
• Step No. 3: Consider career options. A journalist guilty of plagiarizing or a lawyer who has violated the law may find their careers finished. A basketball coach may find it easier to be rehired.
"Everyone makes mistakes," said Tom Hamilton, president of Des Moines' Hamilton Group, which searches for job candidates on behalf of companies. "They need to take time and understand that maybe this happened for a reason. A lot of soul searching goes on."
One important point: People who once rocketed to powerful positions likely did so because they were talented.
Can those talents be used elsewhere — possibly in a career switcheroo? Perhaps a return to college?
• Step No. 4: Network, network, network. Jeff Hyman, a San Francisco agent who founded executive search firm Canal Street Talent, said 80 percent of new jobs are found through networking.
The person needs to make a list of 10 to 20 companies he or she wants to work for, then make connections with a well-placed current employee, such as a board member, to get an interview. Never cold call.
That person should start by asking a core group of co-workers to provide suggestions.
"Nine out of 10 people may not forgive the person for what they did," Hyman said. "But somewhere out there will be that one person who will."
