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One day last week, I posted a response to "'Splain me something...", and
I included a reference to someone who sent a resume via email. The URL
to the person's web site was attached to the signature--I thought the
URL was inappropriate to include. I realize this is old by now, but I
went out of town and returned to a mailbox of flames of people accusing
me of being sexist and having something against heterosexuals, among
other things. I just wanted to clarify the point I was trying to make.
I was not trying to offend anyone, merely give a warning. If you were
offended, I apologize. I don't have anything against heterosexuals or
scantily-clad women. Besides, I never said it was a man that sent that
resume, and most people who responded assumed it was. However, I don't
think that this applicant's link to the web site was appropriate on a
job application. I really don't care what my writers do in their
personal time. However, I also believe that if it's that personal, don't
bring it to work. And a professional person should know what is
appropriate to bring to work and what isn't.
In addition, my statement would also apply to a woman who had
scantily-clad men on her web page--it just happens that in this case it
was a man who had scantily-clad women on his page. Obviously, this
wasn't the only factor in deciding whether to interview the person.
However, it was one factor that was used to develop an overall
impression of person--if he didn't think enough about the details to
realize that including a web site URL that wasn't appropriate in this
situation, what indication do I have that he would think about the
details enough to not include inappropriate information in his
documentation or his professional communications/relationships?
Offense unintented,
Susan Hamilton
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