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Excerpt from ICSA Today, Vol. 04, No. 01, 2013 Reader Question: Dear Bill, A few months ago I left a cult after being a member for 4 years. Now I need to apply for jobs, but I dont know how to explain what I did for the past 4 years. I dont think anyone would hire me if I said that I was in a cult, but I dont want to lie on the job application. I feel that I wasted 4 years. What would you suggest? Expert William Goldberg, MSW, LCSW answers Dear Reader, I agree with you that it is unethical and unwise to lie on a job application. However, youre under no ethical obligation to go out of your way to highlight the fact that you were in a cult. You probably became involved with your cult because you were under the impression that it was a valid organization of some kind. For example, did you first view your cult as a church organization, philosophical movement, psychology program, or meditation group? Did you think that those involved were simply participating in outreach to the community? What were your tasks within the group? You can describe all of this without labeling the group as a cult. For instance, you might say that you worked in a missionary organization. I recommend that you first focus on the skills that you gained while you were there. For example, you may have been involved with childcare, or you may

have coordinated large meetings. Did you run youth programs or tend a garden? Did you write press releases, or were you involved in money management, such as bookkeeping? Did you do any public speaking? Did you travel and learn how to relate to a variety of different age groups and nationalities? Did you learn a foreign language? Did you work in a cult-related store or restaurant? All of these skills are marketable. Your years in the group may have given you the chance to develop other personality traits that employers will find desirable. You probably learned that you could work for long hours and fully devote yourself to a task until its finished. You worked hard to achieve a high standard of performance. Your friendliness and adaptability may have been personal assets that you developed further. If none of these factors seem to pertain to you, you may consider going to school or interning to learn a particular skill. When employers are looking for individuals who can fill a specific notch, they will be less interested in what you did before you learned the skill than in how proficient you are now that you have this ability. If you arent sure about what direction to pursue for your employment, you might want to become employed in a temporary job while you work out a good direction for your future. Remember that, in contrast to the cult, you can try out new areas; and if they dont work out or you dont enjoy them, you can easily change gears and begin to

pursue something else. The main thing that I would emphasize to you is that, although you were sidetracked for years while in the cult, your time there was not simply wasted. Although your learning was at a painful cost to you, this learning can bring you to a better future in which you need not completely reject the past, but instead can begin to integrate the best from your experience to create a better future for yourself.