Been watching the shows from episode one, and one thing that I don't understand, in the real live witness protection program, as well as on the show, really bugs me since I am in the midst of a job search myself.

I sat and wondered what the obnoxious doctor/dad in "Iris Doesn't Live Here Anymore" told people when he went looking for a job at those hospitals and clinics on his own. I mean, the most important part of any job interview is your experience, where you worked, and who are your references.

What does a professional in witness protection say when the interviewer asks for information about their past? In Duplicate Bridge, the guy goes out and gets himself a job all on his own, in secret, but he cannot reveal his past, so what's up with that? How did he get hired, when, by all official records, he didn't even exist a month ago? A lot of places do searches on potential hires, using their SS# and address/phone number information. Everyone gets a new identity with papers and all, but when a search goes out for a made up, new name, its gonna come back empty, and hard to explain.

Does Witsec give people fake resumes and false references so people can get jobs? Even the ones who are not big shot professionals, have to go and get a job, and do the interview. The Cop from Chicago. What does he tell a potential employer about himself, in order to gt work?

I have never read any Witsec books or anything, but the program seems to be working, and there are a lot of people in it, so how do we suppose this part of the process works out?

John

Interesting question—I don’t know the answer. But, I thought the program in some cases “arranges” work for the clients, the way Mary did for her “Frond”. Also, I think I remember Marshall saying that he had arranged a job for the difficult doctor.

But, I don’t think that’s the final answer for all WitSec clients. And I’m pretty sure it can’t be the answer for any working age family members of the client. I hadn’t really thought about it, but now I’m wondering too.

Maybe one of the WitSec scholars on the Board will drop in and give us the 411.

I'm guessing a lot of them start with entry-level jobs that don't require much or any experience. My mom got a job after not working and living out of the country for 20 years. She worked at Wal-Mart, then after that she had a little something to put on her resume. In WITSEC, they're nearly all criminals and I'm betting a lot (if not most) of them have never had a real job in their adult lives, anyway. They do get new birth certificates, SS cards, etc. I don't know about the doctor, but he wasn't much on following the rules, anyway. Tasha (the Ukranian girl from last season) worked as a waitress, the wife in Once A Ponzi Time (I really liked her) had a retail job, the artist (Let's Get it Ahn) worked at a paint-your-own-pottery place. For most of those jobs, you could probably just say you've been raising kids for 20 years and are ready to get back to work. I guess if you have your sights on anything higher, there's help available. I do know from reading the book that witnesses spend two weeks at an intake center learning all about the program, getting new paper work, etc., before being relocated, so that probably comes up then.

I'd be more concerned about no credit history. The WITSEC book said they tried letting non-criminals keep their credit history, but it turned out to be too dangerous.

I wondered about the job thing too. Especially since I would very mad if I had to give up all my education and work experience and start from scratch, but (at least judging from the show, which does base a lot of this stuff on the actual program) that doesn't always appear to be what happens.

As pointed out above, it makes sense that the former criminals get entry-level type jobs like retail, etc. But it seems a lot of their non-criminals don't have exciting jobs either. But Marshall did tell the doctor that he knew of other doctors in the program who did things like become sales reps for pharmaceutical companies, and that is a position where people must have education/background in medicine or pharmacy. And Marshall was able to pull some strings to get the guy to practice medicine at that clinic, so there must have been some way for them to get his medical license transferred over into his new name/identity. And while Tasha was working as a waitress, it did sound like that Mary had gotten her a bookkeeping job (which was her previous occupation) and Tasha thought it was too boring and discovered that she could make more money as a waitress and get better benefits.

There must be some way for the USMS to transfer someone's background and education into their new identity. Otherwise, I can't imagine a whole lot of people who have worked hard and have good jobs would be willing to enter the program so all that work can be erased and they have to get some sort of entry-level job. Plus Mary said in one episode that all your debt follows you as well - it isn't a "get out of jail free" card to get rid of all your student loans and credit card debt. So if your debt can follow up, I'm sure there's a way for some of the good stuff, like your work experience, to follow you as well.

I really need to get around to reading up on this stuff. Apparently some of the wacky stuff they've used on this show - like WitSec paying for someone's boob job as part of the deal - is based on real cases.

Your debt does follow you. In the early days of the program, people would take out bank loans, claim they'd been discovered, then be relocated and leave the debt behind. Now if they are relocated they are responsible and can still be sued.




My cousin was a pharmaceutical rep. She did it with a teaching degree. But they wouldn't have any problem coming up with a medical license in a new name, I'm sure. I saw on TV (one of the news magazines) about some guy who faked a diploma (and maybe a transcript?) from a medical school, applied for a medical license and got it. When he was found out, all they could charge him with was fraud. They couldn't charge him for practicing medicine without a license because he had a license! And I guess there's no charge "practicing medicine without an education"!

I recommend that book. It doesn't take long to read and is really interesting. Especially the bit at the end about the program today. It's much more difficult to erase a person's history now than it was 40 years ago.

I've wondered about job interviews also. I expect that if you are worried about someone trying to kill you, the job situation is not an immediate concern. I don't imagine folks going into the program get that much time to make the decision. In one of the episodes Mary said something about a clearing house where information is scrubbed. Maybe that includes prior work history.

This would be an interesting topic to research. I would imagine that it would almost be easier to find a job for a criminal witness because most of them have non-legtimtate jobs to begin with. I don't know of too many employers who have job openings for drug trafficing, bookmaking, hijacking, etc. I agree with others who have stated that people with professional backgrounds would have the most difficulty.

Well, I can think of one really great employer for those kinds of people, but you have to be elected to Congress, you can't just fill out an application and get an interview........

John