ATLANTA — The woman pulled her resume from a pink file folder and handed it to a recruiter.
Across the top of the page, in bold type, she had printed her name twice: first as "Mark," then as "(Meghan)." She was not quite sure if this was appropriate.
At the nation's first transgender Career Expo, job seekers were encouraged to use their new gender names on resumes.
But Meghan, 42, a transsexual who declined to give her last name because her current employer knows her as Mark, wanted to make sure prospective employers could find her -- or him -- if they ran a background check.
The etiquette of transgender resumes was just one of the myriad challenges facing job seekers who packed the Atlanta convention hall. For transgender people -- at Friday's expo, they ranged from cross-dressers to those who had changed their gender through hormone therapy or surgery -- the workplace can be a minefield.
Many cannot find jobs. Even those who come out after they have settled in with a company risk losing their job. No federal civil rights protection exists for transgender employees, but 12 states have passed legislation ensuring employment protection. The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote this month on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit discrimination against employees on the basis of gender identity.
The Career Expo -- organized by the Southern Comfort Conference, the country's largest annual gathering of transgender people -- drew recruiters from more than 20 major corporations including Microsoft Corp., Deloitte & Touche LLP, Ernst & Young, American Airlines, Hewlett-Packard Co. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
A number of national and international corporations are developing transgender policies and protections. According to a report by the Human Rights Campaign, 152 of Fortune 500 companies prohibit job discrimination against transgender employees.
In some ways, the Career Expo was like any other job fair: Men and women walked from booth to booth, stopping to exchange business cards and promote their experience and skill.
Some scenes were more colorful: A woman with hooped earrings carrying a glossy platinum wig chatted with recruiters from Ernst & Young.
At the other side of the room, a woman in pearls wiggled her hips playfully as she walked up to a Hewlett-Packard booth. "Am I accepted?" she asked, coyly.
