Of relationships & resumes…

What’s in a relationship, one might ask?

Plenty of options as per Facebook – Single, Engaged, Married, in a civil relationship, in a domestic relationship, it is complicated, separated, divorced, widowed. Some of these terms are understandable like Single would mean the chicken is waiting to be slaughtered, Engaged meaning the chicken is dressed and Married would mean cooked. Right?

What about a “ civil relationship”? Aren’t all relationships supposed to be civil? Domestic relationship? Does this mean you are in a relationship at home only and when you go out you don’t acknowledge each other ?

“ It is complicated”- Has the relationship run into complications or is it too complicated to explain?

Imagine people using these phrases to state their relationship status ( or marital status, as we call it in India) in their professional resumes! The interviewer will be more interested in probing why a relationship is complicated or the meaning of a civil relationship. Single or Married could possibly be deemed to be acceptable options. Sad but that is the way most interviewers would look at it, at least in India. Why at all state the relationship status in a resume? It is not done in many countries and even enquiring about the same could be considered unacceptable.

Even if you want to write your marital status in a resume, make sure you spell it correctly ( Spellcheck be damned). Many resumes I have come across state it as MARTIAL STATUS. If “ Single” is stated after Martial status, are we to assume the candidate has not fought any battles/wars and he/ she is a battle-scarred veteran if the status is “ Married”? Possibly they equate marriage to a war.