From Blog Posts to Mortgage Rate, Obama Jobseekers Must Reveal All

Have you led an entirely blameless - or better yet, blander than bland - existence for your entire adult life? Can you guarantee you have never sent an embarrassing or angry email or text? Are you absolutely sure you have destroyed those awkward teenage diaries? The Barack Obama administration may want you.

A seven-page job questionnaire prepared by the office of the president-elect is going to extraordinary lengths to protect the incoming Obama administration from potential scandal in its job hires.

Job seekers are being asked to supply copies of all résumés for the last decade - presumably to screen out people inflating their credentials.

Applicants are also being asked to hand over all written material - from books and articles to lowly comments on blog posts. They must provide all internet handles, and the URL of professional and personal networking sites.

The process of staffing the incoming administration got under way this week, with Obama taking job applications on his change.gov website.

The bonanza in political appointments is one of the rituals of the transition process. It even has its own bible: the Plum Book, a purple-covered official guide to more than 7,000 job vacancies created with the change of administration.

The guide, issued after every election since 1952, was released online this week.

Obama appears to have set a new standard for intrusiveness as recruiters try to establish a financial, personal and professional paper trail for job applicants, their spouses, and their grown-up children.

Applicants are asked to list any legal offenses, including traffic violations punished by more than a $50 (£34) fine. They are asked to list any gift worth over $50 they or their spouse have received from anyone who is not a relative or close friend. They must reveal whether they or anybody in their family owns a gun.

A good portion of the questionnaire is devoted to seeking financial information -down to the rate of interest the applicant is paying on his or her mortgage.