Before Linda Tripp and Ken Starr entered her world, Monica Lewinsky was headed for a public relations job at Revlon. She would have been one among many attractive young women climbing the corporate ladder, anonymously.

After the world learned who she was, Monica couldn't show up in an employment agency as an ordinary job applicant. Corporate jobs are closed to her. She lent her name to diet products, talked to the media, and pitched her line of handbags on the Internet.

You probably have nothing in common with Monica Lewinsky, but you may face the Monica Lewinsky Career Challenge Employers like applicants who fit the mold -- their mold. Fitting in will be especially difficult for high-profile, high-visibility professionals who have been displaced by forces beyond their control.

When potential employers recognize your name on a resume, consider this awareness as an asset to your job search strategy.

(1) Begin to build a platform for your next life. Explore opportunities to leverage your position in the community and the industry, such as speaking engagements, consulting and teaching.

(2) Create an independent power base through these activities. Appealing on the basis of need will usually backfire. Find ways to operate from strength.

(3) List your professional friends and network members. How can each person help? Some will serve as sounding boards. Others will have expertise you need. Still others will be able to hire you as a consultant or speaker.

(4) Investigate options for self-employment. After twenty or more years in a field, you may see income faster by starting your own business than by waiting to get hired. And a business gives you a cover story. Instead of "Dan who's out of work" you're "Dan who's starting a business and considering all his options."

(5) Plan a campaign that leaves you in charge, targeting clients and employers who will feel privileged to do business with you. Resume-blasting will backfire: you'll get responses like, "You wouldn't seriously want to work here, would you?" And you'll hear from folks hoping to invest your money or name in their off-the-wall ideas.

Typically, high-visibility professions can parlay their industry contacts into a business or a powerful new job. As for Monica... well, career lessons come from everywhere. Fame on any level has to be handled with care.