Career Management Alliance Blog

A few weeks ago I got an email linking to a story about a guy who did something different to land a job.  You can read the entire story here. In short, they guy found a job he really wanted.  Instead of applying for it, he decided to:

… [pose] as a comparable employer and posted a comparable job opening online. He asked applicants to send a resume, cover letter and salary their requirement. He got dozens of “applications” from poor, unsuspecting job-seekers. His little ruse allowed him to gauge his competition, and to identify an appropriate salary range. With this new-found omniscience,  he applied for the job. And guess what… he got it.

This rubbed me wrong, but I couldn’t figure out why. Sure, I think it’s unethical (well there you go, the red flag).  But here’s the deal - while in a job search it’s easy to get in a position where you would do something you normally wouldn’t do… don’t you think?  I mean, if your ethics were in-any-way shaky, and you were between a rock and a hard spot, maybe you could bend the unwritten rules just once… don’t you think? I finally figured out why this rubbed me wrong, no matter how desperate you are. First, it’s wrong. It’s unethical.  You have violated a lot of people’s trust (not in you, directly, but still, trust was violated and you took advantage of unsuspecting people).  That should be reason enough. If that isn’t, then here’s what I came up with this week: Second, we don’t need more shady ethics in our world. It destroyed Enron (I think).  I can’t imagine that good ethics has helped GM get to where they are at today.  Ethics are a huge issue in our world - if you are going to stoop this low to land your job, what will you do to make a sale once you got the job?  Where are the boundaries? Keep moving boundaries and I’m sure to not want to hire you… I can’t have unethical things going on in my business… can I? Would you like to work for someone who is unethical?  (IT SUCKS, trust me) Would you like to work at a company with shady ethics? Then why would you land that job with questionable ethics? I get the “I have to survive” thing.  Been there.  Working through it.  But lowering your standards should not be acceptable. Think this is a black-and-white subject?  Read the comments - it’s polarized… unethical behavior is applauded by some and frowned upon by others. Where do you stand? Print This Post

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