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Honesty/Ethics In Job Applications?
jt007 writes "I am a student in the UK who graduates from a computing course in a matter of weeks, and am starting to look for graduate jobs. One problem though, a friend and I are going travelling in about 15 months (obviously I need the job to pay for the trip!). Do I tell my employers this before I start work and potentially harm my chances of getting the job, or do I just shaft them in 15 months time? I would be interested in finding out in particular how IT managers out there would react to being put in a situation like this? Would it harm any chances of a reference for a future job? So the question is: is it best to keep quiet about my plans, or is honesty the best policy?" Look at it this way: if the company planned to close your office in 15 months would they tell you? If you were leaving in a much shorter period of time I'd think you should tell them, they might be rather annoyed to train you in a job and then have you depart and you might not be able to use them as a reference in the future. But 15 months? If you tell them, not only would you risk not getting the job because of it, your plans might change before then and you'd have lost the job for nothing.
1. How would you, as an employer, want prospective employees to behave? 2. What would happen if everyone behaved that way?
What about the chance of taking a leave of absense?
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As soon as you tell all my past employers that "IT" does not mean maintain every piece of electronic equipment in the office, I'll be more realistic in my resume.
"Electronic Stapler's broken! Call the IT Guy over here right now!"
15 months is a ways out. Don't tell them. Shoot, you might find out by then you hate the job anyway. It's not uncommon for people to quit without giving reason, and they still find jobs afterward.
If you prove to be a very valuable employee, they may give you your old position when you return, but don't expect paid vacation.
If you make a habit of quitting jobs after short periods of time, then it starts to make you look bad. But quitting a first job? I think people almost expect that.
Give me my freedom, and I'll take care of my own security, thank you.
If they're offering you a two year contract, you speak up. If they're employing you 'at will' then it's none of their damn business.
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People are going to talk each other in circles a lot over this one. The bottom line: you can decide not to tell them, which will improve your chances in finding a job, but which is also not the "right thing to do," or you can tell them, which will hurt your chances, but which is the ethical choice.
Look at the job market, and you make your decision, mister.
FWIW, you might not go on this vacation in 15 months. Maybe you'll be so into the job you'll want to work more. Maybe you'll decide to go earlier. Perhaps you'll knock some young lady up and have other things to deal with in 15 months. Maybe your friend will be abducted by sheep.
You just never know. (and so maybe it's better not to shoot yourself in the foot, no?)
What is your track record for keeping this sort of long-term committment, even in the face of change? Remember, the first casualty of a battle is the battle plan.
How can you say that you will be doing thus-and-so that far into the future? You stand a good chance of being side-tracked somewhere along the way, in which case telling your prospective employer that you will say "farewell, so long" at 15 months is not necessarily accurate.
Besides, you may learn that the job isn't what it was cracked up to be, and you leave long before the 15-month "promise". There are too many things unknown.
There is another possibility. You might not quit, but instead take an unpaid leave of absence... if you are good enough and valuable enough.
Do you want to work at a company where your paycheck is determined upon whether the owner's mortgage application gets accepted or not?
I don't know what it is like in the UK, but in the US it is customary to give two weeks notice before leaving your job. Most employers understand that "turnover" is a fact of life. It may come as a shock to your ego, but no single employee is indispensible. People come and go, and yet corporations survive.
I learned this lesson through experience. After college, I started worked for a large insurance company. After working there for 4+ years, my girlfriend (now wife) was taking a job in another city and I wanted to move with her. I agonized over what I was going to tell my employer. I felt guilty that I was bailing out on them after they had given me four years of gainful employment and experience. I honestly felt like I was doing something unethical by leaving them like that.
When I went into my manager's office to give him my letter of resignation, I was literally shaking. I thought that I would get escorted out of the building in shame. Much to my delight, my manager shook my hand and wished me the best of luck in my new city. He totally understood that people come and go, and although my leaving would be missed, they would make due.
Later I came to the realization that I was silly to feel guilty about leaving. Even though they had given me 4+ years of paychecks and experience, I had given them 4+ years of good work. Looking at things that way, it was a perfectly fair economic transaction. Once one party no longer gains from the transaction, he or she is perfect justified in terminating the relationship. There is nothing ethically wrong with that at all. You have no moral obligation to work for them longer than you desire, just like they have no obligation to keep you employed more than they desire.
As a practical issue, future companies are going to be wary of the fact that you only stayed with your job for 15 months and then left for an extended vacation. Usually employers will ask why you left your last job and what you did with your time between jobs. You may have some explaining to do.
Of course, you have alternatives to quitting after 15 months. You didn't say how long you are travelling for, but you can always use vacation time or take an unpaid leave of absense. If you prove yourself to be a valuable employee, you may be able to work something out.
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