Ethical Issues For Employee And Employers

What is ethical in this example can go both ways. Is it ethical to my future employer to take a job I am not interested in, and therefore will not perform to my full ability? Or is it ethical for this company to hire me fresh out of college with little to no practical work experience in the worst economy in decades? Let’s look at the first example. As stated we are in the worst economy in decades, I am in my last semester and it would be fair to assume I have some amount of debt. I would be antsy to start paying these back, as well start investing for my future. Due to the economy companies are probably not hiring as much, and if they are they wouldn’t necessarily be looking for an inexperienced and untested employee. If I did take this job I would be grateful for employment in the current economic environment, but in the long run, it probably wouldn’t look good on me.

It wouldn’t be ethical on my part to take a job I wouldn’t enjoy and excel at. People excel at positions they enjoy, I have seen this happen many times in the Navy where I would assign a Sailor to a task and if they did not enjoy the work their performance would be poor. However, if we match jobs with the right people we will see their work performance excel. This applies for this example as well, every day I would wake up regretting going to a job that I do not enjoy. I would spend my free time polishing my resume, and browsing job posting sites. This is not fair to my employer, I am not saying I would totally blow off work, but I probably do just the bare minimum expected of me.

On the other hand, is it ethical for the company to hire me right out of college? Why in such a poor economy will this company take a chance on me? At first, I would be suspicious, do they really need someone with an MBA. Or is this just a check in the box and I will be doing work other employees can’t be bothered to do? Unfortunately, at my last employer I have seen practices that sound very familiar to this, they would hire recent college graduated, saying we need chemists or engineers, and then give them busy work that more senior people did not want to do. This leads to these new employees becoming disgruntled, and eventually leaving. Companies need to value each and every employee. Now I could be wrong, this company may really like my credentials and they might actually value and appreciate me. However, I would still not take the job. In the end, it’s not fair to me, nor my employer. I would not enjoy the job, therefore I would not perform as well, and in the end, I would not stay with the company long term.

If I did accept the job it would not be ethical to immediately look for another job. I would not want to look like a job hopper to my current or future employer. If I did apply for another job and had an interview, they might ask why I was only at this current position for such a short time. How could I explain this situation to them, and convince them, I won’t leave their company after a few months as well. It has been my experience a person should spend a minimum of two years at a job. Any less would make me, as an interviewer, question their commitment to my company. I would want to look for other jobs, but morally and ethically I could not. I truly believe regardless of how we feel about a position we have something to gain, I may not be interested in this position, but it does provide an entryway into the workforce in what I assume is the same field I want to pursue. It is defiantly not the job I want, but it’s a job. If I use this as a building block and take advantage of the networking it provides I can set my self up for success down the road.