What Do You Do with Immoral Bosses?

The other week, I had an interview with a really nice guy. But when I did some research, he ended up saying things he didn't actually do. So he basically lied to me. What do you do in that situation? If I get offered the job, do I still go? Or do I stick it out and stay at LWWO?

A friend of mine had quite an extreme situation during her interview process. Here's her story:

The life of the post-grad. Most of the time is spent looking for jobs to sell yourself: first with your cover letter (really, I am so unique! Keep reading and find out why…), then your resume (I am so qualified even though perfectly placed words make my accomplishments out to be so much more than they are), and then interviews (I am so personable!! I just love people!!!). The rest of the time is spent blowing what little money you have left when the phone calls go unreturned and the rejection letters come and you realize that you just bore your entire soul and it still wasn’t enough. It’s almost worse than your first love telling you "It’s over, but it’s not you baby, it’s me." Or worse, "You're a great girl, I just met somebody more qualified to be my girlfriend." But really, how else is one supposed to fill the void created by a diminished sense of self-worth after countless seemingly arbitrary rejections?

I don’t like to think of myself as someone who would sell herself. I mean honestly people should just know upon meeting me that I am clearly the best person for any and all positions. My experiences are so extensive that there is no task I could fail at. You need someone to teach kids how to fish? I’ll do it the bestest. The fact that I have no knowledge of fish and am morally opposed to it is irrelevant.

After many interviews that went nowhere, I started to realize that I might have to actually demonstrate my competency for the positions I was applying for. Hence, I became a little more comfortable pouring my heart out. As eager as I am to work for the man as a wage slave, I do have my limits. As much as I have always dreamed of being an exotic dancer, I am not here to prostitute myself.

That being said, I have to say that I found a certain level of irony in the advice of 40 something year old man interviewing me for a tutoring position:

"And in terms of dress code, you want to dress professionally. What you have on now would be appropriate. But remember, you don't want anything too revealing, especially if you are tutoring young boys. You don't want them to be distracted; your job is to be helping them focus more on their studies."

Ironically, he slyly attached a note to my contract that read: "I really enjoyed our conversation the other day and was wondering if you would like to continue it over drinks."

That made me wonder who was more of a concern: hormonally charged adolescents or emotionally distraught older men taking advantage of their positions of power trying to get with girls who could feasibly be their daughter. But when the follow-up phone call came, I reassured him, "Oh no! of course I don't think you're being sleezy!" (I think my sarcasm was lost on him). I guess my "knock out laugh, looks, and personality" made more of an impression than my resume, especially the part where it says that I work extensively with women's rights issues and matters of sexual assault and sexual harassment.

So yay! to being in the working world and acquiring the finesse to get a job while navigating through the clutches of patriarchy. Times are hard, but not desperate enough to sleep with a prospective boss. If I have to be stuck between a rock and a hard place, I don't want it to be him hard.

So liers and hard 40 year old's ... that really doesn't seem to be ideal people you want to work for. What if the salary was good? What if you really believed in the work? Would you still do it?