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From: pjs269@tijc02.UUCP (Paul Schmidt        )
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.misc,comp.misc
Subject: Re: Lieing to get a job
Message-ID: <158@tijc02.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 4-Sep-87 10:47:10 EDT
Article-I.D.: tijc02.158
Posted: Fri Sep  4 10:47:10 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 5-Sep-87 20:43:18 EDT
References: <957@bc-cis.UUCP> <1839@tekig5.TEK.COM>
Organization: Texas Instr., Johnson City TN
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Xref: mnetor misc.jobs.misc:660 comp.misc:1196

> 
> Is it really necessary that we lie to get a job?  It seems to me that an
> employer should be appreciative of someone who is willing to admit their
> feelings instead of trying to deceive the interviewer.  Sure, hiring
> someone who admits that the job is not their ideal one might be a risk,
> but is it a worse risk then hiring a deceitful individual?
>

When I was interviewing for a job for a large company with diverse interests,
I was asked to fill out an application.
One of the questions on the application was (paraphrased):

	Would you be willing to work on a defense contract?

I answered this question honestly as "no".  During the interview the
interviewer spent five minutes asking me why.  I tried to explain my
reasoning, but this is not a question anyone would be able to answer
in five minutes (along with not being prepared to answer the question.)

Soon after the interview I got a rejection letter which I attributed
entirely to that specific question.  (My guess is that the interviewer
had been in the service, also.)

Luckily, I was never asked this question again, so I never had to lie.
But if I had been asked the question, again, I may have answered it
differently, since I don't think it was a fair question.  I also believe
in retrospect that I was discriminated on because of my religious
beliefs.  (At the time I wouldn't have claimed them as "religious", they
were just my beliefs.)

In the book "Lying" one of the observations was made:
Given enough time you can answer any questions without lying that
will give the questioner the impression that you answered the
question the way he wanted to hear it answered.

Therefore lying may be defensible by saying.  If I had enough time in
an interview I would be able to show the interviewer I was not a
communist and could be a benefit to their company.  But the question
"why" is impossible to answer in a thirty minute interview.