Getting your player ready...
Dear J.T. & DALE: I overheard a new employee telling his friend who works at our company how he cheated on the drug test to get the job. (He submitted someone else’s urine sample.) He’s going to be using machinery in our company. Should I tell someone? Could I get in trouble if he gets hurt or hurts someone else and the company finds out I knew about it? – “Jake”
DALE: I am skeptical of Big Brother policies in companies, but, come on, sometimes they just make sense. Drug testing for people who use machinery is one of those times. You do NOT have a choice here, Jake. For one thing, just think of what you must do to cheat on a urine test. First, you have to … well, never mind. But even if the guy is operating nothing more than the toaster in the break room, you don’t want a co-worker who would stoop to cheating to get the job. So why worry about protecting that guy? Get him out of there. J.T.: Agreed, but sometimes reporting a fellow employee can get a person branded or shunned by co-workers. So let’s back up. First, Jake, to answer your question, I suspect that if you were to check your employee handbook, you’d probably find a clause that holds you accountable if you know of a co-worker breaking rules and you fail to report it. I know you don’t want to be a tattletale, but I have to agree with Dale that this is serious. Unlike Dale, I don’t think I would get uppish about it because it could affect your work relationships. However, you can go to your employers and tell them confidentially what you overheard, and ask not to be named. They usually are good about such things. DALE: “Uppish”? Upping standards, maybe. If you are working on a team where reporting weasels makes you an outcast, then embrace being an outcast. Seek out employees who proudly have high standards, even if you have to find them in other departments, and associate with them. Sure, teams have their own informal code of honor, but if your standards are higher than the team’s, smile and carry on. Sometimes I’ve objected to ideas by saying, “Sorry, I have this Midwestern Boy Scout mentality.” I’ve lost some colleagues that way, but what did I really lose? Dear J.T. & Dale: I’m pulling my hair out! I’ve been looking for a job for six months and have talked with five different recruiters. Each one had a different issue with my rèsumè. They all want me to change it – but in different ways. Why isn’t there one standard format? – Haru J.T.: If you show your rèsumè to 10 more recruiters, you’ll probably get 10 more versions. My question is, how much of your time are you devoting to recruiters? While it may seem like they hold in their hands the magic box of job openings, the truth is that they place only a fraction of job seekers. DALE: I don’t have a lot of confidence in job-search statistics, but let’s say that about 10 percent of jobs work with recruiters. (That number rises and falls with the level of the job.) So, while you don’t want to ignore the jobs being filled via recruiters, you need to be sure to put them in perspective; that is, 10 percent of your job-search time. As you get more versions of your rèsumè, it gets easier and faster to revise it. Just remember, working on a rèsumè is not working on getting a job. Get the rèsumè redone. Get it out. Get on with the real search. J.T.: The “real search” is, of course, networking. Some people use activities like rèsumè revision, filling out online applications or emailing recruiters as an excuse not to get out and meet people. Remember, your goal is to meet people who can hire you, not just send rèsumès to people who are looking to screen you out.
