Questions asked on Job Applications

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I've been struggling heavily as of late with Job Applications, particularly when they ask what days that the applicant is available to work, and when they ask hypothetical situational questions such as:

"If a coworker took a few dollars per year from the company he worked at (but was still a good worker), would you tell on him?"

I answered that I wouldn't, thinking in my head that I wouldn't want to create misery for that coworker and have him run the risk of losing his job. My mother ardently disagreed, saying that if I ever want to even be able to survive and be employed, that I would have to follow the Company's rule in any and all situations.

Am I in the wrong for just feeling that this kind of subservient mentality is soul-crushing and depressing? I don't want to metaphorically feel merely like a pet for the rest of my life...

I know some people on here say you should never ever lie but you should go with tell the company even if you wouldn't in real life. JUST think about what would benefit the company when they ask questions like that on an application

I do not know if this is just random variation or not but the only time I got a job was from an online application (my handwriting sucks).

If you are going to be out of school soon and it is a summer job you are available everyday.

Last edited by Delphiki on 17 May 2012, 9:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

I agree-you've got to tell them what they want to hear, regardless of how you really feel. I have always done pretty good with job interviews which has gotten me a lot of jobs-I can put on a confident face-but I don't think that I have ever gotten a job that was depended on one of those questionaires. I hate them because I never seem to give the right answer, even when I think I am marking what they want to hear.

You enter into a contract. Whether agreeing to the terms of the contract is subservient, soul-crushing and depressing depends on what those terms are. I don't feel like a pet for doing what I promised to do, if the other party also fulfills the terms of the agreement, and if there is a fair exchange.