Dishonesty

[Please!]

Is it really a terrible thing to not tell your employer that you are applying to med. school? It was hard to get a job to fill up this year off I'm taking and so I kind of said that I would stay longer than I intended when applying for the job. Now I feel like I'm sneaking around.
Am I a terrible person?

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[pyau03]

No, I would do the same. Self defense.

 

[Megalofyia]

I am going for a job interview on Tuesday for a research possition. I have no intentions of mentioning that I applied to med school.

 

[sharsky]

i was in the same situation last year. for my first few interviews...i was stupid enough to tell them i can only work for a year and i never got any job offers. i later learned that i had to lie and i finally got a job offer. i regret not lying on my amgen interview though because that was the job i really wanted =(

 

[NDESTRUKT]

depends on the job. if it's a small type job that they can fill up real fast...i doubt it.

if it's a job where they have to spend a lot of money on you to train you, then yes. for my job, they paid a ton of money to move me out here, train me, send me to different places for training...and so i have a contract that says if i get fired or quit before a year is up, i have to pay a lot of the costs...either way i'm done with that contract and i feel it's ok to not tell them until a month before i move out =)

 

[Bridaddy]

Look at it this way, if they were considering firing you after you completed some really nasty 3 month project they couldn't get anyone else to do, do you think they'd tell you?

 

[SarahGM]

Originally posted by Please!
Is it really a terrible thing to not tell your employer that you are applying to med. school? It was hard to get a job to fill up this year off I'm taking and so I kind of said that I would stay longer than I intended when applying for the job. Now I feel like I'm sneaking around.
Am I a terrible person?

I was struggling with this one last year, and I asked my current boss' (at the time) opinion-- he was only a few years older than me. He basically was terribly appalled and said that was incredibly dishonest, and you'd never know when things would come back to bite you in the ass. He said that if he were that employer, he'd definitely call up medical schools (upon finding out) and let them know about my dishonesty.

Kind of snapped me back to reality, you might say!

 

[Please!]

I don't know if my original post when through but this is what I said
*******
I know it's wrong but I'm already in the situation. WHat should I do now? Am I screwed? My job did require some standard training, but I don't have my own project, and from the nature of the position, won't ever have my own project. From reading the previous post, now I'm thinking should I not say where I'm going when I leave? That would be too much for me.

Believe it or not, I'm not used to being dishonest. THat's why I'm freaking out so much

 

[NE_Cornhusker1]

i usually go for a clinton-esque answer if i am put on the spot with the 'your future plans question'. my response is 'well i think in a few years i'd like to get into a night-time mba program and further my credintials so that i can advance with the company.' technically this answer is correct and and plan c [plan b is a ms (maybe phd) if i don't get in]. it's not right but it's ok.

 

[OnMyWayThere]

That is horrible! I mean how could you live with yourself considering someone else was probably in desperate need of that job, could've raised a family and might be jobless now because of you. You must be one of the most selfish people ever!

Naahhhh... I doubt you hurt anyone, including the co. It's not that big of deal. Enjoy the income and don't feel bad.

 

[woolie]

I second the idea that you never know what the company is planing anyway and it sometimes happens that people are laid off right after they have just bought a new home, had a baby or whatever. These are not uncommon stories, and they're very painful. Imagine being left with four kids and a mortage, etc. I think alot of employers are very self-concerned and that means they want what's good for them - and not necessarily what's good for you.

On the other hand, I tend to want to be honest too. And that usually results in no acceptances. I have found that when I just fluff it, people have looked at my resume and said things like: hmmm...it LOOKS like you might be going to medical school, so I am not going to bother.

It can be very hard to walk that thin line of honesty and selfpreservation. If you really feel they'll be mad, just quit one day and don't tell them it's for medical school. They're paying you for your time and effort but not for your life.

 

[Super Rob]

If you tell the truth to prospective employers, don't expect sympathy from admissions committee members when they ask you what you're doing with your "time off."

Then again, you may become quite unpopular on the job if you frequently ask for time off, even if you were up front about your medical school plans.

I told the truth and no hospital would hire me full time. My job is far from horrible, but nothing that would impress an admissions committee. Not sure how this is effecting my opportunities.

 

[lotanna]

They didnt ask, I didnt tell, have a great job, but come July, I'll be flashing them the peace sign. They cant fault me, if all of a sudden I feel the need to want to advance my education can they? Ok i'll only have worked there for 8months and they are training me, but oh well, only clause in my signing was to give them at least 2 weeks, and i plan on giving them 3

 

[Chrisobean]

just as long as they dont ask you to sign a contract...
i wouldnt have my job either if i told them i was applying... its not really lying, if they ask about any future education just say for right now you are not sure and want to gain some work experience, make it seem like more schooling is far down the line...
my boss was very cool with me applying, and i think most would be, how can they be mad when you are only advancing your career? everyone would do the same thing in this position. he even wrote me an LOR after 4 months.

good luck!

 

[GoodMonkey]

i didn't tell my employer at the time, and i got the job while applying for med school (the fall of my application season) ... they asked me what my future plans were when i interviewed, and i told them at some point i saw myself going back to school, but that i didn't know when that would be. (the truth - who knew whether or not i would get in, after all.) this was a mid-sized company, so i was a little more than just a cog in the machine, but not too much more. i wasn't drop-of-a-hat-expendable, (the position required prior experience or pretty comprehensive training) but i could be replaced in about a month's time, if necessary.

when i took time off to interview, i just told them it was "personal time," and i only used days allowed by the company - i.e. i didn't take any extra time that wasn't afforded the rest of the company's employees. nobody asked, as it really wasn't their business. personal time is just that - personal time.

when i left the job about 8 months later, i just told them i had an opportunity elsewhere that i couldn't turn down. everyone wished me the best, and nobody pried.

telling them i was applying for that application cycle would have likely led to my being let go, depending on who it was that i told. i needed the income and didn't feel i was being dishonest. i gave 3 weeks notice, and left about a month and a half after i made my final decision about where i was going to go to school. it all worked out well for me.

good luck w/your situation.

 

[BushBaby]

Yeah, as long as it's not some contract or something. I usually told people that "in the future, I plan on attending/going to medical school"...the future just leaves it blank.

 

[MeowMix]

When I was a supervisor and hired staff members, I always knew that people might leave if (a) they got a better job, (b) they had kids, (c) their significant other got a better job elsewhere, (d) they went back to school.

So this is expected for standard jobs where you don't have a close personal bond with your supervisor/owner of the business.

If you got hired into a senior position with big hiring incentives, then left before you had accomplished anything significant, it would be a different story. If you had begged a friend to hire you, then blew off work for interviews, it would be a different story.