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Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?
6

Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

(OP)
If you were laid off for a while would you accept a job you didn't like just to have a job (in this economy)?  How long would you stay with the employer for to make such a thing less "unethical"?

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Yes.

And I did.

Been here for close to a year.

"Unethical" is a bit of a dangerous word to use here. Would it be more ethical for me to go on welfare in order to support my kids? You gotta do what you gotta do!

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Your employer would dump you the minute they were done with you.  No ethical problem in being ready to do the same.  Just do your best to be worth what they're paying while you're getting paid.

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

I have bills. Yes I would take the job if nothing else had come up in a reasonable time. If the employer says they expect you to stay at least 6 months, or whatever, then you should be prepared to stick it out.

On the other hand I am sure most employers would have little hesitation in sacking you if they ran out of work or didn't like you. So don't feel too bad if you decide to jump ship early.

Besides you might find the job is not as bad as you thought.

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Yes.

The potentially dishonest act is pretending during the interview to be interested in the job, even though you are not.

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

I took a job I didn't like during a previous recession. Unemployment is not enough to live on - There's nothing wrong with a job that keeps you with a paycheck.

As for the job I took, pay was very low, and remained low the 6 years I ended up staying. The company was a pain to work for. But in the end, I gained engineering experience that landed me later jobs. And, the employer got good new product designs they wouldn't of had otherwise (I was the first "degreeded" engineer they had on their design staff in several years!).

For many non-prime employers, recessions are their only opportunity to have talent.

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Actually, I've done it another time, my first job out of uni in the UK, didn't seem to be my dream job.  Turned out I really liked it and I'd like to think I'd still be there if I hadn't come to the states.

Posting guidelines FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm? (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

1.  Yep.
2.  As long as they can stand me.  
    It's usually not that long.  winky smile
 
 

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

(OP)
"By the way, did the similar thread731-254959: $25/hr no overtime pay for PE with 9 yrs exp: $25/hr no overtime pay for PE with 9 yrs exp not give you enough info? "

I did review that thread, but that was a money issue.  Not quite the same.  Thanks for the opinions, guys.

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Perhaps you should re-read, since the same subjects came up, regarding when to bail, ethics, etc.

TTFN

FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

You may not want it but you may need it.  

Rafiq Bulsara
http://www.srengineersct.com

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

The only ethics that apply is that you look out for your financial interests while they look out for theirs. All within legal boundaries, of course. Give them a two week notice before leaving, and all is even.

I had a similar question on this board. Needless to say, the employer in question had no integrity and I didn't have to worry about quitting.

If you ever have an interview with a "Vice President of Engineering" who didn't have an engineering degree, and who never worked under an engineer, and who didn't know what an EIT is; there's a very good chance they're not running a smooth operation.  

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

I have taken a couple jobs after layoffs and liked them, including my current one.
Once I took a job at a small engineering company, it was the worse job I ever had...worse than flipp'n burgers!

Chris
SolidWorks 09 SP4.1
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Yes especially if the job came with medical benefits. You have to pay the bills somehow

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

It's a known fact that it's easier to find work while you're in work than if you're unemployed, so it is better to take a job that you don't really like as it is more likely to lead you into a better job. Of course in the UK the financial benefit would depend on how much you earned compared to how many state benefits you'd lose (medical benefits don't apply as everyone gets that anyway regardless). In terms of your own self esteem though, take the job.  

corus

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

I have taken jobs that I would normaly not consider, and not just due to a bad economy. I have also enjoyed them and learned from them as well.

Peter Stockhausen
Senior Design Analyst (Checker)
Infotech Aerospace Services
www.infotechpr.net

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Good point; jobs look different from the outside, so your initial appraisal may be inaccurate.

 

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Of course, there were some that sounded good, but once I got there....

Peter Stockhausen
Senior Design Analyst (Checker)
Infotech Aerospace Services
www.infotechpr.net

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

How many people in the world take jobs that they do not like or may not want just to support their families? People do what they have to do! There is a big difference in want and need. If you really needed a job than you wouldn't have asked this questions in the first place, but if you would like or not like to get one is really your choice. On the other hand, maybe you should really leave it for people that need a job and do not have the luxury to pick what they like or want at the moment.  

"Throughout space there is energy. Is this energy static or kinetic! If static our hopes are in vain; if kinetic — and this we know it is, for certain — then it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheelwork of nature". – Nikola Tesla
 

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

About 5 years ago I took a job as a machinist for about a month.  At the time I was laid off for 11 months and unemployment was running out.  It was a 3rd shift position (6pm to 6am) and I had an interview with another company after my first night on the job.  

I received an offer letter before my first week was over.  I put in my notice that I would be leaving in 3 weeks.  Everyone pretty much knew that I wasn't going to be there long anyway.  My boss at the time wanted to train me on the large equipment but knew it was pointless since I was leaving in a couple of weeks so they did all of the setups for me and I just pushed a button and inspected my parts as they finished.  It was a good learning experience to know what machinists have to go through to make parts.

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

I would take the job.

My shortest job was 4 months.  I had thought about staying there long term, not because I felt guilty, but the work turned out to be interesting for a short while.  Then it went rapidly downhill, and at the same time a great job turned up.

My wife worked a temp job for about a week and quit for a full time position.  Not quite the same thing but close enough.

The guy next to me quit his contract position with us after a month for something full time.

And always keep in mind what TheTick said, they would dump you in a heartbeat.  Never forget it ;)

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

I was night manager for a gas station. How you get the money never means squat to the landlord. The owner was studying to get his BSME at the same school I went to, and used to lord his education over us peons. I certainly didn't tell him when I left for an engineering position, and I don't think it would've helped his outlook on going into engineering.

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

My mother came home one day during the 80's when the Irish economy was in the tank.  She had gotten in a conversation with the kid who was stocking shelves and it turned out he was a Chemical Engineering graduate.
You have to look outside the box.  When I arrived in the US 15 years ago, I didn't limit my job search to being an engineer.  Some of our pub owners around here are from all walks of education from the nephew of a loan shark to a Physics graduate.
I was a bartender when I met the President of a local company who needed office help. Knowing I was an engineer by trade he gradually over the next two months brought me from answering the phone to installation of the systems (custom software and hardware).  Over the next seven years I rose in that company and that experience got me into my current position where I have been for the last five years.
Every thing you do teaches you more about what you like, dislike and can tolerate.

drawn to design, designed to draw

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

(OP)
I'm not talking about McJob type job (I'd walk away from one of those in a heartbeat), but an engineering position that it turns out you wouldn't usually take.  It would take a while (6 -12 months?) to come up  to speed and be a real benefit to the company.  If your still looking for hoping for another position it seems like stealing, taking a paycheck for doing little but training.  

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Careful, while there may be a couple of managers/small business owners on here that really appreciate that view point, generally consensus is that most employers would let you go at a moments notice if it suited them, so it's difficult to justify treating them any better.

Not all of the jobs listed above were McJobs, 2 of mine were/are engineering.  If something better (however you personally measure it) came along I'd take it.

Posting guidelines FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm? (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

An experienced engineer doing work within their field of experience won't take 6 - 12 months before they are productive.

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

If a company requires at least 12 months service from you to recoup training time, they should offer you a contract in which you both have equal obligation.

Regards
Pat
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RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Pat makes a good point, some people here, and I don't mean directors, have managed to get deals vaguely like that.  At least one of them (purchaser) was gratefull of it when he got let go in June, he'd only been here just over 6 months but because of that agreement he got something like 3 extra months severance.

(Funny story, apparantly HR didn't know about this agreement, only the former VP of operations who was no longer with the co.  When the purchaser asked for his 3 months, HR said no.  So he got his copy of the agreement to show them.  They tried telling him it was no longer valid as the VP that signed it was no longer with the company!  They were persuaded of their error.  His wasn't the only similar case in that round of lay-offs, they underestimated the severance payout overall by several 10's of $thousands.)

Posting guidelines FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm? (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Twice I've taken jobs I didn't really want to (working in the auto industry for the last 30 years has been one long recession) and enjoyed them, and twice I've started jobs I was really looking forward to and ended up chucking them within 3 years.

That is entirely useless information, but the moral would appear to be that I, at least, cannot seem to judge whether I will like a job without actually doing it.

 

Cheers

Greg Locock

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RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

(OP)
"An experienced engineer doing work within their field of experience won't take 6 - 12 months before they are productive. "

Yes, but an engineer entering a new field they're unfamiliar with could depending on type of training the  new company provides.

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

I have yet to work for a company that had any sort of organized "training program".  Usually one is pointed to a cubicle crammed full of useless paperwork (some pertaining to what you were actually hired to work on), shown where the manufacturing floor is, and maybe given a short description on how the network is (or isn't) organized.  It's up to the individual to get up to speed before thier 90-day probation period is over.  3 months is a long time.

I've never taken a job for the sake of being employed (post-career), but I came very close to doing so this year.  I stay at jobs until I feel I have stopped growing, then it's time to start looking.  If you've been laid off, I don't find anything unethical about getting any job, and leaving that job as soon as possible if you want to return to your career field.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

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RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Careful, it sounds like you've already decided you wouldn't do it.  Despite most of the above saying they'd do it it doesn't sound like you are going to change you mind.

Look at if from a different point of view.  As a tax payer, how do you feel about someone that could be working instead getting by on government subsidized beneffits?  Is that any more ethical than taking a job expecting not to be ther long?

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RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

MadMango;

This is a fact, I've paid for every dime of my post graduate training at seminars and community colleges. The only one companies will let people go to are the over glorified free technical "infomercials" that vendors offer.

Some of them have been good infomercials with more info than mercial.

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

You pretty much have to be working for a company with a few thousand employees before you might see an educational reimbursement program.

As for "liking" your job, in tough times, that's a luxury.  It's a relatively recent phenomenon that people actually get a choice between jobs they "like" and those they don't.  Engineers are already quite lucky in that regard; most people only get to choose between jobs they "hate" and those they hate less.  Their "dream" jobs are probably close to the one you just don't "like."

As for duration, be professional, give adequate, or longer, notice, and finish your projects before moving on.  If you make any term commitments, honor them.

TTFN

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RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

In this and other threads, it has become apparent that people seem to think company turnover is the employees problem to correct. When did this start? Keeping employees is the responsibility of the company.

-- MechEng2005

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Here's my two cents.  

How can you possibly make any commitment to an employer as to how long you will stay there?  You may have the best of intentions, but life happens.  Maybe your wife gets a job that requires you to move.  Maybe you have to move to care for an elderly parent.  Maybe you find another job that pays better and had better benefits.  There are a whole host of reasons that your plans could change.  

While there may be some difference in your feelings toward different jobs, is there really any difference in taking a job that you hate with the idea that you're going to keep looking or taking a job that you love, but something happens with your family and you have to find new employment?  There may be subtleties there that make YOU feel better about the situation, but is the end result really any different?  

Additionally, how is it unethical to put your family's interests above your employers.  I would hope that most people do that.  As long as you're doing your job to the best of your abailiy, what's the problem?


IR, My company has less than 100 employees and they're paying for my graduate education.

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

It ain't what you want that makes you fat, it's what you can get.  

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

I would, and I have.

I was laid off a couple of months ago, and I've taken a temporary job as a Purchase Clerk. Its quite low pay, but its easy work and it covers the bills.

When I get home after work I search for jobs and fill out applications. I also try and learn some new skills, or brush up on old ones.
 

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

yes, if I think that is would help my career.

Ibertest Internacional S.A.
http://www.ibertestint.com

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

The worst job I took after being layed off was a small company managed by salesmen. They had the premium benefits, and the engrs had ordinary coverage. One serious caution is accepting a job at lower than your level.  

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Things work out eventually.  I took a job at a 25% pay cut to avoid transferring to a division out of state.  At this point, 12 yrs later, my salary has grown sufficiently to make up for the loss, and then some.

TTFN

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RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

i wouldnt hahahahahaha  

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

All of us have been there at one point or another, at least those of us who have been in industry for awhile.  You do what you have to to keep bread on the table and a roof over your head.

I've taken temp jobs, bought and sold through classifieds and at flea markets, rumaged through dumpsters (for saleable items, not food!) whatever brought in the income during the low cycles.  Never have been on welfare and have always left a job on my own accord.  I do feel for you folks that have gone through firings and layoffs, that would be a tough pack to shoulder.

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

Agreed ornerynorsk, have been on most of those rides myself at one time or another. Also have never left a job except on my own terms, and also have never claimed a penny in state assistance.

westheimer, somewhere along the way you will find yourself in a job where a paycut becomes wholly acceptable to get back other things which matter: family, friends, social life, holidays, etc. When it was my turn to make the decision I ended up halving my pay - literally - to get out of London and to stop working six days out of seven and 90+ hours a week. Lost my paid overtime and a works car, and it was the best decision I ever made. The money from the London job gave me a good start in my life, but what's the point in having money if you have no one to spend it on and instead you are working yourself into an early grave?
 
  

----------------------------------
  
If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
 

RE: Would you take a job you didn't want if you were laid off?

careful
Speaking both as an employer then later as an an employee.

When I ran a business I would try to find the best employees I could. If one of these guys had a problem I would bend over backwards to see if things could be worked out. If the guy had found a better job that I could not match at the time , I would wish him luck and keep the door open. If the employee was not, that good I did not bend, I would simply wish him goodbye.
  Some years ago during the final strike with Eastern Airlines I had people who were vastly, overqualified ,working for me doing mundane tasks with the mutual understanding that when the strike was over they would leave and go back to work and that if I ran out of work they would be the first to go. The way the Eastern strike turned out, I ended up with a couple of very good employees who stayed with me for several years and became very valuable to the business.
 Later I closed the business due to a mini recession giving my people ample notice and a chance to secure new jobs, and moved to California as an employee. At first life was good until another mini-recession hit, at which time I discovered that I was just a number. If the company had no work you did not either. Even if you are "overqualified" for a job take it anyway. Right now in this economy we have PhD's driving taxicabs in San Diego, and when the "right" job turns up simply tell your employer you have received a better offer.
B.E.

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