Ethics and the Out-Of-Control Interview

Ethics are “the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group”—they are the principles people use to decide what their conduct should be. Fairness is important in employee selection. For ex- ample, “If prospective employees perceive that the hiring process does not treat people fairly, they may assume that ethical behavior is not important in the company, and that ‘official’ pronouncements about the importance of ethics can be discounted.”163 That’s one reason why the situation Maria Fernandez ran into is disturbing. Maria is a bright, popular, and well- informed mechanical engineer who graduated with an en- gineering degree from State University in June 2014. During the spring preceding her graduation, she went out on many job interviews, most of which she thought were conducted courteously and were reasonably useful in giving both her and the prospective employer a good impression of where each of them stood on matters of importance to both of them. It was, therefore, with great anticipation that she looked forward to an interview with the one firm where she most wanted to work: Apex Environmental. She had al- ways had a strong interest in cleaning up the environment and firmly believed she could best use her training and skills in a firm like Apex, where she thought she could have a successful career while making the world a better place. The interview, however, was a disaster. Maria walked into a room in which a panel of five men—the president of the company, two vice presidents, the marketing direc- tor, and another engineer—began throwing questions at her that she felt were aimed primarily at tripping her up rather than finding out what she could offer through her engineering skills. The questions ranged from unnecessar- ily discourteous (“Why would you take a job as a waitress in college if you’re such an intelligent person?”) to irrelevant and sexist (“Are you planning on settling down and start- ing a family anytime soon?”). Then, after the interview, she met with two of the gentlemen individually (including the president), and the discussions focused almost exclusively on her technical expertise.  She thought that these later dis- cussions went fairly well. However, given the apparent aim- lessness and even mean-spiritedness of the panel interview, she was astonished when several days later she received a job offer from the firm. The offer forced her to consider several matters. From her point of view, the job itself was perfect—she liked what she would be doing, the industry, and the firm’s location. And, in fact, the president had been quite courteous in subsequent discussions, as had been the other members of the management team. She was left wondering whether the panel interview had been intentionally tense to see how she’d stand up under pressure, and, if so, why they would do such a thing.

Qustions

1. How would you explain the nature of the panel interview Maria had to endure? Specifically, do you think it reflected a well-thought-out interviewing strategy on the part of the firm or carelessness (or worse) on the part of the firm’s management? If it was carelessness, what would you do to improve the interview process at Apex Environmental?

2. Do you consider the managers’ treatment of Maria ethical? Why? If not, what specific steps would you take to make sure the interview process is ethical from now on?

3. Would you take the job offer if you were Maria? If you’re not sure, is there any additional information that would help you make your decision, and if so, what is it?

4. The job of applications engineer for which Maria was applying requires (a) excellent technical skills with respect to mechanical engineering, (b) a com- mitment to working in the area of pollution control, (c) the ability to deal well and confidently with cus- tomers who have engineering problems, (d) a will- ingness to travel worldwide, and (e) a very intelligent and well-balanced personality. List 10 questions you would ask when interviewing applicants for the job.