Today I was offered a position at Comcast doing IT related work. For me it would mean a pay raise and an advancement in career which is absolutely fantastic. However, Comcast with their questionable business practices leaves me somewhat undecided on a moral basis.
I'm most likely going to take the job. I really need the money. I'm just hoping to spur some discussion on where you would draw the line with a company when considering a job.
Would you take the job and try your best to improve the environment? Outright refuse? What do you think?
Can't agree more! My company produces medicine and helps people with cancer. My job is quite shitty, so does that help me? Not really. And yeah, you not working for them or working for them won't make a difference at all in their strategy. At least you can somewhat influence it, if you work for them.
This is a timely question. First of all, good luck with your decision and congratulations on putting yourself in a position to be able to have this option. It's nice to have options. Tomorrow I have an interview with a company that specializes in Corporate Insurance. If I decided to pursue the opportunity, it could pay very well. However, I've never, EVER considered selling liability insurance to corporate america as something I want to be doing. That said, I currently work for a large financial services company and 7 years ago I would have NEVER considered working in finance. With a company like COMCAST, who I also loathe, I would have to speak with someone working there that I trusted to ascertain (that ones for you galen and Quatrarius) what the internal culture is like. If it's a company with shitty customer service for it's customers but is a blast to work for.... well, I might consider it. If it's a company that squashes all of its competitors, but would pay me enough and provide an excellent quality of life for me and my family, then I would consider it. -Not proud of that, but it's me being honest. If I ascertain that the company's benefits outweigh the crappy-ness of their practices. I'm in. Good luck!
If it were a small company with questionable business practices, I would probably think about it a bit more closely than I would for a company like Comcast. The reality is: you are going to learn a lot, meet new people, have a nice addition to your resume, along with probably a bazillion other pros. It is highly doubtful that your morals will be corrupted or you will ever be directly involved with what makes them a shitty company (from a consumer's POV).
I think you should accept their offer. How many companies are there in IT that don't have "questionable business practices"? Especially if you're talking about the big ones. Maybe you could see it as a stepping stone. Work there for a while, get some experience, make connections, and then start a business of your own.
Right, that's exactly my line of thought. This is just the first time I've been offered a position and I've had some hesitation with my decision. I've been railing against the company and it made me question it all, you know? So I figured I'd bring up the subject with all of you.
No. It would get consideration if it turned out the company's general culture is not poor, but specific departments are poor. If the department I'm going to is unrelated, then maybe. If the department I'm going to is the problem, then no (unless it's some industry I care about for some reason and see an opportunity for reform or something, but no.)
I have, several times. Hell, I accepted a contract to teach Vietnamese police how to speak English (which, honestly would probably resulted in more bribe extractions from foreigners and tourists) that ultimately fell through. Anyway, personally I think it's strange to go through life looking for work only with companies I'm in complete sync with. Comcast does some things very well and learning the how and why could be very, very useful.
My wife worked with a lady who's husband was a Comcast exec. He seemed to like his job and strove to do good work. We had a Comcast horror story going on at one point (got to the point that am agent said maybe Comcast isn't the right provider for you after the 5th service visit). We called him and the whole thing was cleared up in 24 hours. You might get the chance to give some poor soul the gift of the internet they paid for. You can't change the culture but you might be able to make sure your little corner does what It's supposed to. Get the money, get experience. Use it to find your next step up. No one will ask you why you want to leave if you decide to move on. For all the terrible service I've received three or four people seemed to give a damn and helped fix my issues. Go be one of those guys.