One of my first jobs ever was working for Radio Shack. I wasn't there long (couldn't stand the manager) but here's what I was put through...
I was about 19 years old and applied for a sales position at a local Radio Shack. I was required to go downtown to take a polygraph test before being hired. A Polygraph test is commonly known as a "Lie Detector" test. Basically, they ask you a bunch of questions before you take the test and get your response ahead of time. Then, they hook you up to the machine and ask you the same questions. Sometimes, they will ask the questions in such a way that you are purposely supposed to lie. This gives the examiner a baseline to measure so that when you do actually lie, they will know it. The machine checks your breathing, your pulse and how much you sweat (though the palm of your hand.)
I passed.
I worked at the store alongside the manager for a couple of days and then one day, the manager told me that he was going to leave the store early and wanted me to close the store by myself. Part of my responsibilities included counting all the money in the cash register to make sure it added up perfectly with the cash receipts.
While this should not be a big deal, I was a little nervous about being in the store at night by myself. Not that I could not handle the customers that came in, but I was more nervous about being held up in the store by robbery or some other catastrophy that could happen.
Any way, as the time approached to close the store, the manager called me and reminded me to count all the money, put the money in the safe and then set the alarm and go home. So I did as I was told and counted all the money and compared it to the receipts. I was short $5.00. Hmmm... I counted again. Still short $5.00. One more time... still short $5.00. I didn't know quite what to do. So I called my dad and told him I was going to be a little late coming home. I went back to the cash register, looked inside, looked all around it... I could not find the $5.00 that was missing.
Now I had a choice... either report the $5.00 as missing, put in $5.00 of my own money and say nothing, or don't report anything at all and don't put in any extra money.
I decided to call the manager to admit that $5.00 was missing and let him decide what he wanted me to do. Well, the manager said not to worry about it and to just go home and he would deal with it in the morning. All night long, I thought about that missing $5.00 and came up with a possible reason why the $5.00 was missing... perhaps the manager was testing me to see what I would do. Was I honest enough to report the loss, or would I cheat and just put in my own $5.00 to save myself? I don't know if the manager purposely took out $5.00 to test me or if something actually was missing. Was I set up purposely to see how trustworthy I was? I had my suspicions.
The next day, the manager just laughed it off and said $5.00 off wasn't too bad and not to worry about it. But something in the way he said that made me always suspect that he just wanted to see if I was trustworthy or not. Later as I continued on at the store, the manager would make me work a little longer here and there and even asked me to deliver some items to some customers but would not pay me for that time. I eventually quit. I just did not feel comfortable with the manager's methods.
So while I believe I did an honest day's work, I just didn't think the manager was being honest with me in return.
How honest are you? Would you have done what I did? Would you put in the $5.00 or would you have not reported it?
I was about 19 years old and applied for a sales position at a local Radio Shack. I was required to go downtown to take a polygraph test before being hired. A Polygraph test is commonly known as a "Lie Detector" test. Basically, they ask you a bunch of questions before you take the test and get your response ahead of time. Then, they hook you up to the machine and ask you the same questions. Sometimes, they will ask the questions in such a way that you are purposely supposed to lie. This gives the examiner a baseline to measure so that when you do actually lie, they will know it. The machine checks your breathing, your pulse and how much you sweat (though the palm of your hand.)
I passed.
I worked at the store alongside the manager for a couple of days and then one day, the manager told me that he was going to leave the store early and wanted me to close the store by myself. Part of my responsibilities included counting all the money in the cash register to make sure it added up perfectly with the cash receipts.
While this should not be a big deal, I was a little nervous about being in the store at night by myself. Not that I could not handle the customers that came in, but I was more nervous about being held up in the store by robbery or some other catastrophy that could happen.
Any way, as the time approached to close the store, the manager called me and reminded me to count all the money, put the money in the safe and then set the alarm and go home. So I did as I was told and counted all the money and compared it to the receipts. I was short $5.00. Hmmm... I counted again. Still short $5.00. One more time... still short $5.00. I didn't know quite what to do. So I called my dad and told him I was going to be a little late coming home. I went back to the cash register, looked inside, looked all around it... I could not find the $5.00 that was missing.
Now I had a choice... either report the $5.00 as missing, put in $5.00 of my own money and say nothing, or don't report anything at all and don't put in any extra money.
I decided to call the manager to admit that $5.00 was missing and let him decide what he wanted me to do. Well, the manager said not to worry about it and to just go home and he would deal with it in the morning. All night long, I thought about that missing $5.00 and came up with a possible reason why the $5.00 was missing... perhaps the manager was testing me to see what I would do. Was I honest enough to report the loss, or would I cheat and just put in my own $5.00 to save myself? I don't know if the manager purposely took out $5.00 to test me or if something actually was missing. Was I set up purposely to see how trustworthy I was? I had my suspicions.
The next day, the manager just laughed it off and said $5.00 off wasn't too bad and not to worry about it. But something in the way he said that made me always suspect that he just wanted to see if I was trustworthy or not. Later as I continued on at the store, the manager would make me work a little longer here and there and even asked me to deliver some items to some customers but would not pay me for that time. I eventually quit. I just did not feel comfortable with the manager's methods.
So while I believe I did an honest day's work, I just didn't think the manager was being honest with me in return.
How honest are you? Would you have done what I did? Would you put in the $5.00 or would you have not reported it?
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