Monday, March 28, 2016

"So...Tell Me About Yourself..." In Employment


"Tell me about yourself" is an interesting opening for information. 

People love to talk about themselves.  However, people have a physiological need to communicate, in specifics, something they did, or accomplished. It is the easiest for an interviewer to use to gain information in all settings.  

It is the ultimate talking point in life.  It is near impossible to resist, "What did you do today?" in any form.  Even those who shut down in police interviewing, will eventually, tell someone.  This is behind the patience that some district attorneys practice. 

Humans were created to both communicate and to accomplish, which is why idleness leads to inappropriate and often illegal behavior in mankind.  The body, itself, flourishes in movement while it falters and struggles against itself when immobile.  

"Tell me about yourself" and "I'm listening" allows a person to:

a.  Choose his own words
b.  Begin his answer according to his own priority
c.  Choose which information to include; which information to exclude

Now, take this same principle to Statement Analysis applied in Employment.  

Companies with either HR professionals trained in analysis or those who hire analysts are able to glean a great deal of information from this simple question (in the imperative) for applicants.  

Consider the context, as an analyst, of this question. 

Example:  A rapidly growing computer software company is hiring and places ads in online newspapers and other employment sites and when an application is received, the company recognizes that even old Dept. of Justice statistics say "4 of the 10 applicants..." (40%) who were caught stealing, voiced intention to steal in the interview process.  

In other words, they planned it upon hiring.  

To that math add in a new form of theft:  institutionalized theft via fraudulent claims of victim status and you have an entirely new dimension of larceny and destruction to deal with. 

These are those who intend on stealing from the company with fraudulent complaints of injury, harassment, and a myriad of other 'victim status' complaints that have grown both numerically and in creativity and have become popular and accepted in courts today.  

This question, posed differently by different companies, allows the applicant to tell the company why to hire them, in a way that is:

Without the pressure of an interviewer's presence;
From the comfort of their own home;
Choosing their own words...

Most companies use an encouragement to write at length, including leaving a full blank page or writing, "Use Full Page for your answer", or something similar.  

What would you write about yourself, in a job application to the above growing software company?

They are looking for:

1.  Software sales professionals.  These are professionals who can sell a product they believe in to a public that can benefit from the product. 

2.  Software developers.  These are technological types, who do not need to be very outgoing or social but have a strong background in computer technology and software, including, perhaps, writing code.  

3.  Secretarial type work.  These are those who are organized, entry level, but looking to gain experience often right out of college or tech school.  This is a "foot in the door" position.  

4.  Shipping department.  This is HS diploma only, or college kids with part time hours offered to offset college costs and to help build experience and a resume.  

We now come to:

"The Expected V The Unexpected" as each application is analyzed.  

We know that those who are deceptive are very likely to cause problems for the company.  
We know that each position has different needs, so the 'social butterfly' or "people person" is more important in sales than in tech work.  We know that criteria for one is not for another, and we allow the subject's personality to emerge, naturally, in the analytical profiling. 

Guess what?

Those who have ill intentions towards the company often, not sometimes, but often reveal this in the analysis of the full page answer.  

I have a data base of shocking results that show this very thing and use it effectively.  In fact, Employment Analytical Profiling is a major part of profiling, covered in the Statement Analysis Advanced Course.  

The thief will show himself, the agenda seeker will show himself, just as the honest, hard working and ambitious will show himself.  

What do we need to hear?

This, too, is covered in depth, but we need to hear someone specifically tie themselves to truth (commitment) and in context (the job). 

You might "expect" to read something like this:

"My name is Susan Jones.  I am a recent graduate from the University of Montana, where I majored in English and minored in communications. 
I have worked part time since I was 16 years old, beginning at McDonald's for minimum wage, and am now looking to begin my career in software sales. 

I learned early while working for McDonald's how to move quickly, and how to not get ruffled by the pace at lunch time or dinner time.  I started in food preparation, but eventually was put upon the register where it was I first learned how much I enjoyed interacting with the public. 

In the last several summers, I have worked full time in retail sales at Bluetooth Communications where I was promoted to temporary floor manager and was in charge of handling customer complaints.  During this time, I learned what it was to listen to customers and how to respond with empathy.  I am hard working, conscientious and feel that I would be an asset to your company.  I am already familiar with several of your products, including "Digi-wear" and its color matching code for the professional woman.  Besides using this myself, I love fashion, so much so that I have convinced several of my girlfriends to buy it and they love it.  I believe that I will be able to..." and on she goes. 

You will notice that in talking about herself, she has a single focus: being hired because her background has prepared her for it.  Weak assertions such as "believe" and "feel" are "appropriately weak" in the context of persuasion. 

In job applications, the need to persuade is expected, whereas in criminal statements, its weakness is viewed as sensitive.  Yet even in job applications, with the shift in context, the analyst must be aware of NTP in extreme, including hyperbolic language.  Some will say "I give 110% effort each and every shift..." which is a stretch, in the least.  

The Unexpected. 

The analysis I have done and databased is something that if I had been told by another, I would wonder if it was someone being humorous with me.  

In fact, there may be several types of people who will believe me in what follows:

1.  Long term readers of the blog.  
2.  Human Resource professionals. 

What I am analyzing of recent times is stunning.  Here is an example submitted by an analyst who thought I would have a good laugh over it.  I had to stop myself, several times, to remind myself that this was written as part of a job application to an actual tech company in a part of the country where there is acute competition for tech jobs: 

"I am not really all that comfortable talking about myself!  YOU WANT ME TO TALK ABOUT MYSELF?  Well, if that is what you want, that is what you will get, but I submit this under protest.  :)
 LOL!

I am above all things, creative.  I love people I love animals and I know from having studyed the great philosophers of our time what people think of me and you know what?  I don't care.  I am me. 

You want to know me.  Can anyone really know someone else?  Poetry volumes wrote about me long before I lived beasuse no-one really knows anyone I feel that we as a planet must get past our judgey views superficial existential and look really at what a person is   I share knowledge freely with those who will listen such as customers co workers in school and with my family.  

My degree isn't me.  It isn't.  As vast as the colors of the rainbow so is personhood which is called by the sheep "manhood" which leaves our sisters wondering if they even matter anymore.  Sad, isn't it?
More about me.  Hmmm.  
I live alone and my education has been completed with what should be considered an advanced degree in the technological area. 
I have cats and they remake themselves and even act like me!  People don't believe that but it is true.  They are truth. They do not judge me and I do not judge them.  Poole said that I think.
People judge me but I know they do this for my knowledge that I open myself up to ridicule when I share.  Thus, the price to be paid in humanity's darkest hour..."

It went on and on, revealing not only deception about his degree, but a dark, narcissistic personality of whom anti-social behavior has left him alone, the pariah of those around him, with "family" listed last and distant.  Family may not even last much longer.  

Years ago, I recounted the job interview I did with a "struggling actor" who excused himself, midway through the interview to "have a good cry" because he had been in Hollywood and had just returned to Maine and had "missed my mother."  Upon returning to the interview, he moved close to me and asked if his crying would be held against him. 

The number of applicants with college degrees who believe that "Tell us About Yourself" means self-analysis is striking.  The volume of grammatical errors, abbreviations and smiley faces often cause me to consider the context:  this is a job application of someone who wishes to be considered a professional!  

There are those who signal:  'If you don't give me lots of affirmation, you can expect trouble!' quite readily. This is the new "delicate snowflake"; the recent college grad (or college student) who believes his feelings are more important than the material needs of the company.  They have been coddled and told that they are "special" and "more important than anyone else", who see challenges as threats. They are an embarrassment as a generation, and hard working, ambitious young people hate to be classified with them.  

I don't blame them. 

I once told one couple, who had "stood up for our rights" (they refused to work) when they were terminated that they were going to have a very difficult time surviving in this world if they think that their feelings are more important than everyone else's, including the clients they were to serve, and the company who gave them a paycheck.  

They eventually disclosed the anger of their parents, as they go from job to job, and always have a complaint about "the man."

Although they did not verbalize this, they referenced their friends who were all on "disability" because they had "adult attention deficit disorder", and slept till noon, and played video games all day.  

Given the choice between this endless circle of low paying jobs, I predict that they will go to an attorney who specializes in disability, receive a referral to a 'friendly' psychologist, who will refer them to a friendly psychiatrist, get rx for ADHD, and eventually, they will be approved for disability. 

Once disability is their "paycheck", they now qualify for...

"Case management", that is, a professional who books appointments and often drives them to the therapist, psychologist and monthly 2 minute check in with psychiatrist assistant to keep the rx going. 

They will get food stamps. 

The case manager will then work to get them fuel assistance, a donated car, free internet, donated lap tops, smart phones and government subsidized rental assistance. 

At that time, they were 24 years old and their parents were deeply worried that the two of them (boyfriend-girlfriend) would struggle to survive in this world. 

Wanna venture a guess about the "homework war" when the kids were 7 or 8 years old? Some work really hard at avoiding work which has a deeply negative impact on the health of the body and the health of the soul, in spite of 'growing video game scores' which are indulged in all night.  Think this is just a rare exception?  

Agenda Driven. 

 In the last several years, the few that I flagged, specifically for Agenda, have all either filed suit or threatened to file suit.  The larger number are those that were so clear, the companies did not offer interviews.  This includes those who actually address their agenda very early in the statement.  

This comes as a surprise to analysts at first, including Human Resource professionals, but this is usually do (in the HR world) to only audible interviews where if a transcript existed they would see it.  

The agenda driven personality is one in which, in particular, an agenda exists due to a significant void in the personality.  The void is usually something so significant that the person is drawn to a cause to fill feelings of personal value.  

This is both sad and frightening. 

It is sad to think that any person might consider himself or herself inconsequential in this world, yet it is frightening when we see how far some will go to feel of consequence; as if they are the center of the universe and the material interests of a company are subordinated to their 'god', which in reality, is not the agenda or cause, it is the person, himself. 

This person's "feelings" trump rules of etiquette, politeness, and social mores, which is why they end up often being alone, but also people sadly learn, they trump moral, ethical and legal laws, just as readily. 

This is why I often warn others in saying, "The agenda driven will find an event..."

The agenda-driven, or "narrative driven" is why I covered PC language and how it impacts analysis.  The techniques often include tangents to move away from negative or contradictory, as well as to change the topic in hand. 

The agenda driven will use deception. 

The agenda driven will operate in illogical manner and will take the "self destructive" or "suicidal" stance to the business world:

What the person does is not good for your business. 

Like the applicant for investigator position who said that she was "a person of high principle" in attempting to persuade two interviewers to hire her. 

I asked, "Give me an example of high principle at work" to which she was eager to talk about. 

She worked at Walmart and took down all the hunter magazines from the display and boxed them in storage.  

She is against guns. 

This was in Maine where everyone hunts. 

Did she possess the self awareness to consider that I may have been a hunter?

Did she grasp that she could have been terminated by Walmart for doing so?

Her belief that guns kill people, aside, it was what she was willing to do with this belief that revealed insight into her personality. 

Now, as an investigator, what if the subject of the investigation was someone who held a position contrary to her agenda?

Would you trust her to investigate?

If you hold to her agenda, does this impact your decision making?

What would you, as analyst, or HR professional, make of her lack of self awareness?  

She did not mind being a 'martyr' for her cause:  if she did not get hired because of her stance against guns, it may even further fill her with resolve.  

No matter the agenda, this type person will bring trouble to your business or agency. 

Someone this driven is not going to be tolerant to co workers who do not share her 'passion'  and her personality is not one that suggests good, healthy social interaction.  

She may even mention "coffee" in her statement.  




29 comments:

Anonymous said...

That written self-description (the guy who poetry volumes wrote about long before he lived) - - His essay illustrates that he has no respect for truth & honesty, but further: he doesn't believe in them! I think he truly doesn't know that truth and honesty exist!! He thinks ALL job interviews are B.S. and he thinks EVERYONE B.S.s in job interviews. Ha ha!

Anonymous said...

What are you supposed to say when they ask you: "What is your greatest weakness?"

Karl said...

"The agenda driven personality is one in which, in particular, an agenda exists due to a significant void in the personality. The void is usually something so significant that the person is drawn to a cause to fill feelings of personal value."

Is there hope for a person that thinks like this? I know someone like this and would like to see that person get help.

Tania Cadogan said...

"I am not really all that comfortable talking about myself! YOU WANT ME TO TALK ABOUT MYSELF? Well, if that is what you want, that is what you will get, but I submit this under protest. :)
LOL!

At this point is where i would have chucked his application in the bin.

he has a grudge because he has been judged before. He hides behind a facade, he can be whoever you want him to be.
He is egocentric, the world revolves around him.
he speaks of sharing knowledge freely with those who will listen, yet makes no mention of even trying to share with those who won't.
He admits his degree isn't him which would indicate it is fraudulent in some way, he confirms this when he tells us it should be considered rather than what it actually is.
he is politically correct with the use of 'sisters'
He is single and likely to remain so.
I wonder if he is also into conspiracy theories as he refers to people as sheep, the world is against him.

I see him living in mom's basement living his life online where he can be anyone he wants to be.
Self entitled, narcissistic, egotistic,ready to blame the world for everything when he messes up or gets caught, a troublemaker.


Nic said...

Peter, what are your thoughts about using social media as a screening tool?

Nic said...

“put upon” (the cash register)

Leakage. She felt exploited she was "put upon" to work below her level. :0)

Nic said...

BREAKING: Reports of shots fired at U.S. Capitol Visitor’s Centre

http://www.cknw.com/2016/03/28/breaking-reports-of-shots-fired-at-u-s-capitol-center/

White House now on lockdown

Nic said...

http://www.pe.com/articles/washington-798254-lockdown-report.html

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Capitol police officer was shot Monday afternoon, March 28, and the gunman was arrested, authorities said.
Capitol police told staff in the Capitol complex to shelter in place after a report of gunshots being fired in the Capitol Visitors Center. The White House also was put on lockdown because of the report.
The situation was apparently contained to the Visitors Center but no further information was immediately available

Anonymous said...

We had an employee, for many years, who, shortly after we hired her, filed for FMLA. Over the years, she had migraines and fibromyalgia along with countless other diagnoses, and many many injuries, both at work and at home. Amongst ourselves, we tended toward only one diagnosis for her: borderline personality disorder. Her on-the-job injuries were many, but a couple that stand out were the time she fell "up" the stairs - she didn't fall down the stairs - - she fell UP the stairs. And that was the company's fault for leaving her in the office alone for a few minutes which caused her to feel "stressed". Then there was the time she tried to sue us because the cleaning crew had over-packed the paper-towel dispenser in the ladies room, so that she had to tug so hard on the towels that when they finally came out she banged both hands on the metal trash bin below. She had bruises on both hands and straight to the emergency medical clinic, for the millionth time. She was a trouble-maker like none other. I could go on and on.

Hey Jude said...

'We as a planet' is the best bit.

Hey Jude said...

The Walmart girl, maybe none too bright, if she thought that was acceptable - or maybe she wanted her employment terminated - it's more than strange.

Here, a while back, there were a few reports in online MSM of Mulims working in supermarkets who were refusing to sell alcohol - it's not as if everyone doesn't know that supermarkets sell alcohol, so they did not trouble to establish before taking the jobs if their stance was compatible with the jobs they sought.

On the other hand, the case of the fashion store which only wants thin customers, (or which more recently sincerely regrets that) and hired a girl who has only one arm, and after a little while on the shop floor, banished her to the stock room, because she said she didn't fit the image they wanted to project - it's not as if they could have missed at interview that she had one arm. I don't think having one arm could be an agenda by default, more a circumstance. The store may have had an agenda in wanting to look good by hiring someone with a disability, but then hiding her in the stock room. Or, it could be that she may not have been efficient on the shop floor, and so the one arm was not the real issue, rather made into one - I don't know, except it was bad publicity.

Nic said...

Reference agenda... my first roomie (the one previously referenced who ripped (or her boyfriend ripped,) a page out of my journal,) went from working nights and weekends in a restaurant to working for a bank and then the federal government. After getting in, she then competed frequently for higher paying positions -- basically she competed out of the substantive position before a full performance evaluation could be tabled. Every time we all got together for lunch or dinner, she was competing for another job. Years ago before our falling out, (early 00's) she informed me that she wasn't planning on "having" to work anymore by the time she was 50. She was always going to the doctor for this or that (neck and back related). She was always being "referred" and then she would suffer some sort of injury because of what they "did" to her. One specific incident was when she rolled her ankle getting off of the gurney after some sort of acupuncture treatment. She went for some sort of dermabrasion facial treatment and ended up "burned" - and sued them. She also said she had odd number organs 1.5 kidneys (in respect to what the size should be) and two bladders -- one that was teeny and didn't function and one so small it had to be "stretched". She was always on medication for her bladder which I don't discount she didn't need. But she said the organ issue meant that she absorbed her twin in utero. O.o

The twin thing is screwed up for sure. But now her forecast and constant medical activity makes sense. i.e., She was executing her plan to go on longterm disability. Execution = documenting.

Hey Jude said...

Correction:

...because, she said, she didn't fit the image..,,

Anonymous said...

"I am above all things, creative. I love people I love animals and I know from having studyed the great philosophers of our time what people think of me and you know what? I don't care. I am me."

Anonymous said...

"You want to know me. Can anyone really know someone else? Poetry volumes wrote about me long before I lived beasuse no-one really knows anyone I feel that we as a planet must get past our judgey views superficial existential and look really at what a person is I share knowledge freely with those who will listen such as customers co workers in school and with my family."

Anonymous said...

Hey Jude, I SO agree "we as a planet" is the best little nugget!! Ha ha!!!!

Anonymous said...

Immanuel Kant thinks I am lacking self-awareness, and that I am not to be trusted. Friedrich Neitzsche said I'm no better than a cockroach. Alas! They know me not! Poetry books have been writing about me for centuries - - the books themselves, not the poets. And you know what? THOSE VOLUMES ARE JUDGEY about me!! I don't buy their views superficial existential and I share information freely with such as.

Anonymous said...

When that guy's girlfriend asked him about the interview, I'll bet he told her "I nailed it." Ha ha! Is there even a word for that level of over-confidence? That level of lack-of-self-awareness.

Anonymous said...

I fell up the stairs once. I was drunk lol

Tania Cadogan said...

My uncle fell up the stairs and broke his arm. He wasn't drunk, he was upholding the family trait of injuring ourselves in dumb ways.

"I know from having studyed the great philosophers of our time what people think of me and you know what? I don't care. I am me."
How can he know what people think of him based on studying the great philosophers of our time?
When someone says"I know what people think of me and you know what? I don't care." It has negative connotations.
if what people thought was complimentary, favorable or positive he would be proud and say i care about what they think.
He would align himself with their thoughts, he would care.

That he tells us he doesn't care indicates the thoughts are not favorable, they are not positive, they are not complimentary.
In his ego driven mind, he ignores their comments and thoughts, they don't matter, they are not important.
It is how he feels about himself, not, how others feel about him that matters.

He is proud of who and what he is, he sees himself as better, superior to others.

If employed he would a constant source of problems.
He would upset staff, he would belittle them, he would over ride their decisions. He would hinder those that were a challenge to his position, he would take credit when it was not his and pass the blame when it is he who is at fault.
If he was overlooked for promotion he would claim discrimination on whatever grounds he thought he could get away with.
That he didn't have a genuine degree would mean he would struggle to do the job, he would then blame everyone else for not helping him or giving him the wrong information.
If he was asked to handle money, i suspect that money would go as he would feel money was owed him because of his perceived talents.

I wouldn't hire him in any job.

Hey Jude said...

'You want me to talk about myself? etc - an inappropriate attempt at humour - it's also passive aggressive.

'I love people I love animals and I know from having studyed the great philosophers of our time what people think of me and you know what? I don't care. I am me.

He doesn't express himself well,'poetry volumes written about me' - he maybe means he relates to some things which he's read in poems - if he means what he says, he's on his own planet. He does care what people think, thus the challenging defensive 'I don't care'.

'I am me' - (unique, just like all the rest of us, as they say.) Thanks for letting us know.

'I am above all things (creative)' - he thinks he is above all things. He has 'studyed' but not enough to be able to spell the word. He is not forthcoming about his degree - if he does not have a full degree he should say what he has completed and any qualifications he has, even if they are below requirements set out for the position - they might still consider him if they are interested and if he is honest (they won't due to everything he says).

'You want to know me. Can anyone really know someone else? Poetry volumes wrote about me long before I lived beasuse no-one really knows anyone I feel that we as a planet must get past our judgey views superficial existential and look really at what a person is I share knowledge freely with those who will listen such as customers co workers in school and with my family.'

No, we don't really want to know you, at least not at this stage: we want to know why you consider yourself a suitable applicant. Telling us some things about yourself might help us work out if you are likely to be an asset or a regret.

Again defensive, anticipating 'judgey views' of himself - also letting his non-prospective employers know he already considers them 'superficial' and 'existential', and that they won't be able to appreciate him for who he 'really' is.

He 'shares knowledge' - he is the possessor of knowledge which he 'freely shares" with those who will listen - it sounds as if no-one willingly listens,especially not his family, which is why he (probably) lives in the basement with his cats - 'he lives alone', he does not say he owns or rents his own place, which for young people is often a matter of pride, worth a mention, even if just so people don't think they are living in their mother's basement.

'My degree isn't me' - he chose, or was pressured by parents, to study a subject which he did not really want to do, and he probably dropped out. He is 'creative' so probably was more inclined towards the arts, but entered 'the technological area' and did not excel. He's not specific, which one would expect if he is also 'advanced' - it's all very vague; presumably his qualifications are listed on a separate sheet. He is trying to present what he has as equivalent to an advanced degree, but he doesn't say he considers that to be the case himself - 'the technological area' is vast, yet he gives no indication of what he is good at. He knows this is an omission, note the following use of 'vast' as he tries to distract from it:

'As vast as the colors of the rainbow so is personhood which is called by the sheep "manhood" which leaves our sisters wondering if they even matter anymore. Sad, isn't it?'

- as already observed, at least he didn't say 'sheeple'. One can assume he is trying, and failing, not to be too obvious in his contempt for mankind in general, as he's realised he needs someone amongst 'the sheep' to give him a job. Most people are willing or able to accept that 'mankind' refers to all humanity, not only to men. He seems to think he's being poetic and profound, whilst coming across as, at best, immature and dull headed.

Continued...

Hey Jude said...

',.More about me. Hmmm.
I live alone...'

He has no friends or social life. (I'm beginning to feel sorry for him now.)

'...and my education has been completed with what should be considered an advanced degree in the technological area.'

He finds he has completed his 'education'. Ideally, a person never considers their education to be finished or complete, as it indicates self-satisfaction and a possibly closed-mind - 'we learn something new every day'. He already thinks he knows it all, so he would be difficult on that basis alone. He should have said 'my formal education has been completed' - if he doesn't intend to pursue further studies which lead to qualification.

'I have cats and they remake themselves and even act like me! People don't believe that but it is true. They are truth. They do not judge me and I do not judge them. Poole said that I think.'

No - cats act as cats, and they do not remake themselves - they remain cats who act as cats - they don't read books, take showers, cook dinner or write appalling employment applications. This guy should watch 'Simon's Cat' on YouTube and learn 'the truth' about cats - also, just thinking Poole said it is rubbish outside of casual conversation - he should either know it, or better still, much better, not say it at all as he's already said he lives alone, and therefore doesn't really consider his cats, much less as being like him.

'People judge me but I know they do this for my knowledge that I open myself up to ridicule when I share. Thus, the price to be paid in humanity's darkest hour...'

I agree, he's a conspiracy theorist, which is only entertaining for a short time, and not for anyone who is stuck in a room with such a person for more than ten minutes. 'My knowledge' - which he bounteously shares with the sheeple, despite the ridicule.

Well, he'd be fun on a coffee-break. :)

Hey Jude said...

Oh, sorry - he said 'manhood' not 'mankind' - so he's rather old fashioned, too, for that useage or otherwise just not aware that these days 'manhood' might have other connotations,so it's safer to avoid misunderstanding and to say 'mankind' or 'humanity' - though the whole thing is sadly laughable - I'd say he's unemployable.

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Hey Jude said...

More delicate snowflakes in the making:

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/mar/29/parents-furious-after-channel-5-screens-watership-down-on-easter-sunday

rjb said...

Watership Down on Easter. Someone deserves a promotion, not a sacking! What a sense of humour!

rjb said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Whistleblower said...

I usually post here under a different name, but some of what I'm writing about is information I acquired as a result of being an Executive Board member for a large Union. Much of what the Union does is abhorrent to me, but I am required to contribute money from each paycheck as a member of a group that is charged a "fair share" fee due to a collective bargaining "benefit" we never asked for, nor (to be honest) have benefited much from. When asked to fill a vacancy on the board, I agreed, as it was for only a few months, and because I was curious to see what the union actually does.

We often get calls from members seeking representation in "grievance" and "wrongful termination" cases. I GUARANTEE you that Statement Analysis skills in the interviewing process would have identified these individuals.

The Union is asked to take on cases that make me cringe, because it is beyond obvious what is going on. When I point out problems with the statements of involved parties (during discussion as to whether or not we will provide the requested legal assistance) I am shocked to find it is not equally obvious to my fellow board members.

Fortunately, they usually DO get it as soon as I point out the problems with the case, but often choose to represent these people anyway, sometimes over some tangential technicality, or to set a precedent they may want to exploit in future cases, in which the member really HAS been treated unfairly.

In one case, I had personally observed an individual who was let go shortly after being hired, for sleeping at her desk. She claimed she had a medical condition that required that she close her eyes for a few minutes at a time throughout the workday, but refused to release documents to support her claim, and had not mentioned her illness or need for special accommodations at the time she was hired.

Anonymous said...

I'm curious what it is about "coffee" in a statement (last sentence of Peter's blog here), but I'm kinda afraid to ask.