Before you start looking for jobs, it’s good to constitute your personal rules.

It is a form of a contract with yourself as when looking for jobs, you will need to be your own advocate.

You should think about the following:

A) What types of situations at work would you agree for?

B) What types of situations at work would you agree for under certain circumstances?

C) What types of situations at work would you never agree for?

Assess whether the following situations would be acceptable to you.

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1. Compromises concerning general career planning:

a) You agree to take a job you don’t particularly enjoy for the next half a year because you and/or your family badly needs income,

b) You decide to work for an employer with whom you do not share the same values (e.g., a corporation working against humanity) because you and/or your family badly needs income,

c) You decide to take a job that you do not particularly enjoy for two years as it will give you credentials and competencies that allow you to embark on your dream career path later on,

d) Your best career opportunities are abroad and in a place that you don’t necessarily find the comfortable place to live (e.g., it is a cold region or a region with crime rates), thus you decide to relocate,

e) You decide to risk and get into debt to be able to fulfill your dreams (e.g., borrow money from a bank or from your family to launch your own company),

f) Your job has low social approval or makes some people feel insecure around you (e.g., a debt executor),

g) You have a type of job in which no one other than your direct boss knows about your contribution to the company/working environment (you are a member of the ICT team at a research institute, and your job is to look for bugs in their software system and report them straight to your direct boss).

2. Compromises concerning your relatives and friends:

a) You decide to postpone your career development because of the situation in the family (pregnancy, a sick family member, etc.),

b) You decide to adjust your career choices to your partner even if, in practice, this enforces you to change your profession,

c) You decide to adjust your working style to have a maximum amount of quality time with your partner and/or your family, and you are not willing to accept a job in which your private time is not strictly respected,

d) You decide to work double hard for a period of time and cut down on the quality time for the time being as you know that in the long term, it will help you get steam in your career. And then, you will have more quality time down the line.

3. Compromises and ethical dilemmas at work:

a) Your boss asks you to do something that you don’t find ethically correct. Would you stay at that job, or would you immediately quit?

b) Your colleague asks you to do something that you don’t find ethically correct. Would you report this behavior to your boss?

c) Your colleague asks you a favor: they would like you to stay after working hours and finish their work for them as they go an emergency with their kids. Would you agree?

d) You declared to do some task for your boss. But in the process, you discovered that completing this task will take you much longer than planned. Do you still keep your word and put more hours to complete the task before the deadline? Or, do you reschedule?

e) You can significantly improve your financial situation by using some of the insider information at work to your advantage. Do you take the opportunity?

f) You set your own company. The other day, you attend a networking event. You talk to a stranger, and you realize that his idea might advance the development of your company. Do you take this idea, and pursue it on your own?

g) Your colleague does something behind your back that works against you and causes that you do not get a yearly bonus from your employer. He apologizes for the situation and it sounds that he is truly sorry. Do you give him another chance? Can you still trust him? Or rather, do you fork him out from your circle of trust for good?

h) Your boss has a bad day, she is stressed and yells at you without a valid reason. She comes to you and apologizes the next day. Would you still work for her or would you think of quitting?

i) Your boss promotes you because they personally like you more than someone next to you who has better results than you. Do you accept the promotion?

j) Your direct boss openly admits that they care about your results rather than your satisfaction, career opportunities, and personal development. Do you tell to yourself, „Of course they don’t care, this is my own responsibility,” or do you try to change the boss and find a more caring/protective one?