These past few days I’ve talked about living within your means and earning more. Now I want to ask what would you do for a job? Last week I linked to Ginger’s post Jobless to Topless. I think in a way it bring up the question what would you do for a job?
The women used to work on Wall Street and are now stripping. I have to ask the question why? Why did they go this route? I can only imagine how difficult it will be to get a reputable job after being a “stripper.” And it might be a different story if they had kept stripping being a secret which very few people knew about. Rather than publicizing on tv and letting the world know.
Why didn’t these women consider getting jobs at Starbucks, Walmart, or even cleaning homes? Sure they may not pays as well, but they are a lot easier to explain why you worked there. I worked cleaning homes because with the horrible recession it was impossible to get another job. It might show prospective employers that you are willing to get down and dirty and do anything for a job. I think it could be a good thing.
On the other hand what if a prospective employer wanted to know everything about you before you took a job? What if they asked you for a household budget and dinner out with your partner/spouse? Would you be kosher with that? Or is that too much personal information?
I mean a budget will show how much your household makes. It will reveal what your spouse/partner makes, if you have children (ie paying for daycare), if you have car payments, mortgage, credit card debt, etc. It’s A LOT more personal than just pulling a credit report which DOESN’T reveal your partner’s income.
And should you? Would you? Personally I would never in HELL do it. It’s none of their gosh darn business. They could use the fact my spouse earns a lot of money to lowball their offer to me because they feel I can survive on less. No way. I should get the job and the salary I deserve because I earned it. Not less because I can “afford” it.
Second, asking to meet a spouse and finding out if there are kids in the picture is pretty personal. What happens if I am unmarried or gay? Is that something an employer needs to know? And why can they ask if I have kids in a budget when they can’t ask that in a normal interview? Is it because if I earn less than my partner and we have children then I’m potentially a bad employee?
So this is a two-fold question. What would you do for a job? And what would you do to get a job? Is there a line for either that you wouldn’t cross?
7 responses so far ↓
1 JoeP // Apr 8, 2009 at 9:42 am
I’m pretty sure there are specific laws prohibiting companies from from asking about or taking into account factors besides those needed to determine job fit. In other words, a prospective employer cannot ask about health conditions, family structure, debt, net worth, sexual orientation, religion, age, etc…and cannot use those as factors to deny employment. The EEO laws spell out the details: http://www.eeoc.gov/abouteeo/overview_laws.html
I would imagine some jobs require a background check and possibly financial disclosure to avoid conflicts of interest and cover liabilities.
For the record, I don’t have a problem with anyone going into stripping if it helps pay the bills. I have a lot of paint to be stripped, and would *gladly* hire a stripper rather than do it myself. ;^)
2 Little Miss Moneybags // Apr 8, 2009 at 12:13 pm
A lot of the second part of your hypothetical situation would be illegal. I’m pretty sure an employer could NOT request to see a household budget as a condition of considering you for employment, nor meeting your spouse or asking if you have children or are considering having children. Any prospective employer who asked that should be reported.
In terms of stripping, I don’t have a problem with it at all, and I would certainly consider it. Starbucks is closing stores and started advertising for the first time ever. Their business model expanded far too rapidly and they are laying off employees–these women no longer have Starbucks and Walmart as job options. When I worked at Starbucks in New York, I also worked two other jobs and shared an apartment with four other people, and that was five years ago when the economy was booming. It’s not just a matter of not making “that much” money, it’s a reality that those types of jobs do not pay a living wage in this area.
If I were in these womens’ shoes, would I put “stripper” on my resume? Maybe, maybe not. To me, that shows as much willingness to “do whatever it takes” as cleaning houses does. It might make people look at me differently, but the fact of the matter is that it’s a legal job, it’s really hard work, and it brings in the bucks. Why not?
I’ve never been a stripper, but I am a professional belly dancer. My coworkers at my day job do know about my dancing, and several have come to classes with me. Belly dancing and stripping clearly aren’t the same, but they are associated in some people’s minds. Just so you know where I’m coming from.
3 fengshui // Apr 8, 2009 at 12:30 pm
To be brutally honest… this very thought has crossed my mind…. This is a hard time for many, and if it came to choosing between losing my home or stripping…or other related things… I would do whatever I had to. Hell, I’m still young and attractive enough…. LOL. It wouldn’t be anything that I would ever tell anyone about……
About the employer situation, I’ve never had any proscpective employer ask if I’m married. In fact, I don’t wear my ring to interviews on purpose. I’m afraid that if they see that I’m married then they may unconsciously equate that with me being a baby machine and missing loads of work due to pregnancy and runny noses. Isn’t that terrible….
4 Ginger // Apr 8, 2009 at 1:22 pm
I’d do pretty much anything within reason, but I wouldn’t answer any of those questions posed since they’re illegal anyway.
Not sure I would ever need to go the stripper route though, I think there are a lot of other options out there, at least for me.
5 Barb1954 // Apr 8, 2009 at 3:43 pm
You can’t put a value on self respect and integrity. There are many things I would never do for money and stripping is on the list.
As a former HR manager, I can tell you that although companies may do a credit check on employees they want to make an offer to, they will never ask the kind of questions you mention in your post. If they do, you don’t have to answer and I would seriously reconsider working for them.
6 Kristy @ Master Your Card // Apr 8, 2009 at 10:30 pm
I’m happy to take a job with less pay if I have to, but I’m not going to do something that compromises my integrity or values, that includes stripping. As for a potential employer asking for my budget and dinner with a spouse, I’d probably ask them why they feel that is relevant to my skills and remind them that such questions are not normally asked during an interview. If they persist, I will offer my apologies and excuse myself from the interview. Those kinds of things are much more personal than any employer has a right to know.
7 LAL // Apr 21, 2009 at 10:26 am
Apparently there are companies which do ask for a household budget and ask to meet the spouse. Apparently meeting the spouse is more common with upper level management, etc.
The budget thing it is a financial company but I’m not sure it’s relevant and it certainly gives away a lot of family details not relevant to the job.
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