uh, moral dilemna question for all

[charabby]

I would take the job, if it were offered. I definitely wouldn't say anything to my friend - he's already aware that he may be fired and you speaking up could make you seem like someone the boss can't trust. In the end, he'll probably still be fired, but you may not be hired if you seem disloyal before you even begin. I also would continue to look (discreetly) for another job. Seems like this employer may be fickle and likely to let you go sometime down the road.

OT - but I noticed that the poster above taught his/her kids about the 'music truck' (per the tag fairy's remarks). My oldest dd thought the same thing until she was 4 and some well meaning neighbor bought her some ice cream. It was never the same after that!

Edited to add my OT remarks.

 

[faithinkarma]

So if you don't take the job you both will be out of a job. Take the job. Sorry you have to be in such a position, but either way I think your work friend is going to be let go.

Short and to the point, and bang on. Take the job.

 

[robinb]

The president pulled me into his office and wanted to discuss the direction of their IT staff (which is just my friend and one other part timer). He says that he's continually frustrated with the lack of communication from this co-worked of mine, projects have been slipped and he has no control or idea about what is going on. He told me outright "When this project is done, this guy is gone, no question." He then pulled out my resume (which I had to furnish to get the part time work) and started to go over whether or not I could do the same job.

Hmmm .... the friend v/s job quandry aside, this quote makes me really nervous about the job. If this is a company of unreasonable time schedules and over-worked staff would you really want the job? Working hard and being worked to death are two different things.

 

[ASFCurly]

I didn't read all of the other replies, but this is my thought, if your coworker brought you in, and you say you think he sees the writing on the wall and is planning on leaving, or knows he is going to be fired, then maybe he brought you in thinking that you could take over for him when he left???

Either way, he while he did a good thing for you, it isn't like he is a close friend, and it sounds like he is planning on leaving, I would take the job if it is something you would like to do.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I feel for ya, Jeff. Tough, yes. Though agree with the general thoughts put forth here.

 

[phamton]

One thing bothers me about this whole thing. I would not want to work for a boss who would berate another employee to a "relative" stranger or temporary employee such as yourself. You have only been there a short time and if he is willing to discuss the lousy job another employee is doing with you, then he might do the same to you in the future.

If he wants you to work for him, he might have said, "we could really use your help and are impressed with your resume. There may be some changes in the future with personnel and we would like to hire you, if you feel you could do the job." Telling you what a terrible employee your friend is was out of line and would be a red flag to me.

 

[Crissup]

Originally posted by Hagred
You can't eat friendship.

"But, you *can* eat your friends" - J.Dahmer


I would look into the job. If your buddy is a goner anyway, why not take it. As long as he doesn't think you convinced the CEO to dump him for you, it's not biggie. One of the biggest complaints management always has with IT is no idea what they are doing. Many admins just want to do there job and never explain what it is they are doing. I've always felt that's a result of feeling they need to hide something.

I just returned from a business trip to St. Louis this afternoon. Had to run down to a sister company to look into a network problem. First thing tomorrow morning, I'll be writing a status report so management knows what the outcome is.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Originally posted by phamton
One thing bothers me about this whole thing. I would not want to work for a boss who would berate another employee to a "relative" stranger or temporary employee such as yourself. You have only been there a short time and if he is willing to discuss the lousy job another employee is doing with you, then he might do the same to you in the future.

If he wants you to work for him, he might have said, "we could really use your help and are impressed with your resume. There may be some changes in the future with personnel and we would like to hire you, if you feel you could do the job." Telling you what a terrible employee your friend is was out of line and would be a red flag to me.

Yea, I see that too and it translates to me he could be "full of it". Meaning he is just buttering you up to do an exceptional job and kinda hold it over your head, you know what I mean?
Perhaps he might offer you the job or perhaps you will hear the line "sorry".
Either way if he does offer it I would take it too.

 

[amid chaos]

This is the bottom line..take it.

On one hand, I need to feed and provide for my family. I don't have any other really 'firm' prospects on the table, and it's getting tight so the job would be a positive thing.

 

[Mamu]

While I agree with most here, if you need the job.........

Personally I wouldn't trust him, he sounds devious to me. I do not like the idea of going behind someones back. In the end you might not be a happy employee.

 

[disykat]

The boss makes me nervous too. I even had the thought that he was checking out your reaction to judge your morals. I think if I were you I'd tell your boss that since you're friends with this other employee you'd rather stay out of that part of the equation, but are interested in continuing to work for the company in any job that matches your skills.

 

[jfulcer]

hehe, I like the comments about the eating your friends (JDahmer) - living here in Milwaukee makes it more appropriate.

I think the president was being candid with me because I am really, in this situation, a paid consultant. I was brought it because I am familiar with the technologies that they used. He was talking with me concerning his future thoughts for his company and it's IT needs. He made the comments right along with expressing frustration with a lack of direction for his IT needs, primarily from the communication problems of my co-worker. While I think it <i>was</i> weird that he brought it up to me, I think he did so to kinda lay out what problems he needed solving.

My friend has told me that he is looking because he thinks the boss is too 'demanding', but I wonder whether it's the communication problem that really is the situation. In past dealings with this co-worker at other companies, the same problems noted by the president were evident.

I found out the president is an ex-marine, so that may also be where he gets a 'demanding' nature from.

Thanks for all your thoughts. While I agree that it's unusual that he talked to me about it, I am not sure I would let that bother me in taking a position if offered. And I *think* the co-worker would do the same thing, if in my shoes.