LDS in the work place.

Hi all,
I would like to address the topic at hand. I think that it would be in the best interest of the company not to hire, given the set of circumstances. After all would you save a drowning President Bush, given you were in a two man dinghy with another? I think not, you don't want to sink the boat you are currently in. (Sorry President Bush, one dead man much better than three dead men.) Anyway, if the call came out for candidates equally qualified, then you go to your respective interviews and see who has the best interview. I don't have extensive experience in interviewing candidates since I am not management, but you must be fair in order not to bring suit to the company. That is my experience. On a side note, the Mormon church has a job network available to any member in need. I know because I was a Mormon for a time and was also unemployed while a member of the church. There is a food store as well for needy members and to help others prepare for local disasters and so on. Personally I wouldn't have a problem hiring a Mormon, a Mason, a Catholic, or a One Eyed, One horned, Flying Purple People Eater for that matter as long as the person were qualifyed. Also one's personal background should not be brought up in a job interview, interviewer's or interviewee's. As the interviewer you shouldn't know what his religion is anyway. It is not a fair evaluation of qualifications and I think it is against Federal law.
troylawson

Originally posted by troylawson
Hi all,
I would like to address the topic at hand. I think that it would be in the best interest of the company not to hire, given the set of circumstances.

Ok. In the circumstances noted, the company in financial hurt, I would not hire someone additional either.

After all would you save a drowning President Bush, given you were in a two man dinghy with another? I think not, you don't want to sink the boat you are currently in. (Sorry President Bush, one dead man much better than three dead men.)

Interesting metaphor. The answer is YES. We could take turns in the water, make room, etc... I would NEVER condemn a man to death simpy to save my own, were another solution possible.

Anyway, if the call came out for candidates equally qualified, then you go to your respective interviews and see who has the best interview. I don't have extensive experience in interviewing candidates since I am not management, but you must be fair in order not to bring suit to the company.

that is not necessarily correct. But I understand your position. As hiring manager, I get to decide who I hire and who I don't and religion, sex, age, and race aside, if I decide to hire a mason over someone else, it is my decision... that, and you would never know why you did not get the job... and I understand THAT is the real crux of the issue at hand.

The "Old Boys" network created a lot of fear and suspicion that perhaps you do not get that job because the boss is hiring a friend, or someone recommended by a friend, or a lodge brother, or someone from the church. The unknown creates a lot of fear. I am saying that, if possible, and when necessary, I can and will hire someone I know and trust over someone I do not know and trust.

If that makes me a bad man, please show me how, because my goal is otherwise... if I can aid and assist someone, I will.

That is my experience. On a side note, the Mormon church has a job network available to any member in need. I know because I was a Mormon for a time and was also unemployed while a member of the church. There is a food store as well for needy members and to help others prepare for local disasters and so on. Personally I wouldn't have a problem hiring a Mormon, a Mason, a Catholic, or a One Eyed, One horned, Flying Purple People Eater for that matter as long as the person were qualifyed.

As would I. But that was not the question, I think. I hire the best qualified person for the job, regardless of age, sex, preference, religion, race, politics etc., but if a brother came looking for a job, and I had a choice of one or the other, the brother gets the job. It really is that simple.

The office I manage currently is owned by a brother, which is exactly how I got the job. I was looking, the brother needed someone, I had the experience in mangement, so I was asked to take the job. No one else was interviewed, no applications were taken and no ad placed. Two men who work for me are also brothers, and are now working for me because they are brothers... though to be fair, we also have a number of women and non masons working out of this office.

My grandfather ran a company called Arcco Instruments until just before his death in 1999, and every man working for him was a mason, hired through the grand lodge, and both women working there were married to or a daughter of a mason. Today, it is illegal to advertise jobs JUST to masons, so if one advertises the job it must be advertised to all...

So today, the GRAND LODGES no longer offer job placement services.. that has fallen to private sites and networks...

Also one's personal background should not be brought up in a job interview, interviewer's or interviewee's. As the interviewer you shouldn't know what his religion is anyway. It is not a fair evaluation of qualifications and I think it is against Federal law.

You are correct, but if I were a Mormon, and from your stake, and you came in to interview me, I might recognize you, and...

I don't know, maybe mormons have secret handshakes and passwords... I don't know... I don't know how anyone would know otherwise... as for masons, will, you already know we wear our affiliation proudly, so I would know a mason, or he me within seconds of an interview starting...

I worked once for mormons in a mormon owned company. They were very nice people, but I did receive what I thought was some little unusual harrassment. When I found out that the mormons were very big on genealogical research, I then decided to search the genealogical records for my family as I had never done this before. To my surprise I found many errors in these records. The INS erroringly claimed that several members of my family had no US citizenship, when they all had and used US passports. My mother's records looked like she was illegally in the USA from the USSR during the old cold war period. I received a US District Court judge's approval for a correction amendment to one document, to try to correct this error. My mother had a US passport.

Also the US State Department falsely interpreted the dual USSR citizenship laws of the USSR, and I was erroringly told by them that I was a citizen of the USSR. I reported this error to the US State Department in 1982, and this error interpretation was corrected.