The Young Professional’s Survival Guide: From Cab Fares to Moral Snares

A useful guide to potential ethical issues faced by young people starting out in the workplace, and how to handle them, professional ethics expert Gunsalus uses examples culled from her students and her own experiences to explore various dilemmas and pressures that employees encounter. Posting positive reviews of a product under a false identity, posing as a customer in a competitor’s store, or copying course packets for friends are the kinds of situations that, by knowing our values before we face them, Gunsalus argues, we have a better chance of responding in a way that maintains our integrity. Gunsalus helpfully suggests imagining how we would feel if the requested action were recorded and broadcast to the world; as she writes, “how things look from the outside can be an important element in considering what you are willing to do.” She also covers relationships in the workplace, suggesting that by adopting a “professional persona” of treating everyone we work with, with courtesy and respect, regardless of our feelings about them, we can prevent most of the typical workplace conflicts from ever happening. In addition, she precisely explains how to report suspected misconduct. (Nov.)