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The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious

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Lucille van Pelt
07/09/09

In reply to The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious
Funny thing is, I actually failed one of these when i applied for a job at a card shop in the mall in highschool. now i'm in a profession where i have to sign a form to be ethical. and I had to pass an ethics test. Guess I'm ethical enough to be an engineer but not to sell greeting cards.
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hkcd
07/10/09

@Lucille van Pelt: That wouldn't happen to be the Hallmark Store, would it? The same exact thing happened to me. It was my first job interview ever and I had to take a 180+ question "personality test". The woman came back after grading it and told me I'd failed and, that even though she liked me, they couldn't hire me. Right. Thanks, Hallmark! Too bad I went on to be a great employee elsewhere.
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Edited by hkcd at 07/10/09 10:07 AM hkcd was starred hkcd was unstarred

hannapdx
07/09/09

In reply to The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious
I was in UO sometime last year and noticed a design on some of their home wares that looked oddly similar to Brooklyn Industries logo. With the water tower and such. Not surprising that they are a bunch of phony balognaies
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raymi
07/09/09

In reply to The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious
sounds like they WANT you to get high while on the job
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meg9
07/09/09

In reply to The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious
They used a similar form (maybe the same form) when I was a temp employee there 10 years ago---helping to open a store in Philly, which translated into "do dangerous things with heavy stuff in dangerous places, such as a 2nd floor that was crescent shaped with a big hole down to the 1st floor that wasn't probably roped off during construction" Urban was the most hellish place I've ever worked.
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Bandersnatch42
07/09/09

In reply to The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious
It occurs to me that questions like #5 and #20 are phrased very poorly. If the applicant answers no, then are they saying "No, I've never stolen" or "No, I'm going to rob you blind"?
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s
07/09/09

In reply to The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious
It seems ethically wrong to make someone take a test knowing that they are going to lie. You cannot put a witness on the stand if you know they will lie. I know it is not quite the same thing, since people on the stand are under oath but it still puts pressure on people to lie for their job. I have had a boss ask me to lie to clients before and it put me in a very uncomfortable situation. A better way to do this is to offer hypothetical situations to the prospective employee and ask them what their course of action would be.

Also, I am taking an ethics course now and the professor told a story of a Rabbi who was testing his disciples. He called the first disciple in and asked him "If you found a wallet with $10,000 in it, what would you do?" The disciple immediately answered "I would find the owner of the wallet and give it and all the money back." The Rabbi said "Liar! You answered too fast." And dismissed the disciple. He called the second disciple in (who has over heard the previous question) and asked him the same question. The disciple responded "I would keep the money." The Rabbi said "Thief! I cannot trust you." The third disciple came into the office and when asked the question said "I hope I would have the courage to give the money back." The Rabbi said "You I can trust. You recognize your own weaknesses."
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Edited by s at 07/09/09 4:29 PM s was starred s was unstarred

The HZA.
07/09/09

In reply to The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious
When I did the employee screening thing for Victorias Secret, I was asked if I recreationally used crack and if so would I be able to not use it before a shift.
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SharonTaint
07/09/09

In reply to The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious
Employees smoking "marijuana cigarettes" might actually explain the bizarre "clothing" on sale at Urban Outfitters recently.

If I wanted to pay $48 for a used-looking 80's t-shirt... well I would kill myself, actually.
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chrysaline area
07/09/09

In reply to The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious
I once applied for a job at an ice cream store, and one of the questions on the application was "What do you hope to gain from this experience?" I put, "5 pounds." I was not called back.

...I wonder if they enjoy jokes at Urban Outfitters.
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Zombie Ms. Skittles
07/09/09

@chrysaline area: At the DQ I used to work at, you would have SO gotten hired on that one. Trust.
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randomnessish
07/09/09

In reply to The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious
Oh god! What a throwback! Some years ago I applied at Anthropologie and they made me fill out this very same "quick" survey. I seem to remember showing it to my friends and getting a good laugh about it. Needless to say, I didn't get the job.

Oh, the OTHER fun thing about that application process was when the woman asked me "who Anthropologie's target clients were." Sadly, I didn't have the balls to say late 20s to mid 30's, female, very rich, and white.

(note: I really do love some of UO's and Antropologie's clothes, although I'm wayyy too poor and logical to even consider spending that much money on culottes)
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sportz.star
07/09/09

In reply to The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious
But how will they be "urban" without the hard-edged, steal from the man, devil may care, smoke 'em if ya got 'em employees?
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Sputnik_Sweetheart
07/09/09

@sportz.star: I assume they hire vampires. Not only are they "urban" and totally trendy, they don't mind working late hours. And all the sparkling matches the "glitter splat tee."
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Edited by Sputnik_Sweetheart at 07/09/09 3:38 PM Sputnik_Sweetheart was starred

AndThenTheresMaude
07/09/09

In reply to The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious
This reminds me of the ethics test i had to take at my job in college at the school bookstore as a cashier. Because I was technically a state employee, I had to take the state's ethics test which consisted of three sections, ten questions each, regarding bribery, conflicts of interest, etc, and if you got just one wrong, you had to retake it. The best part? This ethics test was made mandatory by then governor Rod Blagojevich.
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HuckleberryFriend
07/09/09

@AndThenTheresMaude: Ha! That's awesome.
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RichardCorvus
07/09/09

In reply to The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious
Question 4 is of particular interest, given that the owner of UO, Richard Haynes, is an extremely conservative Republican. UO, Anthro, etc. may seem like cool, funky hippie shops, but the money you spend there lines the coffers of right-wing, anti-choice homophobes: "While the typical Urban Outfitters shopper is likely to be liberal-minded--as is the province and privilege of youth--the fiftysomething Hayne is mom-and-apple-pie conservative. He and his wife Margaret have contributed $13,150 to the campaign coffers of Paleolithic right-wing Republican Sen. Rick Santorum and his Political Action Committee over the years." Santorum is an arch-conservative whose virulent hatred of the LGBTQ community is well known. - excerpted from http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/cover-story/clothes_make_the_man-38368134.html
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Yahtzii
07/09/09

In reply to The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious
Question 4,378: It is perfectly fine to charge $75 for a fuschia romper with built-in leggings.
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SharonTaint
07/09/09

@Yahtzii: I just loved you for that. I love you hard.
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Everything MidnightBikeRide does is a balloon.
07/09/09

In reply to The Urban Outfitters Ethics Survey: Unintentionally Hilarious
"In previous jobs I've had problems getting to work on time, but that's behind me now." If I disagree, do I think that a) I´ve never had problems getting to work or b) That is definitely NOT behind me at this point?
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