Bonehead Moves That Jeopardize One's Career

There are things that people do and afterwards everyone makes jokes about how dumb it was. Elliot Spitzer and the call girls come to mind. But there are other things that ordinary employees do that I come accross far too often reading cases or on legal blogs that are true bonehead moves.

1. Looking at porn at work

It is paintfully obvious to me that this is a not smart move. I mean, really, you are on a company computer, using a company server and company internet access, and you chose to jeopardize your employment to do something you can easily do at home. Or at least somewhere else! They know. Trust me, they know.

This is much more common than you would think. Somehow, poeple blur the line between home and work so badly to where they forget that they are not sitting on their own couch when they click around on the internet during their lunch break (or even while they should be working). I suggest being aware of your company policies as for use of computers, but just to be the safe side, leave the nudity at home. All of it.

2. Searching for a job at work

It is a given that when you need to find a new job, you will have to take some time from your current job to do it. But you never, ever want to give away that you are seeking new employment. Instantly your boss will lose all interest in your career (unless you have a 

"special" relationship; and hopefully it doesn't violate work policies). And furthermore, it will make you seem like you don't care about your current job. A little tact is in order. If you do search, do so at home on your home computer, utilize vacation days, and be respectful of your current employer. Especially if that new job is not a slam dunk, and maybe still if it is.

3. Overuse of company resources

When I was a summer employee at a law firm that I hated, my last day of work I took home all the pens, pads, and highlighters I could find. I say, what the heck, I wouldn't come back here if they paid me. And I am sure that they noticed several boxes of highlighters missing from my floor. Not good work ettiquite.

While I don't think that you should only use one pen a year for fear of being seen as wasteful, I do not think that wasting company resources is a good idea. A story that comes to mind recently is the young summer employee who would remove all the hot chocolate from his floor nightly. Now this was nine or ten packets. And he did this over a period of 12 weeks. That is nearly 600 packets of hot cocoa. Who needs that much hot chocolate? No one. And an employer doesn't need someone who steals! Neither of us got job offers. And overuse of resources is a good way to lose the job you do have.

4. Misuse of company resources

So your company gives you a phone, right? Now you are going to call endlessly your five best friends and your mother, because hey, you don't have to pay the bill. Wrong! And 15 calls to 411 for the nearest starbucks aren't a smart decision, either.

As with computers, your company keeps a log of the phone calls you make from a work phone. And text messages. And, if your phone has internet, they may have a log of the searches and sites you visit as well.  Right now, the mayor of Detroit is in a lot of trouble for sending racy text messages to a woman he was having an affair with over a phone issued to him by the city. When something goes wrong, a law suit is filed, and there is discovery in a case, which means both sides have to release truckloads of information, company phones are fair game.  Which means that 3AM text to the girl you met at the club and can't keep off your mind just might end up in a newspaper article. A better choice: keep a personal phone for personal calls. 

These are just a few of the truly bonehead things people do on the job.  But I think what they have in common, not separating personal life from work life, translates well in to a golden rule of employment: only do things on company property or with company resources that you would do in front of your supervisor. With employment, the hardest part really is getting the job, assuming it is a good fit. You want to be the one to say goodbye and leave for greener pastures, not the other way around, so don't do anything truly stupid to ruin that opportunity.