Hello All, I'm glad to have found a place that I can ask a really strange question and expect wise answers in response.
Hi maybenaive and welcome.
We're glad you found us too, and thank you for the nice compliment.
I can see how, in your situation, this might look like an opportunity for you. It might be possible to work it for a short while without getting involved in scientology, but I don't think it would last very long for you that way.
Normally, I would advise anyone to stay away from a scientology-run company, but considering the economy, I will just give you some information and raise a couple of questions for you to think about as you consider it for yourself.
I recently went to a job interview for a Physical Therapist Assistant. This job usually requires a certified person, but they are looking for someone who is untrained that they can train "their way".
Something you might want to consider first is that if you are trained "their way," that will not give you the qualifications for future Physical Therapist jobs. If that is a career you want to consider for the long term, it might delay you in finding a job to advance in that field. Even if it's some other career you're interested in, this would delay you in finding a better job in the field you want to be in.
Anyway, while filling out the application, I read a paragraph that loosely said that they run their business in the management style of L Ron Hubbard (something about rule of statistics or the like).
Scientology management, which is also used in the running of the orgs, is centered around statistics, and the idea that "stats" must always increase. Of course, anyone who knows much about statistics
in the mathmatical sense knows that statistics go up and down. In scientology, statistics going down means that someone has messed up in some way, and there are "punishments" (ethics actions in scientology lingo) for the person with low statistics. There is more about this here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_%28Scientology%29 That although Hubbard has to do with Scientology, the management style has nothing to do with religion...
They say that about the way all the associated groups are operated, but when it comes right down to it, scientology is seen by scientologists as a "one size fits all" solution, so the basic scientology materials are repackaged into something more suited to secular interests. If it is by Hubbard, it will be the same thing as scientology is.
... and that anyone offered employment would be allowed to research the style and must agree to it before beginning employment with them. It asked that you initialed next to the paragraph that you had read the statement.
This may be their way of avoiding lawsuits by people who refuse to take part in religious training for their job. It is illegal to require people to take training of a religious nature in order to keep their job.
So, of course this set off red flags, but only because I know that Scientology is a cult. I thought that it might be possible that the management style would have nothing to do with the cult part.
I don't think that's likely.
September marks 3 years since becoming a widow after nearly 20 years of marriage. I wasn't prepared to be anything but wife, mom, and homemaker, so I'm pretty desperate for a good job and this one offers a lot...maybe too much?
Do you suppose there is any way that a person can take a job like this and not be sucked into the "church" aspect, given the warning in the paragraph?
I'm trying to decide whether or not to go to a second interview. If there's no way to work with a company like this without getting involved in their cult, then of course I want no parts of it.
Thank you in advance.
I think that once you let them know without question that you will not get involved in scientology, they would find other ways to let you go, which will provide plausible deniability with regard to the training, probably something having to do with your "stats."
Now let me ask a few questions.
Do you want to work a job in which you will be under pressure to participate in something you don't want to be a part of?
Are you strong enough to work day in and day out under that type of pressure and not succumb to it? They have some powerful mental coercion tactics, which are introduced from the first scientology, er, I mean, management course.
Are you desperate enough that a few weeks or months of pay is worth having to start searching again when you leave that job, without having gained any more tangible value to an employer than you have now?
If you agreed to take the courses they want you to take, who would pay for them? Would they pay for them completely, or would they take it out of your paychecks? Better make them put it in writing, signed and sealed, if you consider it. Would they pay you a full and competitive wage even before you took the courses?
Here is some information about WISE (World Institute of Scientology Enterprises) which this business is certainly part of:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Institute_of_Scientology_EnterprisesPlease let us know what you decide to do, and if you have more questions, we'll be happy to try to answer them.
