An Employer Who Pales In Comparison To Decent Ones

(I’m applying for a job at a tanning salon via an external agency, from which I have an assigned job coach. I have to say, I’m not exactly the beauty-guru type, and working at a salon was a questionable option for me from the start, but my job coach keeps telling me I’m perfect for the job.)

Job Coach: “It’s only a hostess type of function anyway. You know, welcome the customers, point them to their tanning booths, and make coffee.” 

(The job coach is there for the interview and we both arrive at the same time. The employer lets us in, but we are followed by a man who I think is another employee. Once the employer gets us set with coffee and tea and he strikes up a conversation with the man… which takes him about 20 minutes.)

Employer: *to the man* “Did you see the state of our windows? They really need some cleaning. I guess I’ll have those broads who work the desk here do that this week. All they do is sit on their a**es anyway.” 

(Finally, just when my job coach and I wonder if this is a job interview or a tea party, the employer says goodbye to the man he was talking to — a friend of his, as it turns out — and directs his attention to us. 

He describes a bit of the job and I’m mildly interested. It all sounds like something I could do. Then, my job coach asks him about the controversy surrounding tanning, and how you can get skin cancer from it. Cue a long tirade from the employer on how tanning is very healthy and it’s actually sunblock that causes cancer, followed by an equally long tirade on how big pharma is a conspiracy, global warming isn’t real, and vaccines cause autism, expecting us to agree with him at every point. 

The conversation finally ends and I’m expected to tag along for a day or two to see if this job is a match. I’m too baffled to counteract anything, and I let it happen, but once my job coach and I leave the shop, I express my concerns.)

Job Coach: “So, what do you think? Do you want to give it a shot? It could be a fun job!”

Me: “With all due respect… I don’t think I want to work for an employer who refers to his female employees as ‘those broads,’ displays a very unprofessional demeanor by yapping with his ‘friend’ for twenty minutes, and has so many wrong views on the world that I can only foresee a lot of arguing if I ever were to work for him. So… thanks but no thanks.”