Answered by Stephanie, Hiring Expert at AT&T Inc., on Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Hi there - I'm going to answer this question from my own experience. In my career I have held roles in companies of 5 people all the way up to 280,000 people. I have found it important to be collaborative, honest, curious and brave in all of my jobs. This doesn't take away from the need to also be a team player, aware of company needs and always looking for areas of improvement.
Your future employer has responsibility to their employees, their customers, potentially their shareholders and their communities. Organizations are all going to handle those responsibilities differently depending on the structure and needs of their business. Depending on the industry you are working in, negative or unsettling concepts may be part of your experience. If your job is to look for ways to improve high school graduation rates, feed hungry people, manage assistance programs or one of the many issues facing so many people at this time, you may come up against challenging concepts. Shielding you from the facts of what you're facing is not going to help you work towards solutions.
Now, part two. Many businesses have a code of business conduct. It will pull together the ideals and expectations of your organization when it comes to things like working with your peers, customers, clients etc. The conduct expected of me is to treat my peers, customers, clients etc. with respect and consideration. Using that as my baseline has helped me avoid distressing anyone with my conduct. I am always welcome to offer my opinion, my ideas, my thoughts to better our business and the community of our organization. It would be a disservice to me as a human being and my company as a thriving organization to be shielded from the realities of life and how they impact people on a daily basis.