An ethical dilemma is when an incident arises that causes you to question how you should react based on your beliefs and deciding how to choose between right and wrong.

Sometimes, an ethical dilemma might be easily solved once you have had a bit of time to think about it but in other cases, it might not be as easy.

Perhaps you have been put into a bad position where you need to make a decision that will most likely have consequences regardless of what you decide.

An example of an ethical dilemma is when a salesperson is guaranteed to make a big sale if they offer a kickback (ie. an illegal payment) to someone.

If they agree to the kickback, they get the sale but risk getting caught and getting into big trouble.

If they dont agree to the kickback, they dont get the sale and might end up looking bad in the eyes of their employer.

Also, should they even tell their employer about the situation or should they simply make a decision and live with the consequences?

Clearly, this is an ethical dilemma and although its easy to say you would do the right thing, when you are actually in such a position and are feeling pressure to act, you might not always be able to think as clearly as you would otherwise like to think you would.

Depending on the situation, how you react to an ethical dilemma might differ but at the end of the day, here are some things to keep in mind:

• Use common sense. If its clearly wrong or illegal, you know the consequences of doing something that could cost you dearly.

• Dont let your self-interest get in the way and allow it to cloud your judgment. A short-term gain could be a long-term pain if you make the wrong decision and get caught.

• Dont assume that your employer will back you up if you do something wrong and get caught. Referring to the above example of the kickback, dont assume that if you decide to pay the kickback that this is what your employer would approve of. If you acted alone and get caught, dont expect your employer to defend you because they may distance themselves from you to avoid further embarrassment or legal trouble.

• Dont risk your credibility. It can take many good deeds to build credibility but only one seemingly simple indiscretion for it to vanish.

Where possible, try to speak with your manager or someone else you trust when in doubt especially if the decision you have to make affects the company. Dont assume your employer will tolerate you doing something wrong even if it benefits them.

Remember to treat others as youd expect to be treated and dont do anything wrong in anticipation of a short-term gain that could end up costing you in the long-term.

Carl Mueller

My name is Carl Mueller and I'd like to thank you for learning a bit more about me!

I feel that I have numerous relevant experiences during my career that come in useful when helping people with their careers:

I know what it?s like to work internationally, having worked overseas (in New Zealand, from 1994-1998).

I've survived several corporate downsizings while many of my colleagues were being laid off.

I have also experienced being laid off twice myself during corporate downsizings.

I know what it?s like to be self-employed.

I've helped many people find better jobs. I started to work as a professional recruiter in 2000 first as an Information Technology (IT) recruiter and then in general recruitment across many industries including IT, manufacturing and marketing. Since this time, I have helped many people find their dream career and it?s a great feeling.

I experienced one of the slowest hiring periods in recent memory especially during the general hiring slowdown that followed the Y2K frenzy in 1999, the bursting of the dot com bubble in early 2000, and then the employment market bottoming out following September 11, 2001.

These were certainly not great times to be a job searcher in most industries nor was it a particularly good time to be a recruiter.

Following this, I began running the day to day operations of an Internet-based company in early 2003 that focused on developing online software and subscription-based websites for consumers. It was then that I fully realized the power, usefulness and potential of the Internet which really spurred me to set up my own website which you can view in my Personal URL section below this bio.

I?m also a Platinum Ezine Articles Expert as recognized by EzineArticles.com, one of the most visited websites on the Internet. This special designation is earned by having consistently high-quality articles published and viewed on their website. All of my submissions are related to helping you find your dream career and many of my articles get reproduced on other websites by their webmasters.

Good luck with your career and I hope I have been of assistance to you!