You Don't Have to Work for a Jerk

Nobody should have to work for a jerk. At least that is the tagline of a website designed to help people find out if their potential new boss is a creep. EbossWatch.com is a website that was inspired by the National Sex Offenders Registry with the goal of making a database of bosses that have been charged with sexual harassment. The database is searchable, and there is even a place to rate your boss.

According to the site's founder, Asher Adelman, it can be difficult during the interview process to determine a workplace's culture and atmosphere. His site, which was launched in 2007, was designed to help job seekers avoid working in a hostile workplace. The site allows users to anonymously complete an objective survey to rate their boss, allowing new job seekers to better evaluate potential employers.

This could be the start of a new trend in employer accountability. With the high degree of media attention Adleman has received, more and more job hunters are flocking to the site to screen employers and to get a better idea of the workplace they are considering. Although I think that the idea behind the site is wonderful, I can't help but wonder if there is any recourse for bosses that have gotten bad reviews from former employees. With the National Sex Offender Registry, at least the people on the list are people who have been convicted of sex crimes. Anonymously submitted ratings can lend themselves to retaliatory reviews. That being said, I check the reviews on almost every item I purchase, each hotel I stay in and even the books that I chose to read. Shouldn't a new employer be at least as important? My regret over having wasted my time reading a boring book or having purchased a less than spectacular product would certainly be less than having accepted employment at a hostile workplace.

As with anything else, making an informed decision is the key, and using tools like eBossWatch can be a useful way to screen potential employers and help you make a better choice about where you want spend the next part of your career. And at the least, it could be fun to look up some old bosses that were really jerks and find out if others have felt that way as well.

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a freelance writer and regular contributor to several websites and other publications, a volunteer, a full time mom and an active job seeker.