Job search - business owned by Scientologist - run, or not?

November 6, 2022 3:39 PM

I recently did a first interview for a job and realized after poking around a bit that the company is owned by scientologists. The job would be done remotely (I'm being deliberately vague but it's a solitary research-based job and the company is based in another state). It seems like work that would be a good fit for me otherwise. Should I continue with the interview process or run away? If I should continue, anything in particular to watch out for?

No one has mentioned scientology to me directly. I realized there was a connection because:
1) the company website mentions giving back via a charity that utilizes the teaches of L Ron Hubbard
2) they sent me a "personality test" (Personnel Potential Analysis™ Test) by Mastertech) that seems linked to Scientology
3) googling the interviewer (who is not the business owner)'s name revealed he has connections to Scientology as well.

I'm not worried about getting swept up into Scientology but I am worried about whether there will likely be pressure to do so, or whether it will likely be mentioned enough by my supervisors to upset me (an atheist Jew who is very very irritated by proselytizing and fundamentalism.)

posted by needs more cowbell to Religion & Philosophy (18 answers total)

I would not take this job. Scientology is many things and one thing is sneaky. Believe me, within months you will be expected to take classes for money in order to get promoted/move up the ladder.

Scientology is a truly vile cult. They do not do any good things. Run away.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 3:59 PM on November 6, 2022 [41 favorites]

Aside from worrying about attempts to recruit, I'd also be worried about what my research would be used for, and whether it would be used to support the Scientology cause or to recruit others.
posted by invincible summer at 4:01 PM on November 6, 2022 [22 favorites]

I would not take the job because your materials and points of contact are Scientology linked. You’re working for and possibly funding Scientology at that point. That’s different from a diverse corporation where the ceo practices or believes something I don’t.

Scientology metes out vengeance against anyone they decide has crossed them. There’s actual infrastructure in the organization to do this. It’s pretty extreme. Not worth it.
posted by kapers at 4:05 PM on November 6, 2022 [13 favorites]

In my experience, the kinds of people/companies who use this kind of thing as part of their workplace are actively tithing a percentage of their business to Scientology.

I worked at a place like this. They chose to pay Scientology over paying their employees or debts at times. They were toxic people who really truly thought they were exerting some measure of mind control over their employees because of the words they chose to use. It was ridiculous and obvious.
posted by erst at 4:21 PM on November 6, 2022 [5 favorites]

Aside from any experiences you might have as an employee, after you leave how would you feel about disclosing that you had worked for a Scientology-adjacent, if not flat-out Scientology employer? Would you be able to use them as a reference? Would you want to?
posted by citygirl at 5:01 PM on November 6, 2022 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: I know how evil Scientology is (so my default is to run away). I suppose what I'm wondering about is whether anyone who has worked for/with Scientologists can speak to whether it always leaks over into their business dealings in a big way. This isn't a job where I would be climbing a corporate ladder, just doing very defined, somewhat automated research (not anything that would could be used within Scientology - it's for an established unrelated industry.)
posted by needs more cowbell at 5:04 PM on November 6, 2022

Whether other Scientologists are able to separate church and business is maybe not the question here—your 1 and 2 already indicate there isn’t separation in this particular case.
posted by kapers at 5:09 PM on November 6, 2022 [6 favorites]

Best answer: I suppose what I'm wondering about is whether anyone who has worked for/with Scientologists can speak to whether it always leaks over into their business dealings in a big way.

I was engaged to a Scientologist. Run away. No matter how much low-key, "I'm not really a zany Scientologist and don't believe that nonsense" things you hear, at the end of the day, these people belong to a cult and do what the cult tells them to do. They support Scientology's beliefs, work with/for other cult members, and yes, the followings of the "church" bleed into everything they do.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 5:11 PM on November 6, 2022 [14 favorites]

Do you really want to give Scientology your Social Security number and, either through direct deposit or the back of your cancelled checks, your banking info?
posted by DanSachs at 5:27 PM on November 6, 2022 [21 favorites]

Don’t do it. If you’ve already done the test, too late but if not, don’t take the test.
posted by warriorqueen at 5:33 PM on November 6, 2022 [1 favorite]

The Scientology has already leaked over into the business. It's 1000% inappropriate to have asked job candidates to take a religious/cult test. If they're already crossing the line this badly before you're even employed there, just imagine how much worse it will be when you're a captive audience. Run don't walk.
posted by ourobouros at 5:59 PM on November 6, 2022 [8 favorites]

Best answer: I actually worked for a very small company that was owned and run by scientologists. I worked there for a couple of years and enjoyed my work. I loved my boss. He was such a great guy. Funny, warm and lovely. Unfailingly kind to me. The business was up front about scientology and ran it on scientology principals (like the kind of charts used to track work). Not everyone who worked there was a scientologist. As far as I know they never tried to recruit me. There was a little weirdness but every job has weirdness.

I probably wouldn't work for scientologists again based on what I've read about them. But my own actual experience was fine.
posted by halehale at 6:10 PM on November 6, 2022 [5 favorites]

Best answer: The main reason I wouldn't do it is any future employer can run the same search you did and find that you worked for a bunch of Scientologists, then have the same doubts about you that you're having right now--but not be able to ask about it, because religion.
posted by HotToddy at 7:11 PM on November 6, 2022 [14 favorites]

Owning companies in unrelated industries is how scientology is funded. They’re even up front about that on their website. This is well known and cult researchers talk about how key these businesses are to keeping everything afloat. I would only take this job if you had to and would keep looking for another job instead of settling in. The profit from the work you do will fund scientology.
posted by Bottlecap at 8:46 PM on November 6, 2022 [6 favorites]

Best answer: I wouldn't mind the interviewer or even my boss being a scientologist (people are free to believe what they want and live their lives as they want). The fact that the company gives to a scientology-based charity would give me pause (since apparently scientology is part of the policies of the company as a whole, and is that a company that I would want to work for?) A scientology-based test as part of the job application process would be an immediate deal-breaker (because it's probably not going to end there, and what involvement in scientology would be expected of me to get ahead within the company or even to keep my job?).
posted by rjs at 9:57 PM on November 6, 2022 [8 favorites]

Would you like to have Scientology linked to your personal and professional persona for the rest of your life? It might not be in the job title or company About page, but if you found the connection, so can potential hiring committees, clients, dates.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 12:05 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Aright. I really really wanted to do my due diligence in considering this, because it does feel like work I'd be well-suited to given my particular assortment of needs and talents, but the garland of red flags is clearly too much (plus I had nightmares about it all night.)

Thanks all.
posted by needs more cowbell at 2:40 AM on November 7, 2022 [14 favorites]

Response by poster: Just as a random "things turned out kinda OK" update (because ~gestures at world~) three days after posting this I interviewed for and then quickly got hired for a different job at a business with zero connection to Scientology and which does normal charity things like donating to local food banks.
posted by needs more cowbell at 3:22 AM on November 17, 2022 [4 favorites]