I once refused a job offer because I disagreed with the company philosophy, yes.

Actually, they turned me down the first time (thus saving me the thrill of turning them down). Then, a year later, they contacted me again to re-apply because they needed more people. I said no and came just short of laughing in their faces.

The story of the interview is interesting... I thought I'd recounted it here on this BBS before but a search isn't coming up with anything, so I'll tell it now:

I was interviewing for a Sysadmin position. I'd been job hunting for quite a while and was used to what all the job listings in the Seattle area looked like. Usually the job listing had a checklist of server products and version numbers that you needed to have experience with in order to be considered.

This job listing was unusual because it only listed a vague description of the sysadmin-specific skills. It concentrated more on describing the desired candidate's personality traits: Intelligence, work ethic, communication skills, etc.

The interview day was extremely strange. They made me sign a bunch of stuff, including filling out a full job application (no one else had made me fill out the app unless they liked me AFTER the interview). The job application needed my signature as well, and required me to agree to an aptitude test and a full background check. This wasn't entirely unexpected since the company made some kind of surveillance and security hardware/software package.

What was strangest about the interview was that it consisted entirely of an IQ test. There was no verbal interview at all. It was also a very odd, very culturally biased IQ test. And the questions on the test were not just IQ related; they seemed to be vaguely interested in my business and personal ethics as well as my intelligence. This, still, didn't bother me because I always do well on IQ tests and I consider myself to be an ethical person.

Administration of the test was weird, though. They told me it would be timed, but didn't say how much time I had. I was only halfway done with the test when the secretary came in and told me I had to stop the test and leave, and that the interview was over. They gave me exactly enough time to get home and go to the bathroom, then called me and said that I did not perform well enough on the aptitude test to be considered.

Of course it was all explained by the fine print on the pamphlet on the company's reception counter.

In and of itself, the pamphlet seemed innocuous. It was a small booklet about business ethics, and how to run a successful business while still being ethical. It was nice enough, but something about its printing style, its layout, and the typefaces used just screamed "Watchtower" to me.

Now, if the company *had* been run by Jehova's Witnesses, that actually would have been *just fine*. I'm perfectly willing to work for a company run by members of a genuine religious organization, as long as they don't mind the fact that I'm not a member of their religion. But I knew that wasn't what was going on here. No, despite the fact that the pamphlet looked like a Watchtower, these weren't JW's.

Curious about who the heck these people were, I flipped quickly to the back of the pamphlet and looked at the fine print in the publishing credits.

You get one guess as to whose name I found there...