亲爱的安妮：我最近刚炒了老板鱿鱼。这是一家会计事务所，我的职务是审计师。这份工作收入不错又很轻松，但我实在看不惯事务所内普遍存在的不道德行为。事务所的合伙人对客户提交的“假账”视而不见，甚至连虚假交易和一些可疑账款都能心照不宣地蒙混过关。

    我相信，如果外部审计员都能够尽职尽责，2007到2008年的金融危机也就不会产生如此灾难性的后果。所以，一想到自己被迫卷入了这些见不得人的交易，我就寝食难安。但现在的问题是，如果面试官问我为什么离职，我该如何解释？——廉洁先生

    亲爱的廉洁先生：虽然目前整体经济情况不佳，但你尽可放心，辞去这份“收入不错又很轻松”的工作，绝对是明智之举，不必为此感到后悔。曼哈顿猎头公司Chadick Ellis的联席CEO贾尼斯•艾丽格表示：“我面试过的求职者中，不少人都是因为公司的道德问题而离职，这些公司不久都被媒体曝光了。”

    她还说：“不道德行为最终将大白于天下。比如在安然公司（Enron）和世界通信公司（WorldCom）案件中，与罪魁祸首一样，审计人员也未能逃脱被起诉、罚款和最终名誉扫地的命运。所以，你现在全身而退是绝对正确的选择。”

    再就业咨询巨头挑战者公司的（Challenger, Gray & Christmas）CEO 约翰•基林格也表示：“坚持自己的道德的立场，确实值得称赞。在没有找到下家的情况下辞职，的确需要勇气。”

    虽说善有善报，但时候还未到，至少目前来看是这样。因为向面试官爆料前东家的不道德行为，并非明智之举。

    基林格说道：“问题在于面试官并不了解情况，也无法验证你的那些控诉是否真实，或许会认为你在搬弄是非。未来的雇主可能担心，说不定哪一天，它们也会因为你而背上骂名。”

    幸好，有许多方法，既能诚实地解释离职的原因，又不会捅马蜂窝，也不必借助“追求更大的挑战”这种惯用的说辞，这种话面试官听得太多，甚至一听到这样的话，他们就会打瞌睡（即便这是求职者真实的想法）。

    基林格建议：“从公司内寻找其他理由，合理解释自己离职的原因。比如说，公司一直经营困难或者正在重组，所以大批人员离职，或者公司正在进行业务或策略转型。当然，情况虽各不相同，但仔细想想，总能找出一些理由，既能说明问题，又不会让自己或前雇主给人留下过于负面的印象。”

    贾尼斯•艾丽格指出，如果真的想避免“安然”事件重演，“可以向监管部门揭发公司的违规行为。举报没有错，但对面试官说这些话，就不太合适了。”

    不过，她建议可以这样说：“我和公司在管理理念上存在分歧，所以分道扬镳是最好的选择。”

    这听起来有些含糊其辞，但没有关系。艾丽格建议：“如果面试官追问细节，你可以这样回答：‘对不起，因为涉及到公司的商业机密，所以我不便透露。’”

    其实，求职者根本不必为如何解释离职原因而煞费苦心，原因有两个：第一，与求职者之前的工作经历相比，称职的面试官对于应聘者未来的潜力更感兴趣，所以重点在于引导话题，多谈谈自己现在能为雇主做出哪些贡献。

    第二，目前有意跳槽的人大有人在。美国劳工统计局（Bureau of Labor Statistics）的报告显示，5月份，主动离职的员工达200万人（截至目前的最新统计数据），创下了自2008年以来的最高水平。

    此外，普华永道会计师事务所（PriceWaterhouse Coopers）最新进行的一项调查显示，优秀员工的流动率正在上升。2010年优秀员工跳槽率为4.3%，已经接近2007年（经济衰退前）的水平。普华永道的研究人员预计，截至2013年，这一比率将增加一倍，达到8.7%。所以，在这样的大背景下，也许根本不需要为离职过多的浪费口舌。

    另外，还要牢记一点，求职是双向选择。基林格建议：“求职者同样也要衡量雇主。在没有确信公司是否遵守较高的道德标准之前，不要急于接受这份工作。面试时，不要对这种问题刨根问底，但一定要仔细观察，并且相信自己的直觉。”

    反馈：你是否遇到过同事或上级有不道德的行为？你是如何处理的？欢迎发表评论。

    翻译：富来细特

    Dear Annie: I recently fled my comfortable and well-paid job as an auditor with an accounting firm because I couldn't ignore the unethical practices that were commonplace there. The partners turned a blind eye when presented with "creative" accounting and window dressing by clients. Even fictitious transactions and questionable payments were approved with a wink and a nod.

    I believe the banking crisis of 2007 and 2008 would not have had such catastrophic effects if external auditors had done their job properly, so I was losing sleep over being made an unwilling party to these shady dealings. But the question is, when job interviewers ask why I quit, what should I tell them? — Mr. Clean

    Dear Mr. Clean: Yikes. Just in case you harbor any second thoughts about the wisdom of giving up a "comfortable and well-paid" job in this rocky economy, rest assured that you did the right thing. "I've interviewed job candidates who had quit their previous positions because of ethical concerns, and it later all came out in the news," says Janice Ellig, co-CEO of Manhattan-based executive search firm Chadick Ellis.

    "Unethical behavior will come to light eventually," she adds. "And, as we saw with scandals like Enron and WorldCom, the auditors get sued, fined, and tarnished along with the perpetrators, so you're absolutely right to protect yourself by getting out now."

    John Challenger, CEO of outplacement giant Challenger Gray & Christmas, agrees: "You are to be applauded for taking an ethical stand. It takes real courage to leave a job when you don't have another one lined up."

    But, for now at least, virtue has to be its own reward, since telling job interviewers about your former employer's misdeeds would be unwise.

    "The trouble is that anyone who wasn't there and didn't see what you saw will have no way of knowing whether your accusations are true, or whether you're just a troublemaker," Challenger says. "Prospective employers will worry that you might make them look bad someday, too."

    Luckily, there are plenty of truthful ways to talk about why you left without opening that can of worms -- and without falling back on the old standby about hankering after a bigger challenge, which interviewers hear so often that it tends to make their eyes glaze over (even if it's true).

    "Look for other things going on at the company that could reasonably have contributed to your decision to leave," Challenger suggests. "For example, maybe the firm has been struggling or restructuring and there has been a wave of departures, or the company changed its scope of work or its strategy in some way. Every situation is different, of course, but if you think about it carefully, you can almost always find something that doesn't put either you or the company in a bad light."

    Janice Ellig points out that, if you truly want to prevent another Enron, "there are regulators you can contact to report misconduct. There's nothing wrong with being a whistleblower -- but not in a job interview."

    Instead, she recommends saying something like, "We had philosophical differences on how the business should be managed, and it seemed best if we parted ways."

    Don't worry if that seems a little vague. "If an interviewer presses for more details, you can reply, 'Sorry, but I'd be revealing proprietary information,'" Ellig adds.

    It may help to consider two good reasons why you needn't get too hung up on formulating an answer to the why-did-you-leave-your-last-job question. The first one is that any interviewer worth his or her salt is far more interested in what you can do in the future than in rehashing your employment history, so concentrate on steering the conversation toward what you can bring to an employer right now.

    And second, you're hardly alone in wanting to change jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that almost 2 million workers quit voluntarily in May (the latest month for which figures are available). That's the highest monthly figure since November 2008.

    What's more, a new study by PriceWaterhouse Coopers says that turnover among "high performers" is increasing. The percentage who flew the coop in 2010, at 4.3%, is approaching 2007 (pre-recession) levels, and PwC's researchers expect that to double, to 8.7%, by 2013. Against that backdrop, you may not need to do as much explaining as you think you will.

    Bear in mind, too, that any job interview is a two-way street. "You're evaluating the employer too. Don't take any job unless and until you're convinced the company's ethical standards are high," advises Challenger. "In an interview, don't grill them about it, but keep your eyes and ears open and trust your gut."

    Talkback: Have you ever been confronted with unethical behavior by colleagues or higher-ups? What did you do about it? Leave a comment below.