Knowing who you are and what you stand for in and outside the workplace are valuable life skills you should not underestimate.  Being honest with yourself first is tantamount to building a successful career and a successful life. Sometimes in office politics we have to say things we might not always stand behind 100%.  The key is survival these days may be telling your boss what they want to hear even though you know in your heart what is true and offer a different observation.  One good rule of thumb is to ask permission from the person you are communicating with as to whether they would like to receive honest and uncensored feedback from you.  If they are interested in your observations, then you have set the stage for an honest dialogue.  If they are not interested in what you have to say, better to know now and start looking for a work environment that encourages your participation and contributions to the organization.  Don’t waste your time or energy on trying to convince anyone of your point of few no matter how valid it may be.  In the end, they are paying top management to make those decisions that will ultimately affect the company and not you.  Sometimes it’s best to collect your check, keep your mouth shut and look for another job.

The answer to your question sadly is “NO!”  Do not let your ego or your sense of what is right or wrong stand in the way of your financial security.  Before you decide to tell your boss off, dust off your resume, get a few interviews lined up and preferably get another job offer in the works.  Telling your boss how you feel about the company or about his management style is a message that says, “Fire me please.”  If you can afford to take the time off then by all means share your soul.  If you are thinking about your livelihood, family and financial stability, do not express how you feel.  It’s better to vent to friends outside of work (lest it get back to the boss) and start looking for another opportunity immediately.  Do not let you pride get in the way of good old-fashioned common sense.  Stick to it until something better comes along and then get the hell out of there.  You can tell your boss how you feel during your exit interview as you collect your things, have your final pay in hand and are halfway out the door.

Having a creative skill-set is an advantage you should leverage when building and designing a versatile portfolio.  Managing your creative content enables you to highlight and position your creative work in a way that demonstrates your diverse background and capabilities.  If you need to emphasize your technical skills when applying for a job then it’s best to set up a separate section in your portfolio that talks about the specific technical skills you used when creating the media you are representing.  For example, detail the specific jobs you handled in each screen shot to show exactly what portion of that creative work you were responsible for handling technically.  Make sure you are clear on what actual technical work you performed so that the recruiter or hiring manager who views your work understands what you did.  Having a diverse portfolio even though you may only apply for an animator, environmental artist or graphics design position shows the breath of your talent and opens you up for more job opportunities.

It is not illegal to ask about your skills as it relates to languages you may speak, read or write.  It is only illegal if by asking these questions the information is used against you in some way that would be hard to prove in many cases.  It is pretty common these days to see this question asked as a standard part of the application process without having it imply or disclose ethnicity.  Many people from abroad speak multiple languages and depending on the position you are applying for, could be advantageous and in some cases even required.  Speaking English as your primary language is important if you are applying for jobs that require this.  In some instances, speaking Spanish or Farsi maybe required and in which case English would be a considered a secondary language.  Answering questions regarding your language skills is not out of the question particularly as companies become more globally focused and hiring diverse candidates with equally diverse skill-sets is even more appealing than ever before.  So, if you are lucky enough to speak more than one language don’t hide it, add it to the list of your many talents and promote yourself accordingly!

It’s always a good idea to be honest on an interview because the information will come out one way or another and it’s better for a recruiter to hear it from you rather than reading it on a report or from a reference you provide.  If you are applying for a position where there is a potential for “theft” i.e., cash handling, procurement, etc., then you are going to need to be very clear on your ability to prove that you have integrity in the job.  Site examples of how you helped your previous employer save money, what you may have done to help them benefit from your work.  By focusing on the positive of your prior work experience and by providing concrete and verifiable examples you will take the emphasis off any negative feedback you may be concerned with receiving from your prior employer.  If you left on relatively good terms, most employers will not provide the details of a termination but leave it up to the prospective employer to assume the reason if all they provide is “termination” as the reason.  There are so many legalities involved in negligent hiring practices that employers need to be careful and wary of obtaining the necessary information on a candidate without crossing the line of what might be considered potentially damaging to a candidate’s reputation. Handling your situation by being up front with the recruiter is the best way to address this issue head-on before someone reads more to the story than there may be.