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show in Boston on Thursday and Friday next week, but the number he's giving you "only as a last resort in case of the most dire emergency" is a private residence Baltimore. You have your suspicions, but this job pays very well and you're not about to say no. You prefer not to think about this too much.

Does this all seem a little strange? Cheerful and willing is one thing, but exploitation is something else altogether. Get out the handbook - read company policy! Read your job description. Hmm. No wonder everyone else seemed to have such clear limits on what they would do and what they wouldn't. By the time you realize what's going on, you have to admit you're being exploited. It's not a good feeling. Now your conscience is going to give you some trouble into the bargain.

If what you're being asked to do, or what is expected of you, is much more than what your coworkers are willing to do, it's a good sign you're being exploited. Your employer has taken advantage of your good nature and desire to succeed with the company. If the extra duties and requests seem to be more than your job description calls for, you're being exploited. If your employer singles you out for tasks that seem underhanded or sneaky because you're the only one he or she can "trust," you better realize you're the target of exploitation.

What you'll have to do now is the best you can to backtrack and try to establish some personal and professional boundaries. If you gradually impose your own limits, the exploitation will eventually cease, but it's in your best interest to begin declining - you do have a life outside the workplace - as soon as possible.

Learn more about this author, G. Allendorfer Anderson, PhD.
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