I was recently fired from my job, after spending approximately two years in a job that I was really not cut out for. I won’t bore people with the details, but basically I was in a situation where it was impossible to do what was expected of me, and the situation got more and difficult. I can’t say that I was without blame myself, as I had begun to act out and was generally unpleasant to work with. I was thinking of looking for opportunities elsewhere, but before I could even start, my boss called me into the office one afternoon, told me that my attitude was at odds with the values of the organization, and sent me packing.
Anyway, that was a couple of months ago, and now I have an interview at another organization. I should mention that I am a mid-level professional and my positions have a moderate level of responsibility.
What I am wondering is what to tell them in the interview if they ask why I left. How close to the truth should I go? Do I tell them that I was fired, or do I stretch the truth and say I resigned? If I say I was fired, wouldn’t the potential employer hold it against me? But if I give them a different story, what if they call my previous employer and hear the truth?
I would love to hear any relevant experiences from Dopers. And if there are any HR-type folks out there, any advice on how it is seen from the other side would be great too. thanks
This is always tough. I have never told a prospective employer any specific reasons for leaving any of my jobs. My stock answers were always either, “I left the job to go to school full time” or “I left the job to pursue career advancement opportunities.”
I don’t know if you live in the U.S. or not, but here, you are generally not required to discuss any details of your previous jobs nor may they contact that job if you don’t give them permission to. Just keep in mind that the interview will end very quickly if the interviewer thinks you’re hiding something.
On the one hand, every interview I’ve had has always been worded ‘Why did you leave Company X?’ That means you can say something about not being a good fit with the job, blah blah blah, without actually specifying that you got fired.
On the other hand, when companies call other companies for references, usually the first thing they ask, after confirming you worked there, is about how you left the company.
Yes, a potential hirer may hold it against you, they’d be silly not to think twice about hiring a candidate who got fired from their last job versus a candidate who didn’t. You have to hope that your redeeming qualities put you far enough ahead of the other candidates so that it isn’t an issue.
If you decide to go the open and honest route (which is what I’d be inclined to do, if I were in your position), I’d recommend being completely open and honest. Own up to the mistakes you made, in terms of your behaviour and attitude, and talk about what you’ll do differently in your next position to ensure that doesn’t happen again.
In my experience, a previous employer is not allowed to discuss the details of your departure. All they may do is confirm employment, ending date, and salary. Again, YMMV depending on the country you live in.
Yes, I forgot to mention this. I unfortunately live in a country where employers are not prohibited from asking these sort of questions or from contacting past employers. I am not saying they do this all the time, but they could. I am hoping that by offering a reference from my previous employer (not my boss, but someone who had dotted line management over me), they might not feel the need to ask around.
The thing is, the OP really didn’t get “fired”. At least not for “cause” like stealing, drug use, punching his boss, losing some huge account or some other specific behavior.
What happened to the OP sounds similar to what in consulting is called being “counselled out”. Essentially, the company decides to terminate your employment for one stated reason or another (“bad attitude”, “not a team player”, “poor communication skills”, “pants whooshed when he walked”, whatever). The real reason is usually that business is slow and they need to get rid of people.
In fact the situation even sounds similar where people are put in crazy situations with no support where they simply cannot be successful. Even if they do complete the project, there is so much resentment built up that you probably don’t even care if you get fired by that point.
Just tell people your position was eliminated for non-specific economic reasons.
There is, to the best of my knowledge, no law in the US preventing a previous employer from saying anything they want about how long you worked there, how good a job you did, why you left, etc - that is, no law which makes that a criminal act. Most companies have a policy to only provide dates of employment, and possibly rehire eligibility status, in order to avoid a civil lawsuit, but there’s no law requiring them to do so.
Nor is there a law preventing a potential new employer asking why you left/want to leave your old job. In fact, I’ve been asked that in every job interview I’ve ever had, and have asked it in every job interview I’ve ever given.
My understanding of the policies at most US companies to refuse to divulge specific information (positive or negative) about a previous employee is that it opens them up to lawsuits for defamation of character/ slander/ libel/ etc. It’s more of a CYA policy than in keeping in line with any sort of law.
If they told someone “Bob got fired for stealing from the cash register” (broke a law) and they had no hard proof that I’d actually done so (something they’d have to prove in a court of law), I’d certainly be able to sue them for slander if I ever found out what they’d said about me.
It sounds like saying something like “It wasn’t a good fit” might be your best option then. You’re honestly addressing the reason why, without overtly going into the “got fired” bit.
Yeah, I don’t think anyone is saying its a law. Just that its such a common policy among U.S. employers for liability reasons that you are making a pretty safe bet here not to bother to disclose.
I’m a fan of open and honest. The truth is what it is, and at least by telling the truth you will never come off as shady, end up in cascading lies, or set up something that is going to bite you in the ass later. It’s a brave way to do things, but I really believe it is the best plan in the end.
That said, never badmouth a former boss or organization. Frame things as positively as you can, and emphasize what you have learned from your experience. Maybe something like:
"As Assistant Paper Shuffler at Business Corp, I started a referal program that increased our clients by 50% and raised revenues by over three million dollars. Soon after, I was promoted to Head Paper Shuffler. Unfortunately, this lead to a difficult situation. I became responsible for the increased client load, but did not have the additional support I needed to provide the quality of service that both Business Corp and myself value above all.
Despite working 80 hours a week, I found the workload foo high to manage without cutting some important corners, such as skipping key inspections, which is a violation of the Paper Shufflers code of ethics. After several months, it became clear that the Head Paper Shuffler position at Business Corps was not right for me.
I discussed the situation with the Head Manager Chief, but we were unable to come to a solution. They suggested I was not a good fit for the company and I was advised to move on.
Despite these setbacks, my time at Business Corps was very valuable. Besides increaseing the client load by 50%, I also developed an automated shuffler process which increased our ability to shuffle ten fold. Which brings me to this position- the position of Shuffle Engineer at New Corp would allow New Corp to implement this automatic shuffler process. I understand that New Corps uses the Business Strategy approach to handling clients, which is a much better approach for my service-oriented management style. While Shuffle Engineer does not include client management, I have been studying Business Strategy and believe that with that framework, especially the Business Strategy Plan Design Tool, I will be able to confidently handle the client load at New Corp in the future."
“Why did you leave your previous job?” is an opportunity to talk about what attracted you to / you’re looking forward to at your new job. They don’t really care about why you left your last job; they want to know that you’ll be a reliable professional employee when you work for them.
If they press for a reason (and they won’t), go back to personal growth: “I was looking for a more challenging / responsible position with opportunities to grow / develop skills.”