I’m 21 and have only had three jobs. My first was at Wal Mart where I worked for two years. I liked the job well enough but didn’t like that they kept me as a cashier despite my best efforts to transfer to other departments so I finally just gave up and started being tardy all the time, which eventually led to my release. I was allowed to quit and am actually down as being rehirable but there’s no question that I was actually fired.
My next job was at a conveinence store where I worked for about nine months. After dealing with a customer that harassed me constantly for supposedly stealing his wallet and a district manager that thought I wasn’t nice enough to be promoted above lowly grunt… going so far as giving the Assistant Manager position to a new hiree, I decided to quit.
My last job, which just ended today, was as a janitor at the local hospital. It was an easy job but due to 1) not being trained properly in the first place 2) being rather absentminded, and 3) at the end, just not caring much, I was fired for safety violations.
I’d been cited twice in the past year for different violations (1) but the final straw was that I didn’t wear latex gloves when throwing out the biohazard trash. Nevermind that the constantly torn pieces of crap offered me no protection and actually interfered with my effiency, I had to wear them and when it was noted that I wasn’t wearing them, was handed my walking papers a few days later.
None of these reflect well on me as someone who is now unemployed and in dire need of financial income. Can anyone give me ways to euphemistically word these on my applications so that I can actually get my foot in the front door instead of automatically being rejected? And furthermore, ways to talk to the interviewer, assuming I get the job?
Also, one last thing. On applications, there’s always a little “Do Not Contact” box next to all your previous employers. Do they actually honor that if you check it or does it send off warning bells?
Anyone? I need to start filling out applications today and anything that could help me get an edge on the other minimum wage slaves would be really helpful.
Do you have to say why you left a job? I wouldn’t put it into a resume, but maybe that’s the standard for online applications.
They will ask at the interview, of course. I think your best bet would be to say that you felt the job was a dead end and ware looking for something where you had a better chance for more responsibility.
The problem, though, is that you were passed over for responsibe positions at the other jobs. This does tend to indicate your bosses didn’t think you could handle it. The interviewer might think one could be wrong, but two probably aren’t.
To overcome this, you need to be impressive at the interview. Dress well, look alert, come up with suggestions of things you might do for the company.
Second the “looking for jobs with more oportunity” line. Leave it vague enough so that the employer believes you left of your own volition but do not lie. Lying on an application is grounds for termination regardless of the size of the lie or how long ago you were hired. If you must disclose you were actually fired, be up-front about it and explain what you learned from the experience. Don’t bad-mouth former employers.
As far as contacting previous employers, most employers these days will not give any information beyond dates of employment for fear of being sued. The only time I ever checked the “do not contact” box was when I was still employed by the job in question and didn’t want them to know I was looking elsewhere.
There’s not much you can do if your prospective employer calls your old employer anyway.
I can tell you that, as an employer, if I see the “do not call” box ticked, it doesn’t bode well for the prospect. I know that I will never get the real story from the prospect or the former employer anyway.
The former employer will not give me specifics in a reference call but I can tell whether the prospect was considered a decent employee by the answers I’m given to the questions I ask. If the former employer was happy to see the prospect walk out the door, they will usually use a monotone, answer specific questions with “I don’t really recall”, short answers, and the dreaded “No comment” in response to my query for any additional comments they might care to make. On the other hand, if the prospect was a good employee, they don’t hesitate to tell you so.
Yes you can be terminated for lying but frankly, why are they going to go to the effort of checking? The types of jobs you mentioned are pretty menial. The employer just wants someone who can follow instructions, do the damn job decently and go home. I personally don’t give a shit if a prospect lies to me about being fired, if I only want him to sweep floors or whatever.
Sorry can’t be more helpful than that, but good luck to you.