Need a Euphemistic Way of Saying "The Job Sucked and I Quit"

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

[QUOTE=Dangerosa]
You can’t trash talk, but you can use all the codewords for “my last boss was a jerk” - starting with the “I am looking for a more professional environment” (that’s a great code for “my boss was a jerk.”)
[/QUOTE]

I’ve participated in lots of interviews, and heard lots of codewords for “my last boss was a jerk” – and can’t think of one time where we’ve ended up hiring that person.

To the interviewer, “I am looking for a more professional environment” is a codeword for “I have problems working with other people, and will blame it on their unprofessionalism.” No matter how manifestly untrue or unfair it is in your case. No matter how unfair that might seem. Don’t trash your former employers. Ever. Even in wink-wink-nudge-nudge secret codewords.

HeyHomie, since you’ve got the thread, anyway, why not share what your answer was, and see if anyone here can improve on it.

22

[QUOTE=Lightray]
HeyHomie, since you’ve got the thread, anyway, why not share what your answer was, and see if anyone here can improve on it.
[/QUOTE]

I said, “After a change in management, I realized the company was going in a different direction than I wanted for my career, so I decided to explore other opportunities” (thanks Jodi).

The interviewer said, “What, exactly, didn’t you like about the direction in which they were going?”

I said something to the effect of, “The new manager wanted to focus on therapy and counseling, rather than actual case management. I understand the need for counseling and therapy, it’s just that my skills lie in more task-oriented projects, like helping clients apply for and maintain public entitlements, or apply for and maintain housing - that sort of thing. I don’t consider myself a counselor or a therapist, since that’s not where my training or skills are.”

Which is true - I’m not a good counselor and I am a good case manager. And my boss DID want to move my division toward more counseling and therapy. But she was a professionally discourteous, obsessive micro-manager, too.

23

You’re welcome, FWIW. :slight_smile:

I think your answer sounded great. And even if you don’t get the job, every interview is practice.

24

I, too, think your answer was very good. If you get a job with that answer, you’ll get a good fit. If you don’t get the job, it wasn’t a good fit, and you’d regret it quite soon anyway. I think you stated your case very well. The only thing I would tweak is to present yourself more positively - rather than stating what you DON’T like, stay focused on what you DO well. I would have cut off after, “my skills lie in more task-oriented projects, like helping clients apply for and maintain public entitlements, or apply for and maintain housing - that sort of thing.” Leave things on a high note, as it were.

25

Yeah, I’d say the same thing as featherlou: good reply, possibly better to place the emphasis on how you enjoy case management more, and your interest in pursuing that led to your departure.

Sometimes they’re just looking for something different than you are, and if that’s the case you’re probably better off someplace else, anyway. (even if it might not seem so now) :slight_smile:

26

[QUOTE=HeyHomie]
There was a productivity standard that was impossible for anyone in the division, myself included, to meet.

[/QUOTE]

I dealt with an analogous situation recently, and got a call offering me the job while I was still on the bus going home from the interview. I just told them flat-out what my caseload had been, and that I was interested in doing high-quality work, but that kind of caseload simply wasn’t conducive to doing high-quality work.

Of course, this will work best if you are interviewing for jobs where the interviewers will be able to judge at least semi-objectively that the productivity standards were unresonable. In my case, it also helped that the employer where I spent a large chunk of my career is known throughout the field for being a real meat grinder, volume-wise, so anyone who sees how long I lasted there knows that I’m not someone who is scared off by a large workload per se.

27

And sometimes, even if they don’t say so during the interview, they aren’t going to hire you no matter what they say because they plan on promoting someone internally, but have to go through all the proper steps.

So, while you might consider different answers to that question for the next time, your answer wasn’t bad, and probably isn’t why you didn’t get the job, assuming that you didn’t get the job.

28

[QUOTE=tdn]
“I’m seeking a more professional environment.”
[/QUOTE]

You, ah, charge if I use that?

29

Thanks to you all for your helpful and thoughful replies. You are all not only helpful, but also very encouraging.

There are several reasons why I don’t think I’m going to get this job, including, but not limited to, the whole “why did I leave my last job” issue.

The biggest reason is that I think they’re going to go with someone with actual QMRP (Qualified Mental Retardation Professional) experience, rather than someone who’s ready and willing to learn on the job.

The other reason is more philosophical. All of my work experience in social work has been community-based. IOW, providing services to people who live in their own homes in the community. I talked a little bit about how I believe that institutionalization should be a last resort, yada yada yada. Well, it turns out that this place is an institution. It’s a very nice and home-like institution, but it’s an institution all the same.

I didn’t know that going in to the interview. The place’s website made it look like they provided community-based services, when in actuality it’s a 200-bed “group home.”

So unless I get a call between now and Friday, it looks like I’ll have to keep plugging away.

Again, thanks for all the help. :cool:

30

Wow.

They can represent themselves as a community based service on a website effectively enough for a potential EMPLOYEE to not be able to adequately differentiate it from a group home? Uh, what does that say about their clients and clients families?

The bad thing about doublespeak is that everyone knows what you are saying anyway, but don’t get to chastise you for saying it. I don’t think many people would assume that there was any level of social work that isn’t familiar with overwork, understaff and gross negligence. That being said, I hate being micromanaged, especially by twits. You hired me to do the job, let me do it, if I’m not doing it to your satisfaction, I can assure you, every law in this state allows you to fire me.

This job doesn’t sound like a good fit for you. Look for one where you don’t have to use euphamisms and doesn’t use language to obscure reality.

31

I loved the job at first…

“Initially, this position seemed an ideal fit for my career and long-term plans.”

everything changed about two years ago.

“After some changes in leadership, there was a definite change in the corporate climate and goals.”

My original boss was replaced by an obsessive micro-manager who sucked all the joy out of the job.

“I found that my expertise and motivation, in spite of several successful projects, were not being respected by the new management, and instead the manager was using a more directed, hands-on management style that seemed out of synch with my current abilities and expectations.”

There was a productivity standard that was impossible for anyone in the division, myself included, to meet.

“As a result of changes in the long-term goals in the company, I found that my plans no longer matched with that of management.”

Professional discourtesy was rampant - I’d be given permission to close a client’s case only to have it re-opened to another case manager a week later.

“Projects were being assigned with little or no regard for the satisfaction of the customer; instead, the newer managers were allocating work that didn’t accomplish the company’s goals to people who were working on different projects.”

These and other offenses led me to resign my position a couple of months ago.

“The job sucked, and I quit.”

(actually, your last line there is fine)

32

The far better answer is to say you love the job.
Find anything at all that’s different and make the difference your reason.
You prefer a smaller/larger company. More/less formal. Shorter commute. Better views from the lunch room. ANYTHING that won’t raise that question in the interviewer’s mind “will he say something bad about us?” Remember that the last few people who quit/got fired all gave that interviewer comments he didn’t enjoy hearing, so don’t sound like them. No room for any bad words at a wake or an interview.