Why did you leave your last position?

“Why did you leave your last position?”

This question strikes terror into the hearts of many job seekers. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

It is a legitimate question and you will be asked. If you anticipate the question and are ready to answer it you will be fine.

In the current economy there is an easy answer to give for this one. I interview folks for jobs fairly often and the one I hear most often today is “I was laid off”. Millions of people have been laid off in this country. There is nothing to be ashamed of in this. But I am still surprised at how many people apologize for it, or seem to think it is a reflection on their personal worth or ability. Many people see getting laid off as a failure on their part. It really isn’t. In reality some bad bankers made lots of very bad loans following some very poor regulations and oversight. Those actions brought our economy to its knees and you were caught in the middle. Unless you were an executive at AIG or Citigroup you really shouldn’t feel any responsibility for that. Right now this is probably the most common, and best answer you can give.

But what if you weren’t laid off? Things happen. You piss off your boss and you get fired. You have differences with your boss and you are asked to resign. A new boss comes in and wants to bring in their own people. What if you found out your boss was stealing from the company and she fired you in fear you would rat her out? What if your boss was a total jackass and you just couldn’t take it anymore? What if you boss was just this side of Adolf Hitler and you couldn’t bring yourself not to hit him or her with a shovel so you resigned to save their life. If you are contemplating driving a stake through the heart of the undead horror that is your boss, perhaps resignation is a good idea.

I’m exaggerating here, but the point is that almost everything that you can imagine happens and people get caught in the middle. You are usually asked this question in two places. The first is an application or other paperwork that the hiring company requires, and that one is easy. “Left to pursue other opportunities” is a perfectly valid response on an application and it doesn’t say anything bad about you or about the company you left. It doesn’t really answer anything but it is an accepted answer that shouldn’t be seen as a red flag. The whole goal of written materials is to help you get in the door and actually speak to someone, so this shouldn’t hurt you.

So now let’s assume you are being asked the question in person. Why did you leave your last job? Why did you leave that job in 1998? I have three rules around this question.

First, be honest. Don’t lie. If you start off a relationship with a lie I absolutely guarantee it will only go downhill. If you lie once, you will lie again and eventually it will come back to bite you. What goes around comes around. Being honest does not mean going into every dirty gory detail, but it does mean telling the truth.

Second, don’t trash your former boss or your former place of work. There is nothing that scares off a prospective employer faster than this. As a hiring manager I assume that if you think your last boss was a total jerk, or your last place of employ was horrible, then it’s you and you will think the same thing about me or about this job sooner or later. No one wants to work with someone who complains or is a back stabber and that’s just how it looks. I once scheduled a telephone interview for an Administrative Assistant position. I called her at the appointed time. When she answered the phone she sounded angry “who’s this?” was actually how she answered the phone. When I told her who I was she obviously remembered our appointment and became very happy. She apologized for how she answered the phone. I asked a few questions and drew out that those people she used to work with were terrible. They had been calling her and saying mean things. I told her I didn’t sense a good fit for the position, wished her luck, and terminated the call.

Finally, turn it into a positive. Employers only want to hire positive people. Worst case scenario you got fired for cause. Absolute worst case scenario is that the cause was something unethical or illegal you did. They are going to find out somehow so it’s better they find out from you. “I did a bad thing. I was younger then. I’ve learned from my mistakes and taken a new path in life.” Someone will eventually hear that and give you a chance. It will be tough but you have to deal with the consequence of what you did and this is part of it.

More commonly people were caught up in a bad situation. A new boss cleaned house. Things got political and you were sacrificed on the altar of someone’s career ambitions. Those things happen all the time. In most of these cases people are asked to resign. If this was the case for you then turn it into a positive. “I’m really committed to what I do. I’m good at it, and I take it seriously. I was uncomfortable with how things were going and after a lot of soul searching I decided it would be better for me to leave and concentrate on finding something I could be comfortable and happy with.” If you are pressed for more details you can invoke confidentiality. “When I left I agreed to hold confidential all the issues that I felt were a problem. I won’t compromise my integrity, so I’m just going to have to leave it at that.” A savvy hiring manager understands that you are being respectful, keeping confidentiality, and keeping your integrity. A savvy hiring manager who has been around understands that these things happen and will understand that you are speaking in code and leave it at that. If they are good they are going to really check you out anyway, so those discussions should tell them what they need to know. Everybody rubs someone wrong during their career and a savvy hiring manager wants to know if that is a pattern or just a one off situation. Their due diligence in checking you out will tell them the answer to that question. If they are not savvy and don’t understand these things, and don’t check you out independently of the interview, and try to make you say something you don’t want to say, then you are better off not working for him or her anyway.

Don’t be blind to a bad boss or a bad company in the desire to get a job. Stay true to yourself, be honest and positive, and eventually it will pay off.

Good luck and please send your questions to zippyjobadvice@gmail.com

And have a great holiday season!!!