How to answer the uncomfortable resume question "why did you leave this employer?" when the decision wasn't exactly yours

Ah, it happens to the best of us. Let me just say that when I was in high school, Waldenbooks HATED me. HATED! Fortunately, I didn't have to put my many high school jobs on my resume (you might be surprised at some of the jobs I did). Anyway, if you have been let go from an employer (and there are so many reasons why this could have happened) and are interviewing for another position, you might feel a little uncomfortable with the prospect of being questioned as to why you left that employer. You know they are going to ask but it's hard to get your head around how to phrase the answer in a way that is honest, but doesn't totally blow any chances you have of landing that next job (or one down the road).

When things aren't going well at work due to some kind of conflict, it's likely that you start looking for another position. So although the timing isn't to your liking, there was mutual recognition that a change needed to happen. And this is how you should think abuot it. Nick Corcodillos wrote an article on how to finesse this conversation in an interview. He helps you work your verbiage so that you are being truthful but also do a good job of explaining both sides of the situation.

Tip from me: practice your body language as well before having this interview conversation!

Comments

• Anonymous
  October 08, 2008
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  October 09, 2008
  It does help. Great advice! Thanks for sharing that Rebecca!

• Anonymous
  October 10, 2008
  I think honesty is the best answer here. Some people are more forgiving and understanding than others. If you are interviewing in the same industry and that industry got hit with layoffs, someone will be more understanding. Personally I am comfortable explaining why I left a job whether it was for layoffs or because of a new opportunity. If it was for a layoff, I explain what happened and how I was creative in securing a new job. I left one job to go to grad school because I wanted to use my degree to change the type of work I was doing. So in this case, it showed a story or a path of my career and why I made those choices.

• Anonymous
  October 10, 2008
  Yeah, honesty always! But I think a layoff is different than getting fired. People can understand layoffs; though I've gotta tell you as a recruiter I totally care if the company was trimming 5% across the board versus eliminating some departments. The 5% thing makes me think they were taking out their lowest performers. It really depends on how the layoff is done because all layoffs are not created equal.  So people in that situation need to also think about how they are going to talk about it (again, with honesty).

• Anonymous
  November 15, 2008
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  August 28, 2009
  How can I explain I had a new boss who didn't train me and then played games with no-win situations. The boss is well know in the industry, but the place I worked for with her gave me severence pay and told me they couldn't do much to change her. How can I overcome such a situation when we are in the same industry and she is well known for being far different than the way she actually treats her staff? I wasn't the only person; she treated another trainer with sarcasm and disdain in my presence on more than one occassion. How does one overcome this situation when interviewing for new job? Saying the job wasn't what it was described as doesn't seem to help. How can one avoid sounding like a disgruntled former employee????

• Anonymous
  August 28, 2009
  "I'd met her previously and found that once I was on-board, we had very different work styles. Unfortunately the training I requested to get up to speed in the position wasn't made available to me...It was a very challenging work environment for a number of people that I worked with."