[ SECRET POST #4334 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4334 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.



__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________


03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07. [repeat]









Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 08 secrets from Secret Submission Post #620.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Need job advice

[(Anonymous)]

I'm job hunting right now, and I'm wondering how to handle the fact that I was fired from my last job. I was at the company for several months and gained skills valuable to my job, plus I think it would look bad if I just have some giant gap in my resume. On the other hand I'm concerned about how I would discuss it if I go into an interview and they ask about it.

For the record I wasn't fired for anything really awful like getting drunk on the job or being insubordinate. My boss even took the time to tell me that in terms of personality and quality of my work I was A+ but I wasn't as skilled with the administrative aspects of the job.

Re: Need job advice

[bur]

I think you're in a situation that's better than I was in. Just say that you were let go from your previous job because you weren't a good match for the needs of the position.

Re: Need job advice

[morieris]

+1

Re: Need job advice

[(Anonymous)]

Basically. It also depends on the specific details of how this happened but yeah.

Re: Need job advice

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks :) May I ask what your situation was?

Re: Need job advice

[bur]

It's hard for me to keep from trying to making myself look better, but what happened is my dad got really sick, it eventually came out he was dying, and I had a very hard time coping with that. I slacked off. I still got my work done, but I wasn't nearly as efficient as I had been, and I made more little errors than I'd been making before. So, one month after I find out my dad's condition is terminal, my dog dies, and one of my best friends goes into the hospital with septic pneumonia and very nearly dies, and one week after that I get fired for not meeting expectations. No warnings, no write-ups, no hint that my performance was found wanting, and I KNOW they know that everything was going tits up for me because I'd had to explain why I wasn't able to stay late lately - reason being I had to drive Mom to the hospital almost every night.

So short of it is I got fired for situational depression.

Re: Need job advice

[(Anonymous)]

Hmm, some resumes only list "selected professional experience" which assumes you're not listing absolutely everything. But my instinct tells me it's fine to list it, and if asked, just say that it didn't end up being a good match. Do you happen to have a colleague at that job (not your ex-boss) who could vouch for you if needed? Anyway, "firing" can sound scary but it doesn't sound like your situation was that big of a deal. Too bad they didn't let you resign, but a bad match is a bad match, didn't have anything to do with your work ethic.

In the mean time, you could pad your resume with more recent experience by volunteering somewhere, or something.

Re: Need job advice

[(Anonymous)]

Good idea about the volunteering! There's a library near where I live, so I might check to see if they have any opportunities there.

I think it was also a case of general inexperience in working in an office. The last few jobs I had before that were work-from-home remote positions or super-casual so it was a little bit of a culture shock to go to an 8-5-regimented-breaks-send-hourly-updates-deadline-driven position. I think there's at least one person there who could vouch for me, but unfortunately I didn't really develop any relationships with my co-workers.

I'm worried though that potential employers might interpret "bad match" as meaning I may be less versatile than other candidates and less able to multitask.

Re: Need job advice

[(Anonymous)]

You are right. Gaps in a resume do tend to result in questions. So don't leave it off the resume. During your interview, this is how I would frame it.

Be candid about the firing because most places tend to do reference checks/background checks and what you don't tell them, they will find out anyway.

Explain the areas you excelled in and let them know you were let go because while you excelled in certain areas, you were lacking in others that were crucial to the job. The most important thing is to be matter of fact about it. If the places you are interviewing with are sensible, they will not be idiotic about it and understand that shit happens sometimes.

It would also be great if you could list your boss as a reference. Check with him and find out if he would be open to being your reference. If he took the time to be honest about why they were letting you go, he would not be averse to helping you in your job search.

Good luck friend!