Comments on: The Dreaded Question

By: Darlene McDaniel

Darlene McDaniel — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:09:07 +0000

Hi Dan,

I actually like your explanation. It is well written and you are taking responsibility for what happened. You have written it from a place of being accountable for the outcome rather than blaming the organization or your previous supervisor. That alone makes it an excellent explanation. Excellent job.

Severance Question: When it is mutual, you can frame it that way. I wouldn’t use fired, I would say that you left as a result of…(and give the reason you left). It should be based on why you agreed to the release. In other words if you wanted to explore new opportunities, say that. When you get a moment Dan, shoot me an email at darlingmcdaniel@gmail.com. I want to talk about this one off line with you.

Darlene

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:57:04 +0000

Darlene,

I have another question. In my severance letter, my former employer referred to my separation as an “agreed-upon Release between you and XYZ Company”. No other description of my release is in the letter or the severance agreement. Is this different than being terminated? I want to be honest on my applications, but I don’t want to say that I was fired, if, in fact, I wasn’t.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:39:11 +0000

Hi, Darlene. I was recently fired as a computer programmer and have decided to change careers to become a teacher. While I am getting my teacher certification, I am trying to get a position as a teacher’s assistant. All the applications ask if I was fired and to provide an explanation on a separate piece of paper. Below is what I have written so far. Could you give me a critique? I think I am on the right track (it’s honest), but probably can use some tweaking. Thank you for your help! Dan

I was dismissed in my computer programmer position with XYZ Company. Although, I was told that the company policy did not allow my manager to give me a detailed explanation for letting me go, I know that my heart was no longer in programming, and it was apparent in my work performance. A career that originally was satisfying had gradually lost meaning to me over the years. I know now that I cannot again make the mistake of taking a job just to pay the bills. The job must be meaningful. I have known for several years that I wanted to become a teacher, but it took this situation to finally make me realize that changing my career to something that would give me satisfaction was not just a luxury, but a necessity. I have begun my Masters degree in Education, and am seeking a position as an instructional assistant to help prepare me for becoming a teacher.

By: Darlene McDaniel

Darlene McDaniel — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:52:16 +0000

Hi Kay! Thanks for visiting bizzia Careers! Let me begin by saying that you absolutely can not slam the former boss. The interview will be over. My recommendation for you is that you say to the recruiter, “I was asked to lie about ….. to the Board of Directors. When I refused to do so, I was terminated.” You definitely will want to speak about your values, and your integrity. So that they understand that you have strong convictions and that you will bring that to their organization. Understand that today, you can not assume that all organizations operate with a high level of integrity. Just watch the news and look at your own experience, so making that assumption in your statement about the next organization is not going to help you necessarily, unless you know for a fact that it is true.

You don’t know about their values yet. I highly recommend that you invest some time discovering their values. That comes by asking good question in the interview and doing some homework. Find people that work in the organization you are interviewing with and listen to what they say about the organization, their values and beliefs. Than you will know if you are considering an organization who operates from a high degree of integrity.

Forget about the discrimination issues. There is no way to discuss that without speaking against the discriminator. If you feel like you have a case against the previous organization and/or the boss for discrimination, handle that as a separate issue with an attorney. For the sake of employment, you don’t want that to leak into the potential job opportunity you have in front of you.

Please let me know of you have any additional questions. Please stop by again and let me know how the interview went with the recruiter. I love to hear great success stories. If you are have an issue that comes up in the interview, please come back and share that as well. Good luck!

Darlene

By: Darlene McDaniel

Darlene McDaniel — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:01:46 +0000

Hi S.M. Mehdi! Thank you for stopping by bizzia Careers! I appreciate the value you place on the recommendation I gave this reader. I have spoken to hundreds of people over the last 2.5 years who have lost their job because of poor judgment on their part. It is absolutely amazing to me. But there is hope for each one of them. Some people have difficulty finding employment because they have been terminated. While others seem to find employment with no problem whatsoever. I believe for some, they were dishonest and the employer didn’t check. While others have been transparent, contrite and able to turn the negative outcome from the past into a positive for their future. I will be writing a book on this topic this summer. My hope will be to have the book complete by the end of the summer. Please feel free to stop by Careers anytime!

By: S.M. Mehdi Hassan

S.M. Mehdi Hassan — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 10:09:34 +0000

This is a million dollar advice. Sometimes we do things that we should not have done but out of peer pressure or some other stupid cause. Still, what is done can not be undone. The best way is to be honest with one’s employer.

By: Kay

Kay — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 07:37:33 +0000

What you have said makes sense. I have recently been terminated (first time in 30 years of employment) because I refused to lie for my boss to the Board of Directors. I was in a management position. I was also discriminated against for my gender. My boss made 3 statements to this effect. I have a phone interview with a recruiter for a new job for which I applied. What do you think about replying to the question about termination like this:

“The company I worked for provides important services. Sadly, one person in management has values that were out of sync with mine. I’m sure your organization’s core values are close to mine due to the type of work you do.”

I do not want to slam my former boss, but do want to be honest without giving too many details.