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Q: In
my previous job, I was one of those cases where I
supposedly “resigned,” but was really sort of fired.
What do I tell prospective employers when they ask, “Why
did you leave your old job?” Name Withheld, Hartsburg, Missouri
A:
Welcome to a club with thousands upon thousands of
members—virtually none of them card-carrying.
After
all, who wants to admit: “I was asked to leave because I
was in over my head and couldn’t deliver”? Or: “I jumped
before I was pushed because my boss and I just couldn’t
get along”? Or: “They told me I was never going to be
promoted and gave me six months to look around”?
The
facts are: irreconcilable differences happen at work all
the time, but most people want to act as if they never
happen to them. And so, when they get out there in the
job market, their impulse is to answer the inevitable
“What happened?” question with make-nice mumbo jumbo
about bad fit or a burning desire for new challenges.
Now,
such “excuses” may have an element of truth to them.
Sometimes a boss or company situation is so untenable
you just have to get out, and sometimes a job is too
small for the person who holds it, or is the wrong
skills fit. And, of course, no one wants to burn
bridges, so a certain ambiguity around why you left may
seem like the only approach.
Most
prospective employers, however, hear vague, generic
departure stories for what they can be. They hear
warning bells that say a candidate is hard to get along
with, an inveterate underperformer or a career
dilettante.
There is
a much better way out of the common hiring bind you find
yourself in: Full ownership.
You need
to say, “Here’s why I left and here’s how I was
responsible for the breach.” Don’t pass blame. And, just
as important, don’t play the victim. You need to say,
“Here’s what I learned from the experience that will
make me a better employee for you.” Make no mistake.
We’re not suggesting you pour out every detail of your
job implosion. We’re just promoting a perhaps
counterintuitive level of specificity.
We have
a friend who, after 12 years with the same company, was
asked to move on because he couldn’t deal effectively
with direct reports who weren’t delivering.
Additionally, he just couldn’t cut costs in his
operations, even in the midst of a downturn.
Here’s
the interesting twist: Our friend didn’t respond to his
firing quite the way you’d expect. Most people in his
position become defensive and depressed. They enter a
state we call the “vortex of defeat,” in which lack of
self-confidence feeds upon itself in a downward spiral.
By
contrast, our friend took full accountability for what
occurred. He told prospective employers, “I’m sitting
here with you because I didn’t have the guts to move out
employees who couldn’t meet their numbers and I tweaked
costs instead of taking the full-bore approach that was
necessary. But I can assure you, those mistakes won’t
happen again. Let me prove it to you.”
Within
weeks, someone did.
And
chances are someone will for you, too—with full
ownership. Granted, your “history” will not vanish. It’s
risky to hire someone who, for all intents and purposes,
was fired. Worse, it’s hard to explain upstairs! But
your candor and self-awareness will be the
counterbalance. Maybe not on your first job interview,
but eventually—when you bump into one of the legions of
people who have been there, just like you.
Q: What
do you think of executive search consultants? Bill Bryan, New York
A:
Ideally, a company has a training program, consistent
coaching and succession planning. As a result, it
primarily promotes from within. What better way to give
employees a sense of opportunity, not to mention to
foster speedier, more successful job transitions?
Reality,
of course, doesn’t work that way.
Many
companies consider management development more of a
chore than the priority it should be. Still other
companies just don’t have enough talent. They’re
expanding into new businesses where they have no
expertise, or they’re too small to have a bench or their
boards have been sleeping and can’t come up with a slate
of internal CEO candidates.
And so
it happens. They need help looking for help. That’s why
executive search consultants exist.
Yes,
they’re expensive, slow down the hiring process and can
too easily become a crutch. And, yes, internal
promotions should always be the first line of defense.
But
given the competitiveness of business today, there’s no
reason to give up a good offense, too. Executive search
consultants can give you just that. |
