I've been the victim of work-place harrassment twice and quit both jobs as a result. What to say in interview tomorrow?

DON'T try to explain the harassment in the work history question.

Talk about the positives with the job. You liked the people you work with.Talk about that. You liked what you did. Talk about that. Why did you leave? The culture wasn't right for you, or you picture yourself doing something else, or you want to live in a different part of the country. Find a plausible reason but AVOID AT ALL COSTS sounding like a paranoid person.

They'll likely ask you questions about how you got along with people, how you dealt with bad situations, teamwork type questions. THEN you can talk about specific examples of something someone did and how you dealt with it. But do not pick the worst examples. Just something negative and show how you positively responded.

It will sound bad, trust me.

Either don't touch the subject or try to put everything under temp jobs. And just say you are done with temp positions. Should work.

Also, as a former restaurant manager, we were taught in our legal briefings that you "are not allowed to say someone was a bad employee.."

We were instructed to just say the person was ok if they were not so great, or state things like he showed up on time..

When someone was a known thief, I usually said "good luck," sarcastically, or one guy I said "you might want to check with the ___ police department"

The place you left might have a similar policy. I like the first response. It is the right advice.

You should have paid back the five dollars you borrowed, then things wouldn't have gotten weird.

Lovin Mick wrote:

Also, as a former restaurant manager, we were taught in our legal briefings that you "are not allowed to say someone was a bad employee.."

We were instructed to just say the person was ok if they were not so great, or state things like he showed up on time..

When someone was a known thief, I usually said "good luck," sarcastically, or one guy I said "you might want to check with the ___ police department"

The place you left might have a similar policy. I like the first response. It is the right advice.

So at one of the positions I had, I actually told my boss what I thought of him when I quit as he was literally the most evil person I've ever met in my life. He regularly harassed people about their sex, religion, political beliefs, etc, made people work weekends and holidays, was belligerent, etc. He spoke negatively about every single person who had ever been in his lab and shared personal information about them also. I'm wondering, if the people I'm interviewing with call him and he goes off on how terrible I was, would that reflect more negatively on me or on him?

it will reflect badly on both of you. Your best option is to just say you liked your old jobs, you were very productive, and you would really like to work at this new firm.

if you are mr manners and politeness and not weird at all in the interview, they might not believe your old boss if he spews some nonesense.

And keep in mind most old bosses will not be too harsh on former employees - there's nothing in it for them. The worst he'll likely do is say something mild - that he could you or leave you.

but ja - don't give the new people any hint that you had problems with former management. I would never hire someone who complained about a former manager. Never.

What type of harassment?

agip wrote:

it will reflect badly on both of you. Your best option is to just say you liked your old jobs, you were very productive, and you would really like to work at this new firm.

if you are mr manners and politeness and not weird at all in the interview, they might not believe your old boss if he spews some nonesense.

And keep in mind most old bosses will not be too harsh on former employees - there's nothing in it for them. The worst he'll likely do is say something mild - that he could you or leave you.

but ja - don't give the new people any hint that you had problems with former management. I would never hire someone who complained about a former manager. Never.

I was asking simply if my old boss speaks negatively about me but I take the high road. I am near certain he would say negative things about me as he is a loose-cannon and not really all there if you know what I mean. I don't intend to say anything bad about him. I'm just wondering if I said nothing bad and then my old boss said a lot of negative things, would that reflect poorly on me or him? I would think him if all my other references checked out.

laid back guy wrote:

I was asking simply if my old boss speaks negatively about me but I take the high road. I am near certain he would say negative things about me as he is a loose-cannon and not really all there if you know what I mean. I don't intend to say anything bad about him. I'm just wondering if I said nothing bad and then my old boss said a lot of negative things, would that reflect poorly on me or him? I would think him if all my other references checked out.

A possible away around that, if you are okay with some minor dishonesty (only necessary due to your a-hole boss)-

Are you still in contact with anyone who works at that job who liked you? If so, say that he/she was your immediate supervisor (even if they weren't) and leave their # as the contact. That could help. I did that once in a similar situation (didn't want my actual old boss trying to unfairly hurt my future prospects) and listed a co-worker who was still there as my last supervisor. It appeared to work (they called him, he said good things, I got the job. )

well sure it will reflect bad on him, but that is irrelevant - you only care how it reflects on you. And if a former boss says on the phone that you are a psycho and constantly claiming harassment, it will hurt your job prospects.

If you want to stay honest - which I recommend - I would just be as unpsycho as possible and hope the new company never calls the guy. which happens a lot.

there are several dishonest ways to get through this but I'm not the guy to walk you down that route.

Thanks for all the input, everyone. I'm still fairly fresh in the working world and really appreciate the help maneuvering these sorts of things. Thanks!

agip wrote:

If you want to stay honest - which I recommend -

there are several dishonest ways to get through this but I'm not the guy to walk you down that route.

ok, holier-than-thou. If you are going to tell me you've never told any sort of lie in your entire life, well then, you just told another one.

Of course "honesty is the best policy" in 99.9% of cases (but certainly not in all. You would life to save your life or a family member, or an innocent person, right? of course). But if you've been wronged, and the only way to survive is to tell a small fib (as I suggested and did: said I directly reported to a co-worker who was a supervisor and who ranked above me in another dep't, but then was a co-worker in a non-supervisor capacity in my dep't), you tell the fib. It's the real world.

(in this guy's case, and in mine, there was a chance the old boss would completely unfairly torpedo his/mine future opportunity. as stated, trying to explain what went down in the past job is not a good idea. So you do what you gotta do and can live with. In my case, the decision was easy and worked out great. )

Two permanent jobs - same results.

It is kind of like getting married/divorced repeatedly. One time it could be a bad choice, incompatability, etc. Second time, you start having to question if it is them or you. Third time..it IS you.

Better check the mirror.....

Look in the mirror wrote:

Two permanent jobs - same results.

It is kind of like getting married/divorced repeatedly. One time it could be a bad choice, incompatability, etc. Second time, you start having to question if it is them or you. Third time..it IS you.

Better check the mirror.....

I was about the say the exact same thing. Check yoself before you wreck yoself.

Look in the mirror wrote:

Two permanent jobs - same results.

It is kind of like getting married/divorced repeatedly. One time it could be a bad choice, incompatability, etc. Second time, you start having to question if it is them or you. Third time..it IS you.

Better check the mirror.....

I've worked with over 40 different individuals. Not had any serious problems with more than 2 of them. I hardly consider that a pattern. The first place I worked where I had trouble had a very high turnover rate. It wasn't just me. Second person who gave me trouble was much less severe, but I had trouble there and so had several other people I talked to. Nobody I talked to was happy with the person that gave me trouble. Some were just able to dodge the person better than I was. Some people are also able to put up with lots of abuse. I admit I am not very good at putting up with abuse.

You must include that you are liberal, a feminist, love cats, tight leggings, dark clothes, and that you love Obama and what he has done.

Also opt out of any employer-offered healthcare as you would rather pay into an Obamacare plan by yourself, for all the good you are doing for the poor folks out there. Remember, anything can be solved with love and affection.

TRex, I'm not going to apologize for recommending honesty.

Why do you want me to apologize for it? Is this one of the cases to save a life of a family member? I don't think so.

Sure, I've fibbed. but in professional matters fibbing needs to be avoided at virtually all costs - you only lose your reputation once.

I'm sure we agree on all this - I'm just not sure why you think I need to back down.

Actually if 1 out of every 20 people you work with forces you to quit, that is an astonishingly high number. I would bet you are much more of an issue. Feel free to describe the incidents

It always amazes me that people will come up with every convoluted strategy in the book when there is only one approach that works without fail. Quite simply, TELL...THE...TRUTH. Why would you want to work for any employer that doesn't value, expect and demand honesty?