As some of you may know, I was laid off from my job a little over a month ago. I’ve since been diligently applying for jobs left right and centre, and because of this, I actually have an interview on Tuesday (woohoo!).
One of the things I’m afraid will come up during the interview is this dreaded question: “Why did you leave your last job?”
The way I see it, I have a few options:
- Lie and say I quit.
- Tell the truth about getting laid off.
- Avoid the question altogether.
Now, personally, I have no reason to lie about why I got laid off. I was laid off, not because of my work performance but simply due to downsizing. However, if I were to lie, or to avoid the question, that’ll likely cost me the job – which I desperately need. Basically, not in my best interest.
Getting laid off right now isn’t the worst thing that could happen. Getting fired, however, is a different story. If you were let go from your previous job due to performance issues, you may want to be a little more careful with how you word things. Avoid using the word ‘fired’, simply because of its stigma. So, how do you word things?
The best bet is to say that you had mutual/creative/etc differences between your boss and that your leaving was the right decision for everyone and leave it at that. You don’t have to go into specifics, but just keep in mind that your potential employer is asking you simply because they want to get a feel for why you left that job. It’s always an interesting question to ask because you’ll always get a different answer. Some people leave their jobs because they aren’t getting any job satisfaction. Some people leave because their workplace was very hostile. Some get fired and some get laid off.
All in all, leaving a job (or being asked to leave a job) isn’t the end of the world. It’s what you take away from it that counts.
2 Comments
I’m wondering if I should tell people that I left my previous job because they would only let me take two months vacation rather than three…and since I found that unacceptable, I quit.
That’s um. Up to you, I guess. But if I were employing you and heard that you wanted to take a quarter of the year off and still come back to a job – during an interview, mind you – that probably wouldn’t work in your favour.