“I am stuck. I cannot figure out which direction to go in. I am a physician with only 1 year of job experience. The problem is that I am no longer passionate about this specialty. Currently, I am unemployed and quite depressed. What should I do? If you have any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate them.
Thank you for your great career tips on the 4th leg of the 3-legged career stool and all the wonderful work that you do.”
Is it just your current specialty for which you’ve lost your passion, or the medical profession in general? Is there another specialty that appears to offer more of what you are seeking, and what would be involved in making a switch to that one? What attracted you to medicine in the first place, and what has changed about that?
“I believe that I have lost interest in my current specialty, but I am still interested in the medical profession. I am not sure which specialty offers more of what I am seeking, but maybe internal medicine or one of its subspecialties. It would involve re-applying for residency match program, then at least 3 years of additional residency training. Helping people and my affinity for science attracted me to medicine.
What has changed? I don’t think I understood about time restraints in seeing patients and how procedures are more prized than problem solving.
I feel lost lost because I don’t know where to turn. Everyone expects me to be gainfully employed by now.”
Hopefully the article I sent you gave you more to think about – seems like its subject found, and for himself at least, solved the issue of balancing seeing patients, procedures, and problem solving.
Don’t worry about other’s expectations – all that matters is what YOU expect or want for YOURSELF. Many people go through changes in interests, particularly as they get deeper into a particular area. There is no shame in that. Many start out in entirely different careers than they will pursue a few years later. I’m one of the lucky ones – I’m in my 3rd career, and have thoroughly enjoyed all three. About 3/4’s of the people I started out with in the Actuarial profession had completely changed directions by the time I achieved my Fellowship 5 years later.
Focus on figuring out what looks more promising to you NOW. Think about what you’ve learned from your current specialty, and exactly what you did and didn’t like about it, and about the way it was practiced in the particular residency program and hospital in which you were working. Try to separate what is true generally about the specialty from how it happened to be practiced there.
Now go out and explore internal medicine and its subspecialties. Set up meetings with other doctors and residents about those subspecialties, particularly those working in them. Find out what they love about what they do. Explore with them exactly what it means day to day and how that aligns with what you’ve discovered gets you excited to get up in the morning, and what you’ve discovered you want to minimize.
There is no PERFECT area – all will have plusses and minuses, but if you can find something where there are so many plusses that you don’t mind dealing with the minuses, then that’s a very promising area to explore.
Don’t worry too much about the fact that you might have to go through another residency. If that is an investment in getting to the place you will be very happy, it’s worth it. Just do enough exploration first that you feel strongly that this is likely to be the right direction (for now).
And don’t judge it by whether it’s your dream forever. You will change, medicine will change, specialties will evolve, just as happens in any profession. Just seek something that is very promising for now…in another 5 years, you can re-evaluate and make adjustments as needed. In the meanwhile, you will be doing something you enjoy, and learning a whole lot about yourself and your options…
I was struck by a phrase in a posting about a job as follows:
“Cultural fit will be very important…looking for an all-around athlete that is easy to get along with”
This is a point that many candidates overlook - they are so worried about ’selling themselves’ that they forget to take a really close look at the opportunity, and particularly the culture, to see if it’s a fit to what THEY want.
This is a recipe for disaster. I can cite 2 specific examples:
1. Many years ago, someone I know was very distracted by family issues that were leading him to make a transition to be nearer family. He accepted a job, only to realize immediately upon arriving that he really didn’t want that specific job. He turned in his resignation after only a few weeks. (The good news for me was that I ended up landing the job immediately after, and it was my Dream Job!)
2. Not too far back, someone I knew was in a panic about landing a job, found a job title that sounded good and sold himself for it through a networking contact. He neglected to dig into the specifics of how the job was done, landed it, and then called me his 2nd day on the job to tell me how miserable he was. He quit within a week. (The good news is that shortly thereafter he landed a totally different job that suited his talents and style very well, and has had great success with it.)
On the other hand, operating from a psychology where you have the confidence to project that you are there to evaluate them as much as for them to evaluate you is a powerful position that produces a much stronger result for you in the interview.
Here’s an article for anyone interested in more on this:
http://www.JHACareers.com/WinningMindset.htmPeople often ask me if LinkedIn is worthwhile for a job search.
It can be very useful, if you put some work into it to make it effective. I found in my own case that once I passed a thresshold of around 100 direct connections, it made a huge difference in the results I saw.
I would suggest:
- Make sure your profile is complete, and marketing-oriented. By that, I mean focus on what you can do for others, what sorts of results you can provide, problems you can solve, rather than just a recitation of roles you’ve held. Many people post a detailed bio, but unless it’s engaging, why would that make me excited about contacting you to connect?
- See if you can get a few endorsements from people. You should plan to have a conversation with any who might do so, and to interview them on what they might think of your work. Offer to draft the endorsement yourself - this not only saves them a lot of work, but makes sure the endorsement covers the most critical points you want to communicate, and in a way that markets you well. Of course you are going to let the other person re-write it any way they see fit, though most will make few changes.
- Answer some questions on the Q&A section (thoughtfully)
- Focus on building a strong set of direct connections, not just anyone who invites you, but people to whom you have a real connection.
LinkedIn can be a great tool to uncover connections or potential connections to people in companies, roles, areas, etc. you are interested in. It is especially strong as a research tool for your search.
What ways have you found it most helpful to you?
I’ve many times seen postings requesting leads to recruiters…and sometimes respond to them. Here’s a sample:
“Dear Mr. Hadley,
I am jobless and I was wondering how I can find a good headhunter?”
Rather than simply relying on a headhunter, why not do some serious networking to also uncover great opportunities yourself? Here are 2 articles on how to do that:
http://www.JHACareers.com/ArticlesNetworkingBL.htm
In any event, to get the attention of that headhunter, or anyone else who could help you with your search, think about the marketing message you are presenting. You need to focus on answering the WIFFM question (What’s In It For Me?) for the reader/listener, and equip them to know why you would be an outstanding candidate.
Candidates often focus on their strengths and experience, but this leaves it to the reader has to simply take your word for it that you are actually good at these things. Experience doing something doesn’t automatically imply results - how many people have you met who have been doing a particular job for a long time, but never especially well?
What examples can you give of the sorts of results you have produced for your past companies or clients? How have you moved their own missions forward?
For more on compelling marketing messages, see these 2 short articles:
http://www.JHACareers.com/30SecondPitch.htm
To search for recruiters, you can check out the Encyclopedia of Recruiters published by Kennedy – there may be versions in the public library, or you can order it on-line. You can reach out to people you know to ask who they have worked with and would recommend – but you want it to be ones who have expertise recruiting at your level, for your industry and type of job. You can reach out to the HR departments of companies who would be the sort of target companies you would be interested in, and ask what recruiters they deal with and consider particularly good.One key is to make sure you are working with good recruiters, and working with them the right way – here’s an article on the subject:
http://www.JHACareers.com/ArticlesRecruiters.htm
“I’m listening to your networking sessions. I have a specific question re: “approach.” I have a contact that I’m linked to via LinkedIn. I also worked with her on a major initiative. She currently is at the Director level and there is a manager level position being advertised.
I have her work phone number and email address, but obtained them from someone else. Also, I can contact her via LinkedIn or her personal address. How should I contact her? Should I indicate I found a particular job for which I am qualified and interested or ask for an informational interview or a few minutes over coffee?”
Think about what you are trying to achieve via your networking. While your ultimate goal is to get hired, your goal for each individual networking contact is to:
Think of it as building a spider web that catches possibilities for you. How well you do #1 is the strength of that node in your network. #2 is sending some more web out to build the next node.
Now think of how to reach out to someone to accomplish this. As soon as it’s about a direct approach to helping you find a job, you have less chance of getting the meeting, and restrict the possibilities for both #1 and #2, particularly #2.
I’d suggest reaching out to get a chance to meet over coffee and catch up. In the meeting, depending on how the conversation goes, you can mention that there’s a position you are interested in finding out more about.
As to how to contact her, it depends on the relationship you have with her. If you have a personal relationship, there’s nothing wrong with using her personal email to reach out.
You need to focus on what you bring to the table:
Now present yourself relative to the market, not relative to what you happened to be making before.When the question comes up, don’t play their game:
“John, I took your “5 Secrets” seminar in 2005, when the software company I worked for essentially collapsed. I then went with another small software start-up, which was acquired last year “at below market rates” and was immediately laid off by the acquiring company.
Since then I have pursued two directions:
I’d really like to get back into energy, but there seems to be a presumption on many people’s part that an “old energy hand” can’t learn new tricks, even though I was creating the new tricks up to 2002, and have stayed in touch with developments all along.
Do you have any suggestions?”
It is my belief that there are jobs out there, if you develop a strong, focused marketing message and present it well. Just a few weeks ago, USA Today had a front page article about the boom in jobs in 3 sectors - Health Care, Government and Energy. In fact, I have an older client who is carving out a consulting business in the energy field, and expects to be in 6 figures by year end. He came into it from an IT infrastructure perspective, with no particular background in energy, and has quickly become a sought after expert in his particular niche.
Good luck!
I was interviewed for an article in amNewYork…
http://weblogs.
“I am working for a recruiting firm, and have been told that I can stay if I accept a 40% cut in pay until business picks up. A bucket of ice water in the face does not adequately describe my initial thoughts. I am at a crossroads as unemployment would be more for me after taxes, but I have great insurance with the company that I could not get w/out.
Any advice? I would imagine there are more questions, please hit me with them! Need an outside perspective on this.”
This is a very tough situation – I would have described it more like a sucker punch in the gut than ice water in the face!
You should think carefully about options, longer term goals, etc, and be careful not to simply act out of the stress of the moment. Possibilities that occur to me off the top of my head include:
In preparation for the discussion, also try to examine how much they would be hurt if you walked away. What would that possibly cost them in terms of the remaining accounts, relationships, and the need to pay someone else to take on what you’ve been doing?
If you have a strong relationship with those accounts, what could you do to sell the benefits of your services to them, either as part of the recruiting firm, as an employee with them, as an independent contractor (lower cost), or with another firm? (Obviously, any non-compete agreements with your current boss will affect your options … and if you have those, then part of the quid pro quo negotiation to accept any pay cut should include limiting or eliminating such restrictions until the point they bump your pay back up.)
Finally, think about:
“In one of my interviews, I was asked the following questions:
The purpose is to get you to share things that you might not have been inclined to share otherwise, and perhaps to trip you up around the ‘dislikes’ question. You might share some serious weaknesses that will make my hiring decision easier.
And you might reveal any of these:
By the way, never reveal a weakness that is core to a critical job function, as that will likely get you ruled out, unless you can very clearly demonstrate that it is no longer a weakness.
Here’s an insightful article on interviewing for academic jobs, particularly for higher education:
http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2008/12/2008121801c.htm?pg=dji
And for more help in overcoming common issues in interviewing, see these blog entries:
http://johnhadley.jhacareers.com/?cat=4
“Recently I began attemding an 8 week career seminar. At age 62, I have not had permanent work since 2006, following the 2nd of two layoffs in less than 2 years. I cannot say that I have ever found my “sweet spot” as to doing work that I love. I have also taken several assessment tests over the years.
There have been some that I enjoyed, though nothing has been particulary challenging or rewarding. I need to find some level of satisfaction, not just a paycheck. Currently I am living on SS, unemployment and temp work, that is usually boring. Whether temp or permanent work (mostly adminstrative with some sales), my supervisors have always been impressed by my professionalism, customer service skills and my normally positive attitude.
I have made several attempts to start my own buisness. I believe I have an entrepreneural spirit. I have struggled for 22 years both financially and career wise.I am convinced that God has a plan, but I honestly don’t know how to set career goals. I enjoy working and the satisfaction of doing a job exceptionally well, but have never really enjoyed the corporate world, working mostly with small businesses. I am happiest knowing I have helped others in some way.
Can you offer some suggestions to a 62 year old woman who believes she still has something to contribute?”
Think in terms of small steps that can start moving you towards a goal, rather than trying to first come up with the ultimate goal. Once you’ve achieved some small steps, you can take stock and think about what would move you ahead further.
Find a few options for things you think you would be interested in doing - not necessarily your ‘dream’ job or business, but things that you could enjoy.
Seek out meetings with people involved in those things, and have deep conversations with them about what they do, what they love about it, what they don’t like, etc. In the conversation, also talk about what you think you would bring to the table in that area, and do some brainstorming with them. DON’T ASK ABOUT JOB OPENINGS, WHO’S HIRING, ETC. Keep it focused on equipping them to know about you, and brainstorming with them to get advice. In this way you will get lots of information and advice, and will equip these people to become your eyes and ears in the market.
As you do this, it will start to create a feedback loop that helps you get more clarity on your options, and you will start to feel either more or less excited about certain options, and see how you might shape them differently to tap more into what interests you.
I would also recommend seeking out some volunteer effort in an area related to one of the options, which will give you some hands on experience that will help you see if it’s a viable option, will build your database of skills and stories to tell in your search, and will build your network – people love helping someone they see volunteering for something important to them.
“How should I handle a question as to why I would consider leaving an employer that I have been with for a relatively short time? I have been employed with my current employer for 7 months, the previous employer was for 8 years.”
You need to keep your answer short and simple…the longer the answer, the more apologetic it will sound, and the more you will be emphasizing the past instead of the future. Think very carefully about why you left, and how you can put that in a way that doesn’t critcize your employer. Then give a short (1 or 2 sentence) explanation, followed by either what you’ve learned from that (if it was an involuntary resignation, or performance-
For example:
“I was hired by XYZ to become a project manager in the IT area. Shortly after I joined them, there was a restructuring, so that the position no longer fit my long term goals. What I’m looking for now is …”
And it will be strongest if the “looking for now” expresses a result you expect to be able to bring to that role, or a challenge you can help your target employer overcome.
When was the last time you asked your boss about his or her goals and challenges?
Most of the time, we are very focused on our own goals. We are interested in our boss’s goals to the extent they impact our day to day work. But do we dig very deeply into our boss’s goals and challenges? Typically, no.
Periodically, our boss will tell us about the unit’s goals and how that impacts us. We may ask a few questions, but we don’t tend to try to deeply explore those - we take them as a given. We move directly on to how those goals affect us, without thinking too hard about how they impract the boss. We too quickly accept the answers without probing deeply enough to really understand the underlying issues…or assume we already know what they are.
This is a big mistake. We are too quick to accept what seems obvious, and miss subtleties that can help us take our work to a new level. We also miss a great opportunity to create real influence with our boss.
When you first ask anyone about their goals or challenges, you typically get a fairly superficial answer. It’s important not to leave it there, and take the answer at face value. You need to peel back the onion, and dig into what leads to that being so important, what factors get in the way of solving the problem, how much that issue is costing the operation, etc. The deeper you get into it, the more insight you will have into the issues, and the better you will be able to see how you might be able to approach your own work in a way that facilitates solutions.
You always have options in how you go about your day to day work, and how you prioritize your tasks. The more you know about your boss’s challenges and what’s behind those, the better you can organize your own work and approaches to show your alignment with those.
Simply by asking the questions, and focusing on the impact on your boss, you build a much stronger bridge. You distinguish yourself from the ‘average’ employee who takes these issues as a given, and doesn’t make the effort to understand these issues at a deeper level.
Think about how much stronger a relationship you could create with your boss if you really understood what keeps him or her up at night, and he or she saw that you attacked your own work in ways that showed you were focused on helping him or her make real progress on those issues!
Try doing this with others with whom you are trying to have a deeper relationship as well. For more on “Digging Into Challenges”, see this article:
http://www.JHACareers.com/ArticlesChallenges.htm
“Thank you for your advice on career development. I have a question and need your suggestions. My current company is merging with another company. My position will be cut in a couple of months. I am wondering how I deal with this topic during interviews with my future employer.
Should I tell the interviewers directly about my current situation (for example, if they ask why I am looking for a position with their company)? Or should I not mention it if they do not ask specifically? My concern about not telling them directly is this topic may come up during small talk such as “did you take today off for the interview”, etc.
Would there be any significant downside of talking about my position being cut?”
Your focus needs to be on the future - what you can do for your future employer, and particularly what sorts of results they should expect for you. Don’t worry about the past, other than having a professional, concise answer.
Here’s one way to describe the package you bring to the table:
http://www.JHACareers.com/HeroStoryBL.htm
If there were issues with your performance, or anything else that you contributed to the reason you are being laid off, then review this prior blog entry:
http://johnhadley.jhacareers.com/?p=45
“I have been in my current company for almost three years. Recently I was promoted. After the promotion, my responsibility stayed the same. I was told that there will be some increase within the next year due to the tight budget. I don’t really value this as compensation given the above facts.
I expressed this when the department VP informed me of the promotion before the team meeting. She said that it is obvious that I am not satisfied. Based on her past conversations with me, she felt I always challenged her and wanted something else. She would like to meet with me to know what I really want in a couple of days.
Now I regret my response, since I had already decided to look for another opportunity in other companies. My decision was made before the meeting, since I couldn’t see my future here. I was viewed as a person who is kind of difficult to manage, since I like to challenge things. With that said, why should I make the situation worse? My relationship with my boss (director) is not that great.
What might you suggest as a way to convince the vice president that I am satisfied with the current arrangement? What are the most valuable skills and experience the future employer would like to see from a candidate like me?
Would you please advise the best way to challenge senior management in the future? With my experience here, I now realize that having a good relationship with your boss and working smart are much important than how much you work. How can I have a better result in the future?”
Whether you decide to stay where you are or not, it is important to retain as strong a relationship as possible with your boss and others at your company.
You will be surprised at how you may come in contact with them in the future. I’ve several times ended up working with people again at a new company, with both of us at different levels than before and in different levels of authority relative to each other.
Ideally you would like everyone you come in contact with to think of you as a results-oriented professional they would enjoy having on their team, as that’s how you create the visibility for yourself that generates new opportunities.
Your reputation for being difficult to manage and liking to challenge things may come in large part from the way you present your ideas. You may be doing so too forcefully in ways that challenge the status quo, in effect taking a ‘frontal assault’ approach that raises your boss’s and others’ defenses.
A more effective approach is to be very curious about why things are done the way they are. Ask questions about the goals, what’s led to the way something is done now, brainstorming on how the work can be done in a way that still meets those, but also achieves other critical goals (making operations more efficient, freeing up resources for other critical tasks, etc.).
Often the problem can be as simple as how you phrase the question. For example, asking “Why…” is taken as challenging - it sounds like you are questioning why I’m doing something. Changing the question to “What factors led to this…” makes it less threatening - it sounds more like genuine interest and curiosity.
In your upcoming conversation, you want to focus on:
The discussion about what would make you more satisfied is a longer term question and focus, which gets into career planning.
Frame your answer in terms of your longer term goals, and what can be done over time to help you achieve those. Try to make it a brainstorming session, collaborating with your boss on possible ways to change your job focus, add new types of projects or responsibilities, get you involved in new or different initiatives, etc., over time. Talk about time frames for making some of those changes, and time lines for the longer term goals you want to achieve.
Don’t make any of your requests like ultimatums - “make these changes or I’ll leave.”
After the discussion, you can then weigh in your own mind over the next days or weeks whether the plans are sufficient to make you want to stay, and then you can keep that decision private - no one needs to (or should) know that you are looking elsewhere until the day you accept an offer and turn in your 2 weeks notice.
Excerpted from November 2007 Career Tips. To review contents of past issues and selected articles, visit
www.JHACareers.com/NewsletterBL.htm
Candidates so often focus on their responsibilities, duties and experience in their résumé, cover letter, elevator pitch, etc.
This is an interest killer. Talking about things you were responsible for doesn’t say anything about the quality of your work or the results you can produce. The only reason I would hire you is because I believe you will produce results that I am interested in, so go directly to those.
So what if you were “responsible for managing a unit of 10 engineers”? What about that says you were any good at managing them? And it’s a very passive statement to boot!
“Responsible for” is so easily eliminated - instead of the above, just say “Managed a unit of 10 engineers” - now it’s an active statement. And then add a result, like “Managed a unit of 10 engineers that generated 3 new revenue-genering products within only 1 year.”
So, please, avoid my pet peeve of focusing your message on what you were responsible for, what duties you performed, and your years of experience in a certain area!
Here are some other simple tips for creating a powerful résumé:
http://www.JHACareers.com/Vol1Resume.htm
“I have one documented reference check on my most recent former boss, which shows that she talked in detail responding to questions about items in my resume with the caller. This is totally against company policy, which I drafted while I worked there and implemented with our department, which is to only verify dates of employment and titles on telephone requests for information on former employees, and not provide any other information on an employee without a written authorization from the employee to do so. She said things like this:
- when asked if I provided full scope recruiting assistance as stated in my resume, she “clarified” that I did not recruit employees, just did recruiting coordination.
This is false, because I had full involvement in recruiting from administering the employee requisition system through placing employment ads to drug screening and employment reference checking to interviewing to preparing job offers to performing new hire orientations.
Why my former boss is doing this is a mystery to me. We did not part on bad terms, and I was specifically told that I was not being cut due to any performance or personal issues. I had seven years of good to excellent performance evaluations and various recognition awards on a regular basis.
Whatever the reason, it really worries and bothers me. It is more and more apparent that I am losing financially by losing opportunities because of what someone is saying about me. I know it is defamation and I know I could go to a lawyer but I’m much more interested in other more creative, positive ways to gain a new career opportunity beyond the reach of this person’s bad intentions.
I don’t know if being proactive and saying that my most recent boss is not giving me a truthful reference and I don’t know why and I don’t want employers contacting her would be something that will cripple my job prospects as much as letting them call and talk to her.
It is looking like the best thing to do at this point is to contact her and ask her not to give any information about me other than verifying my employment, per company policy, possibly through my lawyer. I think it will be better not to have a real reference from her than to have her giving out false information that is costing me job offers. Someone suggested I ask her for a written reference to give employers instead of a call, and I guess I could try that, but I’m afraid she’ll say no because I got a (weak) letter of reference with my severance agreement. I have been more focused on finding ways to tell prospective employers verbally that they do not have my permission to talk to her and explain it in a positive way. I do have plenty of other references from people who know my skills, experience, abilities, interests, character and work ethics, but she is a key, being my most recent direct supervisor for the last seven years.”
That’s a very frustrating position to be in!
First thought - what evidence do you have that it is your former boss’s bad reference that is the problem? Have you been told that by the company after their reference check? Are you certain there isn’t more to it than that, and whatever feedback from the boss is just the easy excuse they use for turning you down?
Assuming it truly is the boss, examine carefully what the boss would be saying about you and why. What, if anything, did you contribute to the situation that might lead him / her to give negative feedback?
Next, think about what you have done or can do to ensure that whatever led to the negative feedback will never happen again. Construct your confident story about the situation, what you learned from it, and how you will deal with these situations in the future. No one expects perfection, and everyone has made mistakes in the past. The key is to show that you’ve learned from it and won’t make the same mistake in the future.
Finally, at the point where you need to share info about past bosses, and there is a possibility of a reference check, share the bad news yourself. If the hiring manager finds this out first from your past boss, he/she is going to feel you were hiding something, and your credibility is shot. Be very up front. Tell them that you didn’t separate from your past employer on the best of terms, and this is why. And most importantly, this is what you’ve learned from it. Convince me that this is a problem in the past that won’t be a problem in the future.
You might also try reaching out to your past boss, very professionally, requesting that he/she not comment on your work (either positively or negatively) to prospective employers. And seek positive references you can get from others that can counterbalance whatever the employer might say.
“I was recently terminated from my employer of twelve years due to a company infraction of which I am innocent. I was fired for allegedly taking some training notes from a co-worker, which had no value to me. I am innocent but now I find myself in a situation where I have no idea how to approach a perspective employer.”
You should think about this as two separate (but linked) issues:
1. What to do about the bad mark on my employment record.
2. How to answer “Why did you leave your last employer?”
Difficult as this can be emotionally, you need to work at putting your natural anger at the unfair treatment behind you before you can really deal with #2 effectively. If networking contacts and potential hiring managers see the anger, it will interfere with making strong connections to them, and greatly diminish their interest in connecting you to possible opportunities or influential referrals. You need to come across as the consummate professional, who can talk about unfortunate occurrences without badmouthing past employers. When you are successful in doing this, people will be very impressed. You are defined much more by how you deal with your challenges than by the challenges themselves.
Regarding #1, you should see what you can do to get your record cleared. It might be worthwhile to have a consultation with an attorney well-versed in employment issues. I wouldn’t recommend suing your past employer, except as a last resort, but it may be that a letter or other contact from an attorney can result in a change in the official record to show that you left due to, say, a staff redundancy instead of “for cause.”
You will also want to spend a little time thinking about the personal issues you had with your supervisor. Be brutally honest with yourself in exploring what piece, however small, you might have contributed to those issues, and how you might have reacted differently to create a more positive response. You may want to talk through this with a trusted advisor to help you see it from a third party perspective. The key is to uncover any blind spot that could haunt you in the future, and to make sure that you are better prepared to deal with any future situation that touches on this. This could also be the making of a great story to tell in an interview about a past weakness and what you have done to work on it.
Now, let’s move on to the 2nd issue, “Why did you leave your last employer?”
Whatever the result is of attempts to clear your record, you need to be as honest as you can be without openly badmouthing your past employer. Think carefully about your answer and practice it with others, asking them to be brutally honest in their feedback. Work on it until you can deliver your message professionally and without negative emotions.
Obviously, this will be much easier for you to do if you have managed to clear your record. If you haven’t, think about answering the question in stages, depending on how deeply the other person insists on probing, and what stage in the hiring process you are in. For example, here’s one possible scenario for addressing this.
At the earliest stage, your answer could be as simple as:
“There was a misunderstanding that led to a parting of the ways.”
If the person inquires further, then you might share:
“My supervisor mistakenly thought I had taken some training notes from a co-worker, and let me go.”
If pressed further, you might say:
“Frankly, I’m disappointed that I was not afforded the opportunity to defend myself, but I’ve moved on. If you don’t mind, I would prefer to focus on why I would be an outstanding candidate for this opportunity.”
Keep in mind that if you don’t get through at least the first two stages (above) with your interviewer by the end of the conversation and it looks like they might do some fact or reference checking, you would be better off revealing the situation before they find out on their own. You don’t want them to think you were dishonest with them because you didn’t share it. To avoid that, you could volunteer the second stage yourself, and be prepared to answer any questions that arise as a result.
Finally, you should think about who you could come up with as a reference to your character and honesty, and make sure to include that person in every reference list you give out. You could even work that into your answer above, adding something like, “I pride myself on my honesty, and would encourage you to address that with any of my references.”
Posted to a job board:
“So you lost your job or maybe you just quit, or maybe you are thinking of quiting. The best thing you can do for yourself is get right into an aggressive job search campaign where you can re-direct the energies, the frustration, the emotion and the creativity that you normally channeled into your regular job.
Here are the ways people are finding new jobs today. You will use most if not all of these methods:
1) Resume posting on internet Job Boards
2) Resume submission to employer web sites
3) Resume mass mailing - sending out hundreds of resumes to recruiters
4) Networking - cold calling everyone you know and everyone they know
5) Newspaper classified ads
6) Targeting selected companies”
I agree with the sentiment about re-directing energy, etc. into an aggressive job search campaign. However, I take strong exception to the items listed, or at least their relative priorities.
Resume postings, submissions to websites, and classified ads are methods upon which many job seekers rely heavily, and are generally a trap. It is easy to get sucked into spending many hours a day scouring places where you can submit, putting together your submissions, following up and monitoring all of your activity.
I’m not advocating you never do these, just that you severely limit the time you spend on them, since they have a very low hit rate. These are attempts to go through the front door, where you are in direct competition with the hundreds and hundreds of others who are seeing those same postings or ads. I advise my clients they should spend no more than an hour a day on average dealing with everything associated with ‘internet searching.’
As to #3 (mass mailing), I have heard people (most often those selling the service) swear by this, figuring it’s the law of large numbers, but frankly, I don’t see a great deal of value. As someone who has been on the receiving end of such campaigns, I can tell you that I almost always throw those applications away, AND I think less of the candidate from who I receive them. Unless you make those tailored letters that have no scent of mass mailing, they simply suggest you are (1) lazy, and (2) unfocused in your search.
On the other hand, I had a client who was trying to make a change to a different role and a different industry. She compiled a list of 20 hiring managers at target companies (#6 on the list) for the role she wanted. We talked about what exactly she was going to do to create the strongest chance of interviews, and she wrote to the 1st 9 on her list, with the idea the next wave would go out a week later. She never sent the 2nd wave, as the 1st 9 letters and follow-up calls secured her 3 formal and 3 informational interviews, and one resulted in the job offer she soughts.
#6 (Targeting companies), definitely you should do this…the question is, now that you’ve established your targets, what are you going to do about it?
This leads us to #3 (Networking). Networking has the highest hit rate of all methods you can use - if you do it right - many times the hit rate of postings to company websites and job portals. Every job I have ever accepted ultimately came through networking..
The problem with what was said above is the link to ‘cold calling’, which feeds into most people’s fear and misconceptions of what effective networking is all about. Don’t think of it as ‘cold calling’, as that will hold you back. Networking is about building on the relationships you already have to build new relationships. It’s about describing to everyone you can the target you seek, and exactly why you would be a great asset to that target. It’s not about asking people about openings and handing them your resume, it’s about brainstorming with them and equipping them with a simple message that expresses the results you might bring to the right situation.
Here are 2 articles that lay out exactly what to do, and what not to do, to make your networking a huge success: