22 Dec 08 You won’t get that job without this

Hmmm…this is a hard one for me. I have been honest and then been told I’m overqualified. I have never considered being untruthful but I have seen where it hurt me get a job. What do you do about the questions where they ask what the worst part of your last job was? or…worst yet, what is the worst thing your employer may tell me about you..
I don’t have anything to hide but sometimes people think I’m making my job history up. They don’t believe that my last employer really did choose not to continue their contract with the client and subsequently let everyone go..

I agree with Dan… and think that honesty and integrity are always the best path.

However, I totally see where Melissa is coming from, and realize the frustration there is when “competing” with people who are not honest… yuck!

For Melissa, maybe it’s a matter of communicating what happened differently… not being dishonest, but communicating (on resume, in interview) different things that are not distractions or yellow flags to the decision maker?

Hi Melissa! Thanks for commenting. Here are my thoughts:

I also can remember certain situations where I said too much and it wound up costing me the job. Realize about questions about the worst part of your last job and the worst thing your employer may tell about you are only designed to see how you’ll respond. They are designed to make you uncomfortable. John Buehler gave some great advice in his interview, and I’ll have to listen to it again myself to remember what it is (heh).

With questions like these, don’t answer right away. Pause, take a deep breath, think about what you’re going to say, and then answer. Obviously you don’t want to cast yourself or your employer in a bad light, so I think you should find something to say that would still be genuine.

Instead of casting it as the “worst thing”, I would emphasize continuous improvement, both on your and your employers’ parts.

That’s how I would approach this.

Totally agree with honesty and authenticity. It’s good to prepare success stories from your past jobs which taught you lessons that will help in this job you’re applying for.

Melissa,
When interviewers question you about your Worst Boss or worst co-employees you’ve worked with, you should generally avoid speaking ill of anyone in your past jobs. It’s a trap to see what kind of person you are! You can reword the question as “These are challenges I’ve had to face in the past…” and turn it around so that you describe the positive steps you took to survive a challenging workplace.

Many years ago I was interviewing for my first management position with two people who clearly were not seriously considering me for the job. The guy who would have been my manager told me he didn’t think I had what it took before I even finished my first answer. This was an internal promotion, so I suppose honestly was a big risk, but I was SO angry! I had traveled a long way for the interview.

So I said that I was sorry he had that attitude because he wasn’t going to interview anyone as hardworking or smart as me. I gave him a few things I had planned to do if given the job and then said that, since he had wasted a lot of my time already, perhaps he wouldn’t mind if I left now and started to make my way home.

There was a silence and they asked me to wait outside for a minute. Then they called me back in and offered me the job!

I’m not sure I’m advising anyone else try this

This is a great topic – something I have blogged about a number of times. I received some great advice last year when I was out of work. BE BRUTALLY HONEST. If you disguise your true self, the offer will be made to a different you. One that may be looking for another job in six months.

However, if you tell the truth about who you are, how you like to work and what you like to do, the offer will come to “real you”. And you will likely succeed long term in that job.

Great point, Tim – if you cover up or “reinvent” the real you, it’s not fair to the employer and will come back to bite you sooner or later.

I ALREADY DON THE WORK. IT GETTING PAYED FOR IT.. THE UNITED STATES IS A BAD INVESTMENT..
YOU CAN FINSH THE TASK ASINED… BUT THE INPLYOER WILL CUT AN RUN.. WITH OUT PAYING…
LIKE THE UNITED STATES DEPIT OF DEFANCE…