Submitted by mpnikolic on
in
Forums
Seven years ago I was asked to resign from a job. I had personal differences with an abusive and unethical boss. I sued the company for wrongful termination and they settled out of court. The manager was subsequently terminated for similar abuses with other employees.
I just listened to the career weakness podcasts and am not sure how I would address follow on questions in an interview. I have no problem addressing the issue. If asked, how do I elaborate on the topic without derogating my former employer?
I am seeking guidance on what constitutes an appropriate and satisfactory answer.
Thank you kindly in advance.
They don't want to share your pain
Remember in the cast, Mark mentions that the recruiter doesn't "like probing into other peoples' pain." So the details of your legal struggles and your difficult boss are not details you need to share unless the recruiter really really digs.
You can say, "I was asked to resign." you can also add something like "Looking back on it, I would have interacted with him differently to be more effective, and I learned an important lesson " or some other (truthful!) way of showing that there were differences of style, that you learned from it, and that you've moved on.
If they ask for more details, don't characterize ("abusive and unethical"). Describe behaviors, both yours and your boss's. "My boss expected immediate compliance with his orders. I made the mistake of publicly disagreeing with him on a matter of policy,..." or whatever the details were.
You don't need to discuss the lawsuit unless it was high profile and in the news, so that the recruiter would have heard about it.
John Hack