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When you are interviewing for a new job, it is *very* easy to volunteer too much information,
and your statement about your postings to the STC Lone Writer's SIG hints that you may
already have a tendency in this direction. (And remember that potential employers *do* have
access in the archives to what you post here, and may also have access to the STC discussion
list that you have just pointed them to.)
In another posting, you explained that your old company needed to save money via a RIF and
you were laid off in favor of a more junior (less expensive) coworker. Those are the facts
of the situation and I would advise against saying a whole lot more than that even if your
interviewer asks a follow-up question. If the interviewer *does* press for more information,
they are often trying to expose any behavior or character flaws on your part that may have
contributed to your own departure. A secondary goal may be to find out how inclined you
are to talk about your employer's business practices, management style, and decision making,
and it is never a good thing if you are perceived as someone who tells tales out of school
(to use a British idiom).
Unless you were dismissed for some particular malfeasance, there were undoubtedly a number of
factors involved in the decision. Most companies (or at least most companies that have reasonably
mature and rational management practices) understand this and will accept it if you simply say
"it was a business decision".
Keep it simple. Keep it factual. Don't make up stories. Don't speculate about motivations. Don't air
dirty laundry.
-Fred Ridder
> So true...if you've seen my posts in the STC Lone Writer's SIG from
> while I was there that's only part of it all.
>
> Robin
>
> On 12/20/12 2:35 AM, Lauren wrote:
> > A big lesson here is to get a good back story. Sometimes, things do
> > not work out but that does not need to be an employee issue. It could
> > be that the employee had standards and the employer wanted to cut
> > corners while the other TWs went with the flow. Honesty can work in
> > the favor of the TW when such honesty is conveyed without some
> > insecurity about why the job ended. Look at the good things that
> > could have occurred if the job continued. These are the things the
> > employer didn't want.
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