Re:Ask HN: I was hired and unhired in 2 weeks, for no reason
by poof131 on Friday August 08, 2014 @04:13PM
(#8154792)
I agree that it may not work very well as a filter and that you have to be extremely cautious with any 'negative' statements when interviewing for a job.
Re:Ask HN: I was hired and unhired in 2 weeks, for no reason
by jheriko on Monday August 11, 2014 @05:03PM
(#8165282)
the way to flag this to an employer is simply. not to air the grievance but to inform them of it if it is public knowledge... e.g you left as a result, it was your former employer who will be contacted for a reference, or there was some public exposure etc.
they might already know and its in your best interest to be honest. getting found out after the fact is bad, regardless as to your employer's intentions.
its really quite different from airing the concerns that led to the situation.
in this specific case the problem is that he worked for a short period and was let go very rapidly. having a 2 week blip as your last role on a CV is worth explaining - but not complaining about.
Think about it from their perspective. They don't know you too well. All they know, at a quick glance, is that you have had problems with a previous employer. They get your side of the story, perhaps, but how are they to know if you're telling the full story, or if you're just the kind of person who complains about things and causes morale issues? They don't have the time or the process to sort that out, so they'll default to the conservative position of assuming you are more trouble than you're worth.
I've seen this torpedo people in job interviews. I've seen it sink the candidacies of people who were otherwise in very strong contention. Is that fair? Of course not. But it's something to keep in mind.
In a perfect world, sure, this would serve as a nice filter to determine if employers are worth working for. In the world we actually live in, this filter will, more often than not, filter you out of a lot of job opportunities. Meanwhile, there are more effective and less risky filters you can apply when vetting an employer.