Justify your departure from your previous company: stay positive!
9 June 2011
Read by 2144 persons
You were laid off from your previous job? Don't show your distress to the recruiter. On the contrary, show the positive side of things, and avoid words that upset!
The moment you've been waiting for is finally here: the meeting with a recruiter who has spotted your resume. You are preparing for your interview: talk about your diplomas, your experiences, emphasize your English, your strong point... But you are facing a thorny problem, and an increasingly common one: how to explain my departure from the previous company to the recruiter?
Several cases arise:
First case, the easiest to explain - even if it is very difficult to live obviously: economic redundancy. There is no need to lie, this situation is so frequent that recruiters are now used to it. They also know that the criteria for choosing the employees laid off during social plans have nothing to do with skills. On the other hand, choose the most positive terms: instead of economic redundancy, talk rather about an employment safeguard plan - or ESP, it will be simpler and faster. And mention, if this is the case, the services you have benefited from to help you find a job: skills assessment, aid and training... which will demonstrate your activity during this job search period.
The formal reason for the departure comes from the company that hired you on a fixed-term or permanent contract, but could not or did not find the resources to keep you? In short, your fixed-term contract was not renewed - which leaves doubt about your skills - or your permanent contract was interrupted by individual dismissal? Avoid at all costs unpleasant words such as dismissal and unemployment. Instead, mention the decrease in activity of your company, which constituted an opportunity for you to bounce back.
The formal reason for your departure comes from you: exasperated by the lack of recognition from your company or by the actions of your superiors, you resigned; or you were dismissed for misconduct - rightly or wrongly, it doesn't matter here. There is no question of going into detail about your setbacks with your previous employer in front of the recruiter. Instead, look for a positive phrase like: "I wanted to take a step back and think about my professional project in order to find an orientation that is better suited to my skills." Or: "Following a fundamental disagreement, my employer and I decided to end the collaboration"...
In all cases, and whatever the past context, avoid at all costs going into detail. Prepare short accounts that demonstrate that despite the end of the story with your former company, everything went well overall. Never speak ill of your previous companies, nor of your former superiors. Talk about disagreements, economic difficulties of the company, changes in activity, geographical mobility problems, or even better, a search for a new orientation in your career.
Posted on June 8, 2011
Stepstone.fr
The moment you've been waiting for is finally here: the meeting with a recruiter who has spotted your resume. You are preparing for your interview: talk about your diplomas, your experiences, emphasize your English, your strong point... But you are facing a thorny problem, and an increasingly common one: how to explain my departure from the previous company to the recruiter?
Several cases arise:
First case, the easiest to explain - even if it is very difficult to live obviously: economic redundancy. There is no need to lie, this situation is so frequent that recruiters are now used to it. They also know that the criteria for choosing the employees laid off during social plans have nothing to do with skills. On the other hand, choose the most positive terms: instead of economic redundancy, talk rather about an employment safeguard plan - or ESP, it will be simpler and faster. And mention, if this is the case, the services you have benefited from to help you find a job: skills assessment, aid and training... which will demonstrate your activity during this job search period.
The formal reason for the departure comes from the company that hired you on a fixed-term or permanent contract, but could not or did not find the resources to keep you? In short, your fixed-term contract was not renewed - which leaves doubt about your skills - or your permanent contract was interrupted by individual dismissal? Avoid at all costs unpleasant words such as dismissal and unemployment. Instead, mention the decrease in activity of your company, which constituted an opportunity for you to bounce back.
The formal reason for your departure comes from you: exasperated by the lack of recognition from your company or by the actions of your superiors, you resigned; or you were dismissed for misconduct - rightly or wrongly, it doesn't matter here. There is no question of going into detail about your setbacks with your previous employer in front of the recruiter. Instead, look for a positive phrase like: "I wanted to take a step back and think about my professional project in order to find an orientation that is better suited to my skills." Or: "Following a fundamental disagreement, my employer and I decided to end the collaboration"...
In all cases, and whatever the past context, avoid at all costs going into detail. Prepare short accounts that demonstrate that despite the end of the story with your former company, everything went well overall. Never speak ill of your previous companies, nor of your former superiors. Talk about disagreements, economic difficulties of the company, changes in activity, geographical mobility problems, or even better, a search for a new orientation in your career.
Posted on June 8, 2011
Stepstone.fr
