Let Er Rip

Are you still going through the same temp agency? I have never heard of a bad interview following you.

Going forward, here is your response about that company:

I was very excited when made an offer to join company X. Unfortunately, after being there for a short time I knew that the position was not in line with what was presented to me during the interviewing process nor was it something that was inline with my career choices. So, I certainly gave it my all but in the end, I decided to resign in order to look for another opportunity FT. I felt that I was not doing myself or the company any justice by staying there.

Then leave it at that.

Good luck with your search!

By the way, you can leave it off of a resume put not an application. An app is a legal document and leaving pertinent info off of it can lead to termination.

If you just said that the last job was not a good fit, I don't think anyone would've taken it that you were complaining about it.
Bu since you did, learn to spin the experience.
You learned a lot, what were the lessons learned, it was a growth experience, etc and so forth.
Never speak badly of a former employer even if they were the devil incarnate.
It makes future employers wonder how you will talk about them if they hire you.

How long were you employed at the previous (bad) job? If it's less than 6 months, I would probably just take them off my resume altogether. If not, then you need to have a short, polite explanation. Do not throw them under the bus - treat them like an ex boyfriend you see occasionally - polite.

You might be beating yourself up too much. I don't know.

Are you using the same agency to go on job interviews for? Personally? I would NOT.

I would look outside where I have been looking - it's true that people talk...especially managers!

When at a job interview - NEVER EVER EVER say anything negative about any company you have left. I am not saying you have. But if they ask why you left after such a short time - tell them that the job was not was you interviewed for and you would not have been successful at it so you resigned on a good note instead of a bad one.

If a manager sent you an inappropriate text, you should let the agency you were using know so that they can deal with it.

Other than that? Make sure your resume is in tip-top shape. Never give up!! Never surrender!

Nothing you can do about it now, but you learned a hard lesson. Never burn bridges.

What to do now?

Do not list your most recent manager/workplace as a reference or put that person's name or contact info on your resume. Put the job and company on your resume in your employement history, but on your next interview, if they ask if they can contact the most recent employer, say no, because you unfortunately had a personal conflict with your manager (which you did, after you left). Then say "but you can feel free to contact my manager at the position before that, where I worked for a long time. He/She knows me well and can speak to you about my skills and professionalism." And of course have 2 or 3 other references from places other than the most recent one to give them.

If they ask anything about the personal conflict (which most will probably not do), I would not elaborate, but simply say you'd rather not discuss it.

yeah, you need to leave it off the resume. bridge burned, and lesson learned!
don't beat yourself up. you did it, you own it, you're dealing with it.
this is how we figure stuff out.
khairete
S.

I hope you warn others in your area against using this temp agency that burned you. They sound sloppy.

I agree that you should just remove the problematic former job from your resume if you were there for only months. If some potential employer asks, "And what were you doing between Month A and Month B in year X?" (the time you were at crud company), you need to be ready with a good reply that is not a lie -- don't ever lie, it will come back to bite you -- but does not give away anything.

Also, was there anyone at the former job with whom you got along and who would be willing to be a reference so you don't have to refer anyone to your former manager? Someone perhaps who has also left that place recently, but who is familiar with what you did there? It can help to have an "end-run" reference person who has the right kind of title and is genuinely familiar with you and your work but who does not have any axe to grind about you, and who understands that you left because of bad fit, and will not mention that. Alternatively, if you just must list this company, list a contact in human resources, not your former boss.

Since you are job-hunting and feel you are being undermined by poor references from one former employer, it might be well worth the money to get professional help from a head-hunter or employment agent who works just for you -- not a temp agency, but a person who helps other people find jobs. I would tell that person the whole story and get some advice on how to handle this.

Your former employer, by the way, is walking a fine legal line here if he or she is bad-mouthing you in references! There have been cases where people have taken former managers to court over poor references that could be in any way construed as prejudicial. That is why almost all employers these days are strongly told by their human resources departments to give ONLY the most basic information when called for a job reference -- they usually are instructed only to confirm the dates you worked there and your job title and little else. Most managers are now told not to say anything either positive OR negative about a former worker because of the fear of lawsuits from former employees. You might also ask a professional head-hunter about this aspect of things. .If you feel that this gets out of hand and you truly become unemployable in your field, you might need to get some help finding out what recourse you do or don't have.

Are you looking at jobs in the same industry/business you were in when you were at the bad-fit job? That may be why you're having trouble -- this former boss of yours probably knows a lot of other people at his or her level in this same industry, in other firms, and feels OK telling them more than your dates of employment. I don't know what you can do about that, if you are being discussed by him (or her) with other managers in his personal network of contacts.

You didn't say why you didn't reply to the former manager's text but it's perhaps too bad that you didn't take the opportunity to explain this away as much as possible. I personally might have thrown the temp agency under the bus and told the former boss that the temp agency misrepresented what you told them. But that opportunity seems to have passed. Again, a professional who helps with job hunts might have insight on what to do there.

I know the temptation is just to pretend this company didn't exist and maybe in some industries you can get away with just leaving it off. I'm in laboratory sales/diagnostic testing and background checks with absolute accurate employment history are in place. Even if it was just a lapse of two months of employment and the urge is there to just clean it up a bit. Candidates are dismissed for this more often.

I worked at a job for 5 months part time; actually 2 different small businesses in the same building. The one boss (1) was the worst - seriously, in 25 years of working I've never had an experience like it. The other boss (2) was great. (2) couldn't understand why (1) was having such a hard time (well, 1 didn't train, didn't like questions, couldn't communicate well and got upset when you didn't understand him, but didn't like questions - sigh). I left. I put (2) on my resume and left 1 off.

I do use it as an example of "worst experience" - I couch it as a part time job I did for a friend of a friend, and describe how I tried to fix it but couldn't.

Better to leave a short term experience like that off. And find another temp agency. They're not all the same. Google should get you a bunch of places - go to all of them if they supply the type of work you do.

I guess I am confused about the temp agency's attitude. Every temp agency I used would provide me with advice (updating resume, changing/deleting things from resumes), wearing more makeup to the interview, less jewelry, etc. They do a sample interview to see how you'd answer questions before throwing you out there to a potential employer, which I thought is what they did with you, and they should/would use this time to correct your responses. I guess I don't understand why the temp agency went back to your manager and told her what you had said during their sample interview. They should have advised you to use a different response when interviewing, or just delete this job from your resume altogether, not throw you under the bus. The manager was also unprofessional in contacting you and texting you after this incident.

A friend of mine was not getting hired even though she had a great resume with a long job history. Apparently, while working there, they hired a new girl who badmouthed her to the boss and convinced him to fire her, but my friend was still putting this job in her resume since she was with him for 3 years and before that catty woman showed up, everything was fine. She decided to ask her sister to call that employer and pretend she was a potential employer calling for references. She was curious to see why potential employers were not hiring her after liking her resume. The boss started badmouthing my friend to her sister, thinking the sister was really a potential employer, and when she found out, she took this job off her resume. Within a few weeks of doing this, she got hired somewhere. Unfortunately, this happened in the 90s, so the thought of recording the conversation and suing did not cross her mind, which is a shame, because he needed to be taught a lesson. Previous employers are only supposed to confirm your dates of employment, title, job responsibilities, and salaries, not give their personal opinions of you!

You just don't put that last employer on your applications in the future.