Proactive preparation helps thwart negative perceptions in interview
D
ear Sam: I recently had to leave a position involuntarily. I am not sure how to handle this in my resume, as well as in the interview. I have more than 30 years of professional experience, so as you can imagine, this came as a shock. I need some suggestions on how to handle this situation. — Anonymous D
ear Anonymous: I am sorry to hear you were let go from your position.
Let’s first address your resume. There is no reason to include the reason for leaving a position on a resume. You can also utilize strategies within your resume to curb some of the negativity hiring managers may feel when they hear that you were let go involuntarily.
As you have 30-plus years of experience, I am assuming you had many good performance reviews. If so, pull quotes from some of those evaluations and include them at the top of your resume. This will be great reinforcement when you tell the hiring manager that your separation came as a shock. If you do not have access to these records, ask a former peer or supervisor to write a recommendation letter from which you can pull quotes (you can also present the letter at job interviews). Be sure that you focus your resume on your past accomplishments; doing so will diminish the impact of an assumption that you were let go for performance reasons.
Next, you will need to formulate a response for the inevitable “Why did you leave your last employer?” question. First, try to put aside your hurt feelings, as hard as that can be at a time like this. It is crucial that you not show anger or assignment of blame during an interview. Instead, prepare a confident, honest response to the question, ending on a positive note focusing on what the experience taught you. For instance, you might stress that the experience has given you the opportunity to assess what you want to do at this point in your career, and that you are seeking a position where you are a match for the organization, its culture and your shared goals. I wish you much success.