Current Events > Telling an interviewer I got fired - do I have to tell the truth?

(+) Yeah! (+)

So I'm trying to be a little bit more honest on my resume. I got fired from my last job because of a series of write-ups. First write up was because I was one minute late from lunch, second write-up was because I wore a hat once, and the final write-up was I was one minute late to work.

In theory, I could just tell the interviewer I was fired for those reasons.

However, that is not why I was really fired. My boss got pissed at me because she kept assigning tasks to me that were not my job, so one day I finally told her that I'm no longer doing tasks that are not my job. From there, she pretty much stopped communicating with me and started writing me up for unrelated reasons in order to get me fired ASAP. So really, I was fired because maybe I was a little rude and she was offended.

do I have to tell the interviewer what really happened, or can I just give them the textbook reasons?
---

Generally most jobs say "additional tasks" so yeah you should keep your mouth shut if you're not using her for a reference.

You could be honest and say you were doing stuff not based on your role along while not being compensated for. This happened to me and I explained to my new boss during the interview why I left the company (didn't get fired) and I used my previous supervisor as a reference who knew why I left so it worked out. Your situation is different.

---

-Kush- posted...

Generally most jobs say "additional tasks" so yeah you should keep your mouth shut if you're not using her for a reference.

Could be true, I didn't read the HR job description with a microscope. But it was still bullshit, because I was being assigned tasks that were not being done by the other workers that were supposed to do the task, because they were too lazy to do it. So I was stuck with other people's work.
---

bad call on your part TC

the way i see it, work that ain't my job makes my credentials look that much more diversified on the ol' resume

edit: also if you get good at work that isn't your job, there's the possibility the company consolidates and your job becomes that much more secure - and puts you in the bargaining seat

---

TheMikh posted...

bad call on your part TC

the way i see it, work that ain't my job makes my credentials look that much more diversified on the ol' resume

My resume is catered to my line of work. None of the extra responsibilities are things I want in my resume.
---

Chunkey Simmons posted...

Could be true, I didn't read the HR job description with a microscope. But it was still bullshit, because I was being assigned tasks that were not being done by the other workers that were supposed to do the task, because they were too lazy to do it. So I was stuck with other people's work.

Shitty situation. I was taken advantage of at my old job. I explained in an email additional stuff I was doing to setup a meeting to discuss my salary and was told by a manager we could have a meeting but no raise. So I rightfully resigned. Obviously you seem like you were heated and lashed out which I could have done also, but in the end your approach can play a role in landing another job.

You could lie and say nobody was doing the work their were assigned and it was being given to you cause you would do other people's work so you left the company. No need to say you were fired. It could back fire if they wanted to call the company to follow up.

---

Chunkey Simmons posted...

My resume is catered to my line of work. None of the extra responsibilities are things I want in my resume.

less about inviting extra responsibilities in future work, more about selling yourself when you seek other opportunities

---

-Kush- posted...

Chunkey Simmons posted...

Could be true, I didn't read the HR job description with a microscope. But it was still bullshit, because I was being assigned tasks that were not being done by the other workers that were supposed to do the task, because they were too lazy to do it. So I was stuck with other people's work.

Shitty situation. I was taken advantage of at my old job. I explained in an email additional stuff I was doing to setup a meeting to discuss my salary and was told by a manager we could have a meeting but no raise. So I rightfully resigned. Obviously you seem like you were heated and lashed out which I could have done also, but in the end your approach can play a role in landing another job.

You could lie and say nobody was doing the work their were assigned and it was being given to you cause you would do other people's work so you left the company. No need to say you were fired. It could back fire if they wanted to call the company to follow up.

Yeah sounds like you were being fucked. I would have resigned too. And yes I was heated - I tried to be patient with my boss at first, but she kept not listening to me, so naturally I raise my voice and I was a little rude.

It's the principle of it that bothers me. I don't know if the other workers that were lazy made more money than I did, but if they did it would have been an insult for me to do their work, because I'm not getting properly compensated for it.
---

-Kush- posted...

Generally most jobs say "additional tasks" so yeah you should keep your mouth shut if you're not using her for a reference.

You could be honest and say you were doing stuff not based on your role along while not being compensated for. This happened to me and I explained to my new boss during the interview why I left the company (didn't get fired) and I used my previous supervisor as a reference who knew why I left so it worked out. Your situation is different.

Sure, you can say that if you want to be labelled as not a team player. Just say you were let go. If they ask why, tell them the BS write ups (don't say they were BS, they'll figure out being a minute late and wearing a hat is BS on their own).

Yeah been there. Overall it sucks when people take advantage of hard workers.

At another old job when they were downsizing they kept me over the other person who worked in the office like 10 years or more and I was there only 4 years. But I know for a fact they paid her more than me so it was kinda shitty but I still had a job. People generally do see who's more motivated and most will eventually compensate especially if you ask like after a year. Generally the raise I've noticed isn't that much based on the company's size.

Unfortunately these days the trend in the business world is once a boomer retires they'll hire people to do more for less. Either do it or start your own business I guess. I can limits now when I'm being taken advantage of similar to you, but your approach should be professional for future work.

---

Lol I do other peoples job every single day. Sometimes Im doing 3-4 different functions at a time. If you bring that up in an interview, dont expect to be called back. Theres no reason to ever share you were fired in an interview. Generally when they do a reference check with previous employers, its just to verify if you were employed within the dates you gave them.

Could you not dispute the write-ups with HR or something?

---

PatrickMahomes posted...

Could you not dispute the write-ups with HR or something?

I never looked into it, I probably wouldn't win that case. All the write-ups were technically for legitimate reasons, as stupid as they were. Also I live in NY, and in the state of NY you can terminate without reason.
---

If they ask, the way I would put it is you were fired for the write-ups, then mention that you didn't really get along anyway because of the additional tasks they had you perform and use that to lead back into the job you're applying for. Boom, 100% true, deflects onto the employer and redirects the discussion back to the job instead of your history. Besides, if it's really a dumb expectation, there's no problem.

Employers respect that kind of honesty because it shows you know what you're looking for and that you're less likely to suddenly take issue with them over something you just never brought up because you wanted the paycheck.

I have mentioned my leaving a prior job because of exempt overtime at the interview for both of my last two jobs, and the response both times was "oh no, we wouldn't expect that. Maybe every now and then as deadlines approach but certainly not regularly."

---

Cleo_II posted...

Lol I do other peoples job every single day. Sometimes Im doing 3-4 different functions at a time. If you bring that up in an interview, dont expect to be called back. Theres no reason to ever share you were fired in an interview. Generally when they do a reference check with previous employers, its just to verify if you were employed within the dates you gave them.

Fair enough, perhaps I shouldn't mention that I was fired. I'm not what you mean by your first comment that you do extra work for people. To me I think it's wrong if the work belongs to someone else
---

Unless you were at the company for a really long time, I wouldn't even put a previous employer on there if I got fired from the job.

If you have to put it on there and they ask you about why you left, I would try and be as cordial as possible. Diving into a bunch of excuses about how your boss hated you, you did extra work but were never appreciated, blah blah blah will just send a ton of red flags. And then they will call your previous employer and get the other side of the story.

---