Job Advice

[Woodsy]

Hey everybody.
I am about to go insane from being home with the kids, and my wife's job is driving her insane, so I have been looking for a job these past few months. (Plus, she's much better at this stuff than I am!)

I am filling out a job application and would like some input from others on one issue.
I am filling out the area of the application which asks for my job history.
4 jobs ago (1997-1998), I had a job which was a real nightmare, and I was also going through a major episode of clinical depression. After working there for 9 months, I very apologetically gave my two weeks' notice. This place was a small, family business, and after I gave my notice, they treated me like garbage - as though they perceived it as some kind of betrayal that I was leaving them. The owners stopped talking to me, and my supervisor came down on me like a ton of bricks.
Well, now I have to put list that job on my app, and either say that it is okay for the place where I am applying to call them or that it is not okay for them to call them.
I am afraid that if I say it is not okay, that it will look fishy and I will look like I am hiding something. But I also am pretty sure that, after the way they treated me, they wouldn't have anything nice to say about me, and it might cause me to not get the job.

Any advice??

 

[Lotar]

I don't know if they'll obey the law or not, but former employers aren't allowed to make negative comments. They can either say something good or nothing at all.

Kinda a tight spot though. If you say yes, they might say something to loose you the job, and if you say no it will look bad. I don't know, I'll pray for you though.

 

[Woodsy]

Are they allowed to ask "Would you hire him again?" ?

 

[Lotar]

I don't think so, but I'm not totally sure. What state are you in? Now that I think of it, that law might only be for California.

 

[Woodsy]

Warshington [sic] State.

 

[ukok]

why not tell the truth? Write on your application that you were such a good employee that they didn't want you to go and they didn't take it well that you wanted to leave?

Look at it the other way....they would have fired you if you hadn't been a good employee

 

[Cosmic Charlie]

As a practical matter: (Which is to say how things work in practice)

1) It was four jobs ago. Nobody's gonna call anyway.

2) It was six years ago, you have too high an opinion of yourself, nobody remembers you from that job. (Even if they do, they don't - you savvy ?)

3) The real problem you have is 4 jobs in 6 years. That is border-line to over-the-line too many depending on industry. If you've got short job stays (less than a year) it might be a good idea to cover this fact. This is done by not exactly specificing the dates of job changes on the resume.

Good luck

 

[Woodsy]

As a practical matter: (Which is to say how things work in practice)

1) It was four jobs ago. Nobody's gonna call anyway.

I hope this will be the case.

2) It was six years ago, you have too high an opinion of yourself, nobody remembers you from that job. (Even if they do, they don't - you savvy ?)

Would that it were so. I fear that, since the whole company was less than a dozen people and I worked with the owners every day, they will indeed remember me well. Not that I did anything wrong - except for leaving.

3) The real problem you have is 4 jobs in 6 years. That is border-line to over-the-line too many depending on industry. If you've got short job stays (less than a year) it might be a good idea to cover this fact. This is done by not exactly specificing the dates of job changes on the resume.

This is a major problem. On my resumee, I am able to fog things a little bit (i.e. - I don't use a chronological resumee), but on this job app (it's for a gov't job) I have to give exact dates, supervisors' names, and salaries.

The thing is - I was at my last job (*.com) for 3 years, but got laid off when the economy took a nose-dive. Before that I was at another job for a year, and then they relocated to another state.

Good luck

Thanks!

Well, I suspect that I am going to check the box that says its alright to call that employer. If they call them, then I will do my best to explain. But I would hate to have them not even consider me for a job just because it looks like I'm trying to hide something.

 

[geocajun]

I think the only question your last employer can answer to your new employer is if you are eligable for rehire or not.

 

[Cosmic Charlie]

Well, I suspect that I am going to check the box that says its alright to call that employer. If they call them, then I will do my best to explain. But I would hate to have them not even consider me for a job just because it looks like I'm trying to hide something.

No. Don't wait, be a little proactive. For sure they wouldn't call before talking to you. During an interview, simply ask: Are they going to call your past employers and if so, how far back. Tell them you want to know because you would like to notifiy the employers before they call them. This is a just a polite thing to do and no one should give another thought that you want to do it.

If they are going to call the employer you don't want them to talk to, then you can explain, calmly and without blaming anyone, that the do didn't part on good terms and that they might what to take that into consideration.

You get to pull the pin and you have control.

 

[Woodsy]

Thanks, CC. That makes sense.

I haven't had to work on this stuff for a while, and I hate doing it so much.
I was looking at a job site last night, and it seems that employers can now do background checks which reveal your entire employment history. Is this correct?

 

[Cosmic Charlie]

Oh, its worse than that dude, most will ask permission to run your credit before hiring you.

Welcome to 21st century America. An employer is not the goverment, therefore you have no rights against them. They can pry into your past, your credit, your mental state (I've been subjected to a MMPI more then once), your IQ, even, if they can should cause, your sexual proclivities.

Makes you wonder why you're a Republican, doesn't it ? (Not to imply that the Democrats have been bastions against corporate spying in our personal lives)

Anyway, get over it and learn to play the game. Stop being ashamed and quilty and get out their and tell everyone everything.

Its the only way it will work. Just remember: calm, professional, nobodys fault. Just business, thats all.

No one wants my advice on doctrine and faith. Trust me, everybody does well with my advice on employment. Its my long suit.