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Comment by blueadept111 | Hacker News Reader

Yeah, this is an important career hack: leave your company while the leaving is good. If you stay until things go bad, then your resume will be nothing but a long list of firings and/or bad reviews. Sad but true. Took me a while to figure that out.

So your last work environment was a disaster and you got fired? Here's how to describe it in your next interview: It was a GREAT PLACE to work, I loved it, so many great learning experiences! Unfortunately the objectives of the company shifted away from my core experiences and I wasn't needed, so they had to let me go. But GREAT people there.

Seriously.

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I agree with the spin of this comment, but would add you don't want to be sycophantically positive about working there.

If the place sucked, you can diplomatically point out it was a challenging experience (not ideal) and you learned a lot from it. Just don't dwell on the negative. Emphasizing the opportunities you're hoping to find in your next job might give the interviewer the impression you didn't find it to be a good fit.

I wholeheartedly agree with this comment. Interviewers are very stupid people that don't realize that they are practically selecting only for people who lie.

Why do you think I'm switching jobs, because it is so great I can't handle being so happy at a job so I have to switch? Or maybe because it is shit. But you can't say that. I tried being honest didn't work. I tried lying, it worked very well.

There is more than one way to be honest about a situation. This person can start talking about the company spitefully, trashing them to the interviewer. Unfortunately, some folks that do this also do the same to their current employer or coworkers.

Now, I don't know about you, but I'd rather not knowingly hire in this sort of toxicity. Tough love and unfiltered opinions (honesty) can simply be an excuse for being an asshole when there are other options.

The person can calmly describe that there were pre-existing problems, though, hint and be honest at them (but not dwell), and go on about how they learned some life lessons and so on. When describing the issues, use fairly neutral, non-value-based terms.

So instead of saying, "The company is shit", you can say things like, "I'm not happy at the company" or "I don't feel like i*m a good fit for the culture there". Perhaps your honesty needs help with presentation.

>Interviewers are very stupid people

By the tone you write in, my guess is arrogance may have played a role when it didn’t work. But what do I know, I’m an interviewer :)

I hate that I agree with you, and the one before 100%

They're selecting for social awareness by seeing if you are aware of and can follow arbitrary social rules. Whether you can tell pointless lies is a proxy for what they're actually interested in.

It's because they want you to lie to the customer, or at least, make him/her happy to make money.

why can't someone be honest about the bad experience at job?

If he says what he said here, the interviewer will likely think: This was either a person who was impossible to work with because they always think they are right or the company was actually bad. I can't know what is true so I'm going to take someone else.

In Australia I have always respectfully told the truth. It is no secret some companies have terrible management and IMO It can come across well to the type of employers you might want to work for. In this situation I might say something like - "Well I had some great ideas on ways that we might improve our technology stack but unfortunately the manager there seemed threatened by my ideas and shot them down without further discussion. In the end this friction seems to have lead to them deciding to let me go. I learnt a lot from my time there and look forward thriving in a more constructive environment!"

The "truth" isn't what's important, your attitude and reaction to the layoff is what people are looking at. How you handle yourself is what's important.

because you won't get hired. because interviewing in our industry is completely stupid.

yes, it is stupid.

Because everything must be positive, for the short amount of time you are interviewed. B company doesn't have empathy for the nuanced reasons why you left A company, the criteria the interviewer has doesn't account for any of it.

Would you buy a product with questionable reviews? It's how it is man.

This is great advice and something I've done repeatedly in my career.

When you sense that things are going bad (company is downsizing, running out of money, boss hates you, etc.) then it's time to start looking for another job.

It is much easier to land a job when you still have one. It also means the new company will unlikely call your current employer for a reference.

Finally, it allows you to leave on your own terms rather than get fired/laid off.

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