In an interview, past run-ins with office politics may come back to haunt you, but there's a way to hit back first
I've been doing software development professionally for 40 years. I'm nearing retirement. I've never paid much never mind to office gossip, and I'm guessing that is part of my downfall.
Here's my situation: I was recently laid off when a new head of application development joined the company. He interviewed all the programmers when he started. He made it clear from the start he didn't like the project to which I was assigned, and 10 minutes of discussion didn't change anything. I was gone the next day.
Now the problem: Since then, I've been to a half-dozen interviews where everything seemed to be going very well. The follow-up calls were enthusiastic, and I gave them good references. But in the end, I wasn't a "fit" in any of them.
After six of these, one person was kind enough to explain what really happened. They had their own sources in the company I worked for prior to the last one -- where I actually have my best references. They had other names. They used these "other names," who apparently said I didn't get along with my coworkers and managers.
OK, some more background: Someone there during my first few years at this company behaved toward me in a friendly manner. He was one of the principal programmers, and I considered him a friend. It turned out he was bad-mouthing me to everyone, and nobody let me in on what he was doing. I'd have moved on, but times were tough and opportunities few in the '06-to-'10 time frame. Besides, I was doing my job and making the people I directly worked with seemingly happy.
Then this thing happened. A junior person insisted that I implement something that flat-out would not work. I tried very patiently to explain why it wouldn't. I didn't follow her instructions. Later, the boss got involved and reassigned the task to her. She eventually did some research and found out she had been wrong.
But that didn't matter. They put a written notice in my personnel file. It was followed by an episode where I didn't follow the correct template -- which had never been identified as the formal template and wasn't shown to me until after I'd finished the job assigned to me.
Outcome: I was not doing my job and was fired. No severance. Nothing. Go away. Now, somehow, that has caused me to be blackballed.
Now, what? Seems to me I'm screwed. Have any suggestions?
- Tarred
Dear Tarred ...
This is a tough one. I have no easy, surefire answer that will address the issue.
I can see two possible courses of action, and I'd encourage you to try either one or the other -- but not both -- in every future interview situation. Both fall into the category of pre-emptive strikes.
The first, and more graceful, alternative is to carefully prep your good references inside your former employer. Relate the short version of what you told me and ask them, as part of their response, to tell prospective employers that while you were, in fact, an excellent employee, a few backstabbers decided to take aim at you. You never responded in kind, but the backstabbing ended up hurting your reputation among those who didn't know you personally. (Use words to that effect -- you don't want different references to sound scripted.)
Assuming a prospective employer contacts your references first and their contacts second, this pre-emptive strike should help. It's uncertain, though, because in a surprising number of cases, prospective employers don't interview the references provided at all.
(Truth in packaging department: Nick Corcodilos covered a similar situation recently and recommended this as the best approach available under the circumstances.)
That leaves alternative No. 2: Deliver the message yourself. This is a tough one. The unwritten rules of interviewing etiquette state that you never say anything at all negative about a former employer or your experience there. (Stray thought: "I see here that you used to work for the Russian Mafia. What was the toughest decision you had to make while you were there?" Answer: "Tough decision? Not at all ... everything that happened there was wonderful, and they'll shoot anyone who says differently.")
Back to business: Somewhere in your future interviews, you explain that the reason you left your former employer was that somehow or other you ran afoul of a couple of office politicians who badly damaged your reputation in the company. As a result, if they inquire with someone who didn't work with you personally, they might hear unfortunate perspectives about you and your work.
If you decide to take this route, you should probably acknowledge that this isn't what you're supposed to say in an interview; it could even damage your chances of getting the job more than the risk that the next hiring manager might decide to talk to other people in the company. I don't recommend it unless alternative No. 1 isn't available.
