Dealing With Recruiters When You've Been Fired
By Joyce Lain Kennedy
Dear Joyce: I was fired from my last job because I didn't agree with the direction that new management was taking the company. My manager isn't going to slam me, but he's not going to waste words of praise either -- we don't harmonize. I would like to interest recruiters in my job search. Am I dead in the water with recruiters because I've been terminated? -- L.L.
Dear L.L.: You're not necessarily a floater, but you do face an uphill sell. A recruiter's reputation is on the line with every candidate the recruiter presents. You know you have to convince the recruiter that you are blameless and so good a candidate that you'll handsomely return the recruiter's time investment by presenting you. The question is: how?
Networking to Recruiters
Networking is classically a tactic aimed at employers; this time, focus on narrow-cast networking to recruiters. Your friends can praise you in a call or e-mail to recruiters with whom they have interacted, explaining you'll be sending a résumé. Intermediaries aren't necessary, but they smooth your way.
Talking Points
What information should friends and you convey? Strictly the truth, which may be any one of these themes:
Recruiters know that when a company changes management or supervisors, staffing changes often follow because the new managers want their own teams, or feel threatened by rising stars and find ways to get rid of them. Sometimes new policies or decisions rankle employees to the point of conflict.
Your statement: "When the company was merged, new management took over, and I was cut loose during that transition." Volunteer nothing further, but answer a recruiter's probing questions without hesitation.
If you can't claim new management and personality conflict is the root of your termination, be up-front with a recruiter. Most people or their friends have had a bad boss or endured conflict with another person at work with whom they are at odds.
Your statement: "My manager and I, unfortunately, were like oil and water. I tried hard to establish a positive work relationship. I enjoyed a collegial relationship with the others in my workplace." Have a list of other supervisors and co-workers with home and workplace contact information ready.
You are very qualified for specific positions, which you name and promptly give a couple of examples.
Recruiters' Actions
A recent online discussion among recruiters confirms that your efforts need not be a lost cause. Among points of advice to recruiters:
"Confirm the job seeker's story with the former employer. You have to be sure of your job seeker before you submit. If your gut tells you this person may be a problem, gently turn down the individual and move on."
"Assuming the candidate is very qualified and has a legitimate claim and you are confident the person is right for the job both technically and personally, submit -- but focus on the technical skills in your presentation."
"Tell the prospective employer that she left her former employer after a lengthy personality conflict with her supervisor. She tried to resolve the issues and took all the necessary steps, but finally the employment relationship was terminated. The good news is, she is available immediately."
"If you must explain a termination to a client, be brief, be general, be positive. Do it over the phone or in person. There are just too many ways to be misunderstood in an e-mail or written presentation."
Papering Over Problems
You can see you have to do more preparation to be taken up by a recruiter when you've been fired than when you're flying high and pirated.
Among cautionary tales for recruiters and employers is the experience of a major consumer products company, Sunbeam, with its former chief executive, Albert J. Dunlap. (Yes, Dunlap is "Chainsaw Al," who wowed Wall Street by firing thousands of workers.)
Firing Dunlap in 1998 with fraud allegations, Sunbeam was stunned to belatedly learn that he'd been axed 20 years earlier from another company that made similar fraud charges. The executive search firm apparently didn't do a background check and never revealed the information to its client Sunbeam. Ooops.
Send career questions for possible use in this column to Joyce Lain Kennedy at Box 368, Cardiff, CA 92007, or e-mail her at jlk@sunfeatures.com. Sorry, the volume of mail makes personal replies impossible.
©2001 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
