"Why did you leave/Why are you leaving your most recent job?"
My reasons are...extremely negative. I walked in today to see my coworker sitting on her ass on a personal call, once again, not doing her job. A regular customer came in immediately after I got to work (I hadn't even had the chance to take my jacket off), and she didn't bother even attempting to get off her ass to take care of them, and as usual, what they needed, which is her responsibility, was not in stock. This is par for the course. She basically gets paid to do nothing. She gets the company car for personal use, which includes carting her kids all over the state. I get griped at asking when I'm going to be at work, when the agreed upon time is 12:30 because I have class most mornings. I can't even take the time to get lunch some days.
Any mention of this to the owner falls on deaf ears. As well, he has pretty much disengaged himself from the business, and doesn't even advertise. I almost think he's using the place as a tax write off.
The industry is also drying up very quickly, and corporate now seems to solely exist to squeeze every drop of blood they can out of franchises.
My problem is that I tend to be a little too honest sometimes, so I'm just looking for a little guidance in how to approach this question. This place is draining my will to live, so I have been looking for something else recently. I almost just packed up my laptop and other belongings and walked right out this afternoon. I can't handle this shit anymore, but I feel that I do not interview well.
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[–] Biscuitbaiter ago
I've always used, "If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all" as a guideline. Sometimes it's not what you say as much as how you say it. Or another great one is, "Actions speak louder than words". It is best not to bash another job or individual as it presents a lot about ones character to the potential employer both good or bad. Personally, when I am interviewing people I am asking that question in terms of finding out if you left the other job on good terms or not and why or why not. If someone doesn't leave or serve notice at another job, it's a very big red flag for me but it's not necessarily the end of the interview. I don't care if they liked the job or not as much as if they are prone to handling responsibility well, that includes how they left. I feel that your job is your responsibility and if you no longer feel it's conducive there is a right and wrong way about approaching the situation. The one time I've personally had something similar happen my response to the question was basically, "The working relationship I had with the company was no longer healthy and mutually conducive. I felt it would be best to seek different avenues where I can continue developing my skills."
[–] Firevine [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I went that route when I interviewed for this job, in what now seems like a lifetime ago. With my prior one, the manager was a real miserable alcoholic sonovabitch, and when my current boss asked why I left that one, I just took a deep breath, paused, and said that it was a very negative place to work, but I didn't want to come across as slandering them.