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by 2OEH8eoCRo0 948 days ago
> if your tone or language is negative it will give the impression that you are a negative person.

I had this backfire. I left a job after dealing with toxic and personal BS and passed all my interviews at a great company. Then came the personal references where one must be my previous manager. My previous manager trashed me and gave me a bad reference and I didn't get the job.

In the future I didn't hold back on why I left and got the next job.

2 comments

In the US, the only information required to be given by a previous employer is time of employment, role, and whether the person is eligible for rehire. Reputable companies will ask and provide strictly this information only, to reduce their liability.
This is not accurate across the board. References (inc. back channel references) are common for companies that take hiring very seriously.
Many organizations forbid providing references, but then this policy is hard to enforce. It is weird to be asked for a reference from your current employer, though.
Good context. The point GP was making was that toxic manager went out of their way to trash them.
Vindictive bosses/owners will do as they please
They will, but some of that is actionable.
My stock answer for leaving is "too low of a ceiling". That's usually a combo of "management and leadership sucks" and "there's no future or upward career path for me". I might add "I'm looking for a place where being put in a position that leads to success is the rule not the exception." Or something like. I mean "I love where I am" doesn't square with looking to leave, does it?

I'm an East Coast straight shooter and I feel that's enough to get my point across and let them know what my expectations and intentions are. If they're also running a shit show they'll put one and one together and figure out I'm not a good fit. If they're ligit they'll appreciate the toned down honesty.

At least that's what I hope for sone shit shows don't seem to recognize that. It's Dunning Krueger at the organizational level. Frustrating.