Fired from a job 5 years ago
How should I respond to the "Why'd you leave this job" question when I was fired? I worked at a bank and cashed a fraudulent check. The policy was I had to take the non-customers fingerprint which to this day I swear I did! But I guess it didn't show up on the copied check and I was fired because it was over $1000. I am scared to be honest about it because I think the second they hear that they will send me out the door.
You' ll have to own up to it if they ask. I' d say pretty much what you said here. "I was fired for a policy violation. A check that I cashed turned out to be bad and the fingerprint I took did not show up on the document. Since we couldn' t verify if I had taken the fingerprint or not, they had to let me go." Honestly...I wouldnt be honest. :) There is no reason why you should get their suspicions up. If they contact your old job your job wont even say you are terminated for legal reasons let alone how. Simply make something up about how you had to take a leave due to family issues or if you can pull it off say that you wanted to find a job that was more for your growth etc. If they call your old company they will simply say that you worked there from this date to that date. I wouldnt worry about it too much but its better safe than sorry. Ok just my 2 cents here. but all in all.. I' d say IT DEPENDS. on what? well the company that you are applying to. Because look the company I work for is a HUGE financial company. Their Background check was impeccable. They did ask certain questions, albeit brief, they did search out if u were fired and asked specifics as in If you stole. If you didn' t follow regulations and cost them time/ money. (not word for word there but just to give you the gist) Now.. not all companies go very in depth.. some may only verfiy your employment dates. However, there really is a good chance they may find out. You need to prepare for this, because then obviously you risk not getting the job. I would honestly tell the truth. No blame no negativity and I' d add what you learned. maybe to double check things or so and so. No point in suffering for the same mistake twice.. don' t let it lose you 2 positions! also another choice is to leave it off the resume all together.. but this isn' t always the best option especially if you were there for a long period of time or it was the only experience you have!
Ditto on it DEPENDS. You really gotta adapt and follow the opportunities. I mean if you don't thats fine too, but you really limit your possibilities. Depends? Depends on what??? Katies's risk of getting caught in a lie? If you are asked why you left a job, you answer honestly. You know that the company is going to find out anyway and you can't leave it off your resume if the job was of any particular length (and you certainly can't leave it off an application that you sign as true and complete.) If it was five years ago, I assume you have solid work experience under your belt since then and you need to sell that as much as possible. I agree with the first post to your question. State exactly how you put in your post. You made a mistake. If you own up to it and show your potential employer what you learned from the experience and how something like that would never happen, that will show you take responsibility for what happened and that you have taken measures to never let happen again. The employer would rather hear honesty than a lie, especially if it' s ever found out after you' re hired. If they do, you;re fired again!! If the employer wants to apss because of your honesty, it' s an emplyrer you don' t want to work for anyway. Chances would be they' re not upfront with their employees.
Flat Out - - tell the truth. Be bold. Be confident and state the facts of what happened. Coming from an exec position, I would much rather hear the truth and watch the body language of the potential candidate than to hear some lame story that I would be able to tell was not the truth. The interviewing employer will appreciate your honesty and your character and if they don't .... Honey, you don't want to work for them anyway!
I' d vote for ' it depends' . Most of the time, I tell the truth. If I were applying to another bank and was pretty sure this would be disqualifying, maybe not. Then, you or a friend call the old bank' s IHR dept and find out what they will say about you. If they just give dates, that' s a plus. Then you look at the relationship between the banks, do they all know each other? If not, that' s a plus. Do you have a friend still at the old bank who might be mistaken for your former supervisor? That' s a real plus, put him at the top of your reference list. Coordinate your story with him, they' ll likely call him for a reference and not even call IHR. | |
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