Interview Question

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I could say that field work wasn't my forte, but I would also have to explain the reasoning on why I couldn't last there more than 3 months.

The bolded part is a bad idea because if I tell them something up front and have to correct myself later, then I have already lost their trust and the job because I withheld information. It's better to be upfront about it and just rip it off like a band-aid. Hopefully the prospective employer will understand.

 

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None taken (now )

 

drum_dude, on the application, don't you have to put down the company's phone number? Or do I just leave that blank?

 

Now now chaps, lets keep it in our pants shall we?

Honesty has never caused me too much grief, I've been 'let go' from close to half my roles, I've 'let go' of the other half, as long as you have never been outed for gross misconduct or something, the chances are you are not going to get a bad reference (people are very very wary of giving bad references)

You were not the right fit for the particular role, big deal, how many times do we do something and realize its not quite what we were after? or what we thought it would be, there are indeed two sides, the unfortunate downside is there ARE some companies out there who will look at it negatively, this doesn't bother me, as they are the kind of employers I would probably be adding to the 'letting go' list if that's the feelings they have about employees who have been let go

the fact is, if you can do your job, and do it well, and fit cohesively with the existing team, you will make a valuable employee, and most people put far more weight into personality and attitude when hiring, its very difficult to gauge someones technical prowess in an interview, but you can get a feel for the type of person they are

To echo what others have said though, this is not the 80s, IT is not the 'join up and stay for your gold watch' type of career, you will change jobs, and with each new job you will be exposed to new tech, the most high end techs I know have had as many jobs as me (or more) or contracts for just as long, to be a great tech takes exposure to, well.. technology! if you stay at the same place, your chance of learning as broad a tech portfolio as your peers

IT requires passion, you need to eat and breath if in your spare time (not all of it mind, I enjoy hitting the ATVs, playing video games and eating out all the damn time, but self improvement is a big part of moving up in IT circles)

I can't really help you with your specific problem, the easiest way is to leave it off the resume, the markets harsh and 3 months out of work isn't likely to look bad (trust me) or you can list it and say it didn't work out, it was a little outside the defined scope and you just didn't meet their immediate needs, life goes on

 

Jack, in the UK I've only been asked (times 2) for the name, address and phone number of referees of which one of them MUST be from the previous employer.

It's your call...it's down to you what you put down on paper!

 

Spoil sport!

 

You think it's wise to leave it off, Phoenix? My last job, I worked from June '09 to Sept. '09. After that, I've been going to school and reading cert books to get certified. If they did a background check on me, wouldn't they find that I worked for those months?

 

If it was up to me, I wouldn't put down the main number for my previous employers and just have them call my references instead. But I guess I will only find out if they need it once I go through the app/interview process.

 

Phoenix has spoken...the dude is the wisest I've come across in this game!

 

It's just that Compaq Evo in his profile pic...

 

Very true mate...I put myself out for flaming on a regular basis. It's fun though!

 

responding to the original post.

all you have to say mate is that in your 3 month probation just wasn't working out - i.e. the truth! - that's what the probabtion is there for.

 

Dude, just tell them the truth. It will set you free and won't be a burden on you when you speak to employers.

 

Well, it looks like I'll just have to tell the truth, but hope to spin it in a positive way (crossing fingers). I really want to bash the previous employer, but I'm not going to, but I also don't want to bash myself. So hopefully they understand why I chose to go the school and cert route to improve my skillset.