Hi Barb,

I have sent your question off to our coaches who will be in touch soon. In the meantime, I think that reading an article on our site called "The Swivel" would be helpful in helping you to prepare an answer to why you left your most recent job. The article can be found here: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/looking-for-work/the-swivel

Best,

Sarah, Cancer and Career Program Coordinator

Hi Barb, First, I am so terribly sorry about what you have experienced with your former employer. I am glad that you are pursuing a legal course of action, as painful as this may be.

As for your response to the question, "Why did you leave your last job?" it is important that you come up with a succinct answer, practice it with your family and friends and internalize it. You can start with just saying that you were laid off for business reasons. Because I do not know anything about the company you worked for (industry, size, privately held vs. public) I cannot identify a reason that would make sense given these variables.

 Remember that you will always be much more concerned about getting asked this question than the person who is asking the question is about your answer. And so many people have gaps of time on their resumes as well.

Sarah is right by saying that your focus in an interview is to take any opportunity to swivel your answers back to things you can do to help the company achieve their goals and solve their problems.

Good luck!

Julie