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Home > Ask A Career Coach > What to say when employer presses you about poor job fit

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What to say when employer presses you about poor job fit

Holli R. on July 10, 2015

Job Search

As I mentioned in a previous post,I left a job in 2013 that felt toxic.  I was doing several jobs and board members were micromanaging staff. I would say it wasn't a good fit.  If an employer presses me further to explain why the job wasn't a good fit, I'mI'm wondering what I should say.  I did a good job with their conference and other work and can swivel to that.

To add to that, I started tempting several months later and had to stop temping because of cancer,  

I'm feeling like employers are going to brush me off and wonder if I should brace for a lot of difficulty.




2 Comments

Image of Holli R.

Holli R.

Jul 11, 2015

I'm not sure how to delete a post and re-post.  Hence, I'm adding some information here.

To provide more background about a previous employment situation I left.  Beyond workload, I didn't feel that I could do as thorough a job as I would have liked.  As I stepped into the job, it was apparent that systems and procedures hadn't been kept up because of loss of staff.  There were many surprises and instances in which I had to backtrack and it always took more time to do what could have been a simple task.  I was a multi-headed FTE performing professional duties as well as general administrative tasks. 
On top of everything, board members were micromanaging staff and often complaining about how work was being done and that often resulted in having to backtrack and re-consider decisions that had already been made. 

On top of the stress, I was having a lot of back flare-ups that were making it hard to do the job and I made the mistake of expressing that I didn't think the job was a fit.  They begged me to stay for their conference.  I did and the conference was successful. However, after that, I wasn't getting much in the way of communication or direction and was then being asked to throw up a website in two months.  I was afraid of throwing up a shoddy website and was also afraid that they were trying to get ride of me and concluded the job wasn't a fit.  

I was initially frustrated when I made my decision, but I did leave on good terms and did what I would to recommend steps for putting up a new website.  

I realize this is very long winded, but I'm struggling with what I can say when an employer asks me why I thought the job wasn't fit.  I just wanted to move one without angst and would never badmouth the employer to an interviewer.  I think I need more structure or at least some room to be able to produce work that portrays an organization in a positive way and has positive impact for the organization.


Image of Margot Larson

Margot Larson

Jul 14, 2015

Career Coach Comment:

Holi, 

Prepare a good answer as to why you were not a good fit. Don't try to wing it. Here is an example.

My standards are high when it comes to process and system efficiency. My Supervisor wanted a quick fix for everything.  When I resigned, they asked me to please stay on and I did to help them through their conference and then left on good terms.  I prefer an environment where there is  a focus on Quality of Services and Process.

Be sure to practice so that this flows comfortably in your interview.  You can bring some notes to the interview to know what you want to say and what to ask.

Hope this helps.  I suggest you do a Mock Interview with someone to refine and test out your interview skills.

I hope this is helpful.

Margot


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