Hubby failed probation period - how to spin in job interview?

[marriedmum]

My husband has just lost his job after he failed his probation period. He has got some more interviews lined up next week, but we're not sure what he should say about why he left his last job?

Should he...
Be up front and honest and mention it at first interview?

Mention it only if he can't avoid it?

Mention it if he is offered the job and before they check references?

I understand that he will get a factual reference from his last job, but unsure as to whether it will say the reason why he left.

Also, what should he say when asked how long his notice period is?

The reason for him leaving the last job was his bad administrational skills. It might impact on another job, but is not the primary focus of his role.

We just don't know whether to try and fudge / spin questions that indirectly mention it or whether it would be better to be totally upfront and honest.

All help gratefully received.

I think he should be upfront about it from the start. They won't think much of him if he waits until he is offered the job to come clean.

Acknowledging his faults can actually be a positive thing - he can say that administrative skills are his weak point but he is doing x, y, and z to improve them.

I don't think it's likely to be his decision when to bring it up tbh. If I were interviewing someone who was only at their last job 3 or 6 months, I'd be asking why straight away. So the question is really does he tell the truth or not when it comes up.

I would not normally advocate being dishonest in a recruitment situation, but I am a realist and an experienced recruiter, and unless the job is very different from the one he failed probation at, if I were the interviewer for a new job, I wouldn't touch him with a barge pole if I knew that to be honest. So depending on the situation/differences between jobs, it may be his only option. Recruiting is a pain, time consuming and expensive, so you wouldn't normally let someone go unless you felt whatever problems there were were not fixable, and a new employer will know that. So in this case, if he can get away with bending the truth a bit, it might be the only realistic choice unless he is changing to a very different job altogether.

I think step one is to establish exactly what would be said in a reference. It's normally discussed when someone is dismissed, but if he's not clear about it, he needs to go back and find out, as what a previous employer says about reason for leaving is obviously crucial.

If his previous employer will cooperate and not actually say he was sacked, he could then say he identified that the job/company was not right for him and felt it was better to make a fresh start sooner rather than hang on for months. There's nothing wrong with that.

His previous employer may not cooperate. An employer is legally obliged when giving a reference to not give a misleading overall impression of the person, so they have to be careful. They may be prepared to be very very basic in the information they give though, and just not give reason for leaving.

If the job/s he's applying for are sufficiently different that it's not that important, he could consider being honest, and that would be better. But if they are very similar, I'm not sure how successful he'd be. If I had a job as an HR Manager, then failed the probationary period, I would not expect another organisation to give me a job as an HR Manager knowing that. Possibly only if it were a very different type of organisation, and therefore the jobs were actually very different.

Not sure what you mean about what to say when asked what his notice period is? He is not still working there is he, so what difference does it make?

He couldn't pretend he was still there and was working his notice, if that's what you're thinking, as however basic a reference the previous employer gives, it will give dates of employment.

I'm still thinking, trying to imagine I was the recruiter. If I knew before even meeting the person, I wouldn't touch them.

If however I met them and was wowed by them in the interview, and by their cv, I might let them off if they brought it up (having already wowed me, say at second interview or offer stage), explained it well, explained what they were already doing to sort out the problems, and if there was a good reason those things couldn't be done while at the old employer.

It's so tricky. It's not necessarily a clear cut 'be honest' or 'lie' because it depends on so many things, and the bottom line is if I were interviewing him, I'd ask straight away.

Sorry, am waffling now!

Thanks fbb, that's very helpful. If by some chance, it is not brought up... when do you think he should???

Cheers

I am surprised that they finished him if he didn't pass his probationary period. Did he have any sort of mid-way meeting where the employer should have worked with him to plan how he would meet any goals that were set?
I am not sure of the legalitles around this, but from what I do remember when I worked at an advice centre, it is the employers duty to attempt to enable the worker to meet requirements - if the worker then fails after the support (and only then) can they actually finish him.

perhaps he could say somehting along th lines that it wasn't the job he was initially led to believe and that he finished after his probationary period by mutual agreement.

Joash during the first year of employment the employee's rights are very limited, and an employer can basically dismiss them whenever they like without having to give a reason. There's no concept in law of a 'probationary period', it's basically just a handy administrative vehicle for the employer to formally assess performance and make a decision about the new employee's future. But actually they could do so at any point during the first year.

Of course, a decent employer would speak to the person about their concerns during a probationary period, and give the person every opportunity to address them, and most employers would do this, apart from anything because it's in their interests to sort it out rather than start recruitment again.

In this situation if by any chance the interviewers don't ever bring it up, I'd probably say go to the interview, completely wow them, then depending on the people concerned/how things pan out, consider maybe raising it towards the end of a second interview - so when they are already keen and have had a chance to form their own opinion without it being clouded.

Thank you for the advice - very helpful.