How do I explain why I quit this job, when in fact I quit because my boss was requiring me to do unethical things?

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Bartolome_Casas

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How do I explain why I quit this job, when I quit because my boss was requiring me to do unethical things?

I worked for an investment firm. My boss was requiring that I omit telling something to clients.

He wasn’t requiring that I tell an actual falsehood, but just omit telling some things that clients had a right to know and needed to know in order to make informed choices about their finances. The consequences to clients of knowing these certain bits of information could be very severe.

I could not report this situation to the boss of my boss, since my boss would just deny giving me this order, and would them make stuff up to get me fired. That’s the kind of guy he is. He plays “hard ball.”

So, after a few attempts to get my boss to understand my point of view on this, and after being threatened a few times by my boss with firing and payback, I just quit. I gave no notice, and gave no reason for quitting. I just never went back to work. I resigned by email.

Right after I quit, my boss emailed to me a glowing letter of reference. Why did he do that? I assume as a measure to make sure I wouldn’t go blabbing about how unethical he was. It was a bribe, in a sense.

In fact, I have told no one. I have needed him to be a reference for me, and to continue to do so. I have another job now, but I since my current job is temporary only, I still have to use that old boss as a reference.

Every job application and every job interview asks me to tell why I quit that job I’ve been telling you about.

I cannot tell potential employers the truth.

First, they may call my old boss and tell them that I said he was very unethical. Then he’d never give me a good reference again, and might even do other things to get revenge. Yes, revenge. That’s how my old boss is. He always gets revenge against other who’ve hurt him, even if the other person is technically “in the right.”

Second, most potential employers give the “benefit of the doubt” to workplace supervisors. They will assume that I was the one who was unethical or who could not follow instructions in the workplace.

So, what DO I tell potential employers about why I left that job?

I always tell them that I quit, and that I am on good terms with my former boss there, and that he will give me a positive reference if they wish to contact him.

But potential employers ALWAYS want to know MORE. They want details. When I refuse to give details, I can tell they get angry and suspicious. Result: I don’t get hired.

Any suggestions about how to explain why I left that job?
 
“I felt it was time to move on to a job more in line with my own goals and aspirations in the future. I did not feel that my previous employer and I had the same vision and so I left to find a job with future advancement that also lined up with my own personal goals and ideas.”

Let them know that you simply didn’t feel there was a future for you at that company, and that you wanted to keep being upwardly mobile and were looking for the company with the right fit for you.
 
“I have good ideas about how to improve business, especially in building good longer-term relations with investors. I don’t want to be critical of X, but I felt that many of my ideas were not listened to. I don’t expect my employer to always take up my suggestions but I think they are always worth listening to”.

And then be prepared to give an example of a good idea, and possibly an answer to the question: give an example of a time when you were not listened to.

Good luck. Well done on putting principle first.
 
well, if thats the case, why did you assume what i said applied to your suggestion?

i didnt read any of the replies before i posted in this thread.
 
bmullins said:
“I felt it was time to move on to a job more in line with my own goals and aspirations in the future. I did not feel that my previous employer and I had the same vision and so I left to find a job with future advancement that also lined up with my own personal goals and ideas.”

Let them know that you simply didn’t feel there was a future for you at that company, and that you wanted to keep being upwardly mobile and were looking for the company with the right fit for you.
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I vote for this one, with some specific examples as was suggested in the following answer. I think their trying to get you to discuss it further is a bit of a test, like are you the type to badmouth a supervisor? Or does what dissatisfied you and made you quit your previous job exist in the job you are applying for? They don’t want to hire and train you only to have you quit again.

Maybe reassuring them by saying something like you wanted to develop the type of relatioship with clients that the company you are interviewing at encourages (mention specifics) and you felt that your old company was more interested in (something).
 
I would say that I’d left the job because it didn’t meet the career goals that I had for myself in the environment that I worked in and that I left on good terms as evidenced by the glowing recommendation.

It isn’t lying. You are not responsible for your previous employer’s behaviour and you took a principled and moral action in not being involved with questionable work practises. Your career goals are to work in an ethical way, which in the financial industry is highly laudable, especially now. When you’re asked what your goals are, include that point about ethics but there’s no need to make it a complaint about the former employer. In fact, as far as interviews go, the least successful way to get a job is to complain about the last one, so simply don’t mention it. Employers are looking for your enthusiasm, so just roll your ethical stance into your enthusiastic and good reasons why any new employer should take you on. Not only does it clear the path into the job from the old one, but it also puts them on fair notice that you’re not going to undertake any funny business in their employ.
 
DexUK said:
I would say that I’d left the job because it didn’t meet the career goals that I had for myself in the environment that I worked in and that I left on good terms as evidenced by the glowing recommendation.

It isn’t lying. You are not responsible for your previous employer’s behaviour and you took a principled and moral action in not being involved with questionable work practises. Your career goals are to work in an ethical way, which in the financial industry is highly laudable, especially now. When you’re asked what your goals are, include that point about ethics but there’s no need to make it a complaint about the former employer. In fact, as far as interviews go, the least successful way to get a job is to complain about the last one, so simply don’t mention it. Employers are looking for your enthusiasm, so just roll your ethical stance into your enthusiastic and good reasons why any new employer should take you on. Not only does it clear the path into the job from the old one, but it also puts them on fair notice that you’re not going to undertake any funny business in their employ.
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That sounds like a good suggestion. If you worked there for a long period of time, you could add that you were looking for more of a challenge (true also, but the challenge which you wouldn’t want to mention is to make sales or recommendations without breaching ethics!). If you only worked there for a short time, you could say that it wasn’t a good fit for you, that you didn’t feel it was such that you could reach your full potential.

Interviewers can read between the lines, most times. If you’re really stuck, there are many job interviewing skills resources available for free nowadays, perhaps in your area. They may be able to help you properly formulate interviewing responses that while being truthful, are things prospective employers want to hear from a potential new hire.

One thing you may consider is looking into whether or not the ethical breach was also a legal issue. If so, you may be able to anonymously report your former boss to whatever regulatory authority that oversees such transactions. Best time to do this is AFTER you have a new job.
 
the above specific suggestions are good ones and I would agree with them. you’ll need to pick the one that feels most comfortable to you.

I particularly like the first one given by bmullins. “I felt it was time to move on to a job more in line with my own goals and aspirations in the future. I did not feel that my previous employer and I had the same vision and so I left to find a job with future advancement that also lined up with my own personal goals and ideas.”

then don’t pause there waiting for more questions. immediately start talking about what your personal goals and ideas are. this moves the conversation along and away from a delicate area, without appearing to do so.

If you want to re-interview with those firms that didn’t call you back, you might consider sending a short note to the interviewer stating that the question of why you quit made you uncomfortable because you felt like the honest answer would seem overly critical of your former employer and you didn’t want to do that. You’d be more than happy to come back in and talk to them in further detail, if that was the reason you weren’t re-contacted. then when you go back in, you can say that you felt like you and your boss just didn’t see eye to eye on your goals and future; that you had good ideas but that the boss just wouldn’t listen to what you had to say, and you found that very frustrating.
 
I left to persue other opportunities.

The ask a question about the company “I noticed that your company performance is rated at blah blah blah…”
 
One other thing, in this economy, it is going to be rough finding a job with a perfect work record - you are looking at a more difficult search because you quit a job with no notice and without having another job. No matter what the reason, you appear to be unreliable to the hiring manager and he has 100 resumes to choose from.

It will be a bit easier if you move to a different field, then, you left to pursue a different career path.
 
Castello said:
I left to persue other opportunities.

The ask a question about the company “I noticed that your company performance is rated at blah blah blah…”
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Excellent. Classic misdirection technique…(actually, it works…you’re showing interest in the current job opportunity, not dwelling on a past job).
Castello said:
One other thing, in this economy, it is going to be rough finding a job with a perfect work record - you are looking at a more difficult search because you quit a job with no notice and without having another job. No matter what the reason, you appear to be unreliable to the hiring manager and he has 100 resumes to choose from.

It will be a bit easier if you move to a different field, then, you left to pursue a different career path.
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Good point, although if the former boss provided an excellent reference, the subject of how much notice was given probably wouldn’t come up. As an employer, I’d never ask about it, and as an applicant, I’d avoid it like the plague.

But it is a red flag when it comes up that someone quit without notice…
 
I was a hiring manager for 15 years, I ALWAYS asked if they gave notice when checking references. And glowing references? I would ask “If they are so wonderful, why did you let them get away”. The way that one was answered spoke VOLUMES.
 
Castello said:
One other thing, in this economy, it is going to be rough finding a job with a perfect work record - you are looking at a more difficult search because you quit a job with no notice and without having another job. No matter what the reason, you appear to be unreliable to the hiring manager and he has 100 resumes to choose from…
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I think member Castello is describing how hiring managers really think and act.

i realize now that I should have just gone along with the unethical stuff until I could find another job. It was a terrible blunder to leave with no notice, and with no other job to go to. A little “ant” in a big system really doesn’t have that much freedom to make judgments about the ethics of superiors in a workplace. That is JUST THE WAY IT IS.
 
In your shoes, I would have stayed and fought, but, I am old and have been around the block a few times. I would have communicated to the boss in writing, ccing myself to make sure I had a record. I’d have quoted the law and the company policies. If I were fired without cause for violating either, I’d have pressed it with the proper regulatory bodies.

What you have now is in the past, so, my advice is to take another job - ANY other job, heck, I’d have gone to work at McDonalds or delivering pizzas or substitute teaching, anything that can get you WORKING. Next, network. You know people in your field. Who were your customers and your vendors who know you were a great upstanding guy who did a great job? Network with them.
 
hazmat said:
well, if thats the case, why did you assume what i said applied to your suggestion?

i didnt read any of the replies before i posted in this thread.
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Not reading posts before you reply is unhelpful. The reason I thought you were talking about my post is that your comment directly followed mine.
 
Part of interviewing well is the ability to be an artful dodger. 🙂 There are some questions you simply cannot (and should not) answer directly in an interview.

Bmullins gave a good template for the type of answer you can give that is honest, yet non-specific. You’re right to not want to bad-mouth a former employer in an interview. Nothing reflects more poorly on a candidate than bad mouthing one’s old boss (because if you’re bad mouthing the last boss, what’s going to stop you from bad mouthing them whenever their back is turned?). Even if you are 100% in the right and the boss is an immoral jerk, saying so is going to be a huge turn-off to a potential employer. They want to know that you’re someone they can work well with, not someone that they’re going to be butting heads with at every turn.
 
When you are interviewed and questioned about why you left your last job, simply say, “my superior and I did not see eye-to-eye on some company policies, and I felt that due to my moral and religious obligations I needed to resign” or something to that affect. Ppl like to hire honest ppl, and ppl with morals, especially if you are going to be handling thier money.
 
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