Why You Should Never Complain About Former BossesWritten by Bonnie Lowe
You're at a job interview. You're doing great, answering questions left and right. You're enthusiastic, upbeat, confident. Then they ask, "Why did you leave your last job?" An image of your former boss, red-faced and screaming, pops your head. He was such a jerk! You desperately want to vent your frustrations and tell them why you HAD to quit, but you hesitate, thinking... is honesty best policy in THIS situation? There's no better way to present yourself as a whiner than to complain about a former boss or job. Even if you left a job because your boss was an egomaniac who took credit for all of your hard work, verbally abused you in front of others, and poisoned plant on your desk, don't say anything bad about him/her during an interview. If you do, interviewer may think you have a problem with authority or can’t get along with others. After all, they don't know you. And as an authority figure, they may more easily identify with your maligned former boss than with you. It's best not to count on them believing YOUR side of story, even if it IS truth. So instead of saying "My boss was an incompetent idiot," choose one of these sample responses, whichever fits your particular situation best:
| | When and How to Say "I Just Can't Do It!"Written by Bonnie Lowe
We naturally hesitate to tell our boss when we can't do something or are feeling overwhelmed in our job. Bosses don't want to hear that, right? Well, it depends. In many situations, your boss is so busy that he/she doesn't keep track of how much work you're doing. When your boss gives you a new project, he's not thinking about all other projects you're already working on. And here's kicker -- unless you speak up and tell your boss that you can't handle workload he's giving you, he'll assume everything is fine. This can have bad consequences for you AND your boss. You know what will happen. Eventually things will start falling through cracks or you'll rush through tasks and start making mistakes. You can only do so much in a day, and deadlines will be missed. While you're stressing out, work that your boss needs you to do is NOT being done.
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