In an interview, how do I talk about my previous job - where I was never onboarded, my creative director was verbally abusive and I quit after a month - without coming off like I’m talking ****?

like
Posting as :
works at
You are currently posting as works at

You were there for one month? The answer is that you don’t talk about it. List it as freelance and talk about the job you had before that

likesmart

Thank you for explaining more. First off, I hope you’re doing better! I can count on one hand the people I know on this industry who haven’t dealt with some sort of mental health issue. That can be the absolute worst, and I wish you the best in dealing with it. I think your best off just saying you’ve been freelance for the past few years, but are now looking for something more permanent. Give a couple reasons why you liked freelance (it allowed you to work with a bunch of different people and learn different things, etc) but now you’re looking to settle down with a team for the long haul. I don’t think you need to mention your short stint at your last job. And while there is no shame in mentioning the mental health issues, you shouldn’t feel a giant need to bring them up. However, if there is an big gap of work in your portfolio, then you can say you took some time off for “health reasons” but are now feeling great and ready to jump back into the swing of things. With the right attitude, that will be received very well.

Good luck, and happy Thanksgiving! 🦃

likehelpful

Also glad you’re feeling better. I don’t think you really need to address it proactively. If they ask you can just say it ended up not being a great cultural fit for me. If they press, I wouldn’t talk about lack of Onboarding as that’s a chronic industry wide issue. I’d turn it around and say I’ve heard the culture and mentor ship here is really strong. That was lacking in my last role and I’m hopeful to get back to a place that builds and nurtures strong teams

likesmart

Thank you! Really appreciate it! Happy thanksgiving to you as well.

like

As a heads up, some people could interpret the situation you described as you not giving it enough of a chance. There are many reasons why on boarding gets delayed, and the verbal abuse may be misinterpreted as something more minor than it was. That’s not my interpretation, but you might want to be ready for that.

Thanks for the responses. So the job I had before that ended in December 2016. After the incident at my last job (which ended in March 2017), I took some time off due to health issues. If I don’t mention the last job I’ve got an almost two year gap in my resume and have to deal with potential stigmas if I mention health issues. Any advice for that? Should I be up front and own it or dance around it?

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