How To Talk Positively About A Negative Job Experience

Today’s question is about the intersection of job interviewing. If you’d like to see your question answered in a future issue, post a Comment or send me a message!

How do you convey in a positive twist, your reasons for wanting to leave your current job due to the existing negative traits? - Ivy

You don’t have to love everything about your current job. It’s no surprise to prospective employers that there are aspects of a candidate’s current job that are suboptimal. It explains in part why the candidate is looking, agrees to an exploratory interview, or returns the recruiter’s call. That said, no employer wants to feel like you’re looking at them only because you are running for the exit to get out of wherever you are.

The “positive twist” that Ivy is asking for is simply a reframe of what you don’t like in your current job to the aspirational thing you want in your next job. Talk about what you’re looking for, not what you’re running from. Here are 5 common job complaints and how to put a positive spin that helps your candidacy move forward:

1 - If you think you’re underpaid

Never talk about compensation as a reason for wanting to leave your current job. It just makes you sound like money is a primary motive, which is a shortsighted way of managing your career. Of course, money is a motivator, and you can and should negotiate for what you deserve once an employer expresses interest in hiring you. However, the driving motive should be career-related.

Employers want ambitious people with long-term aspirations. Highlight how broad your scope of responsibility is and how you’d like a similar or even larger role. This sets the level of your role, which indirectly sets the compensation expectation. You can also highlight specific wins and their impact on the bottom line. This introduces money into the conversation but in terms of the value you’d bring, which also indirectly sets a compensation expectation.

2 -- If you don’t like your boss

If you’re asked to describe your boss, don’t talk about what drives you crazy and pretend it’s okay. That’s just lying, and you might attract more of the same in your next role. Instead, think about a small specific thing they do that is okay, and then quickly shift the conversation back to the job at hand. For example, if you have a micromanager, for interview purposes they are someone who gives detailed instruction or who asks for exactly what they want or who gives continual feedback. If you have a yeller, they are passionate. If you have an idiot, they are hands-off. Then talk about your ideal work environment, and get the interview focused back on the best case, not the worst.

Many interviewers don’t ask about your boss, so definitely don’t offer unnecessary information. Even when you are asked about them, it’s typically to get a sense for the current environment you’re in. It may be in the context of asking how you like to be managed. It could be a trick question to see if you do go negative – and are the type of person who talks behind other people’s back. The only positive way to spin this question, if it pushes your hot button, is to be quick, gracious and focused on the next question.

3 -- If you disagree with the company direction or are concerned about its business prospects

You don’t want to go into too much detail if the company isn’t doing well because you might give away confidential information. If you’re not sure, assume all financial details and other numbers are confidential. Instead, you can point to the broader industry or the general economy as a reason that you’re listening to other opportunities.

What if the economy is strong, your industry is growing and even your company has had positive media coverage, but you don’t have faith in the leadership or strategic direction? In a strong market, keep your motives general. You’re open to opportunities because you like hearing what else is out there. You recognize that business can shift quickly, so you like to keep your options open. You have seen situations where conditions change unexpectedly (you don’t have to specify that this situation describes where you’re at), and so you’d like to be prepared.

4 -- If you feel mistreated

A project did worse than expected, and your boss blamed it on you. A recent restructuring means you’re now stuck doing less desirable tasks than others in your group. You once had resources that are now taken away. There are many legitimate reasons why an employee can feel slighted, frustrated or upset.

However, your prospective employer can’t help with any of these things, so there’s no point in raising upsetting experiences in a job interview. If you’re worried that you’ll leave one blaming boss for another or be stuck doing tasks you don’t really want or think you have resources only to have them taken, then earmark time in your search for thorough due diligence once you get an offer and know who your new boss is, what the job scope is supposed to be and what resources are supposed to be yours. Till then, find another reason that is motivating your move, and do not discuss problems specific to your old company with potential new ones.

5 -- If you want to do something else and no longer want your current role ever again

Don’t get defensive if you get calls for the same old jobs you no longer want. It makes sense that employers will target people who have done the job before. Have people to refer so you build a relationship, and pivot the conversation to what you are looking for, not a diatribe on why your current role no longer suits you.

Even if you only have positive experiences, you will encounter the negative interviewer

It’s well worth your time to learn how to handle difficult interview questions because you will encounter difficult interviewers. Some people frame all their questions to put others on the defensive. What was your biggest mistake? Tell me about your least favorite boss. How do you deal with a difficult client? The negative interviewer tries to stress you out and bring you down. The positive twist is to not let negative interviewers or negative questions bring you down, but rather move the interview back up with your aspirational talk and focus on the ideal.

Caroline Ceniza-Levine is the founder of the Dream Career Club, helping experienced professionals and entrepreneurs find work they love and earn more doing it. The DCC includes a variety of resources for job search, career change, even financial independence – and an option to add 1:1 coaching sessions for customized support.