By Tabitha Makumi
For most people, bosses are not their best friends. You can count yourself lucky if you have one who you can get along with without too much effort. On the other hand you can have one who is pretty wacko, the one who enters the office and everyone goes still, people seem to stop breathing and you can hear a pin drop.
‘What happens when you attend an interview and you are told to describe your last boss?’
Here is a bad answer which you will be tempted to give.
Oh my God! He was a nutcase, completely incompetent, and a nightmare to work with, which is why I’ve decided to move on to another job. He drove everyone nuts in the office and we all hated him except that we didn’t say it to his face. Phew, I am just glad to e out of there.
While this may be the truth, you don’t want it out there. Even if you disliked your boss, don’t say so. Remember, If you get the job, the person interviewing you will someday be your previous boss. The last thing they want is to hire someone who they know is going to badmouth them some day. Instead of trashing your former employer, stay positive and focus on what you learned from him no matter how awful he really was.
For example, a Human Resource Officer at Corporate Staffing Service
told me about this twenty five year old guy he interviewed just the
other day and the job candidate couldn’t stop raving about how she hated
her boss and how horrible the last company she worked for was.
Unfortunately for her, that company happened to be one of the biggest clients for the Westlands based recruitment agency….Imagine that! Too bad for the candidate.
Here is a sample of a good answer
“My last boss taught me the importance of time management—he didn’t pull any punches, and was extremely deadline-driven. His no-nonsense attitude pushed me to work harder, and to meet deadlines I never even thought were possible.”
Or
I learned a lot about organization from my last boss. I’ve always been an organized person, but I learned new ways to organize and mobilize the staff from him, which was very valuable for my management abilities.
For most people, bosses are not their best friends. You can count yourself lucky if you have one who you can get along with without too much effort. On the other hand you can have one who is pretty wacko, the one who enters the office and everyone goes still, people seem to stop breathing and you can hear a pin drop.
‘What happens when you attend an interview and you are told to describe your last boss?’
Here is a bad answer which you will be tempted to give.
Oh my God! He was a nutcase, completely incompetent, and a nightmare to work with, which is why I’ve decided to move on to another job. He drove everyone nuts in the office and we all hated him except that we didn’t say it to his face. Phew, I am just glad to e out of there.
While this may be the truth, you don’t want it out there. Even if you disliked your boss, don’t say so. Remember, If you get the job, the person interviewing you will someday be your previous boss. The last thing they want is to hire someone who they know is going to badmouth them some day. Instead of trashing your former employer, stay positive and focus on what you learned from him no matter how awful he really was.
Never Bad Mouth Your Previous Boss in a Job Interview.
Unfortunately for her, that company happened to be one of the biggest clients for the Westlands based recruitment agency….Imagine that! Too bad for the candidate.
Here is a sample of a good answer
“My last boss taught me the importance of time management—he didn’t pull any punches, and was extremely deadline-driven. His no-nonsense attitude pushed me to work harder, and to meet deadlines I never even thought were possible.”
Or
I learned a lot about organization from my last boss. I’ve always been an organized person, but I learned new ways to organize and mobilize the staff from him, which was very valuable for my management abilities.
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