Laid off but in the middle of an interview
My fellow monkeys, I just wanted to get a sense of what my options are and more importantly, your honest opinions on what steps I should take.
A little background, I was employed in the asset mgmt industry but found out that I got the dreaded slip this week. I did voice my concerns that my job description was slowly changing to more regulatory and compliance and probably should of used another way to get my point across or kept my mouth shut which partially got me to where I am now. The only complication is that I am currently interviewing for 2 different roles at outside firms in hopes of transitioning out. I already finished my 1st rounds, if I make it to the 2nd round, I will be officially unemployed. At the point, should I just give the interviewers an updated resume and only elaborate if asked or be upfront and honest about it? I know this can go both ways and it really comes down to the interviewers' attention to detail from the resume I submitted and the "updated" one.
I don't think there's any need to submit an updated resume. Unless they ask you point blank if you're still employed, I think it's fine to not make them think otherwise.
When doing background checks at big firms they usually don't disclose much info on an employee that has left. I was interviewing for new jobs and did some research on my then current company's reference policy and there is a phone number that you're supposed to provide to new potential employers for reference checks. When you call the number you have to enter in the employees name and the only info it discloses is job title, dates of tenure, and if the employee is eligible for rehire. Most large companies don't allow managers to provide references for fear of a lawsuit. This was my experience, each company is different.
If the date on your application for the new job is prior to your last day of employment with the firm you got fired from the technically you should be ok.
Thanks for the comments and insights!
Kramer, I did end up calling HR and they eventually linked me up to a 3rd party company that they use to disclose employment information, which unfortunately, may include income =/. It looks to be a subsidiary or some sort of Experian.
Also, I did land the 2nd round interview. More than likely they will ask for a copy of resume when I sit with them, should I give them an "old" one? What are your thoughts on that? Thanks so much!
Give them the resume you applied with and don't comment on your current situation. I assume you had to fill out an online app before you went in for interviews, that is usually what the background check companies will use as their basis for checking up on you. The applications usually have a box at the end indicating that everything you enter must be truthful at the time of submission so as long as that is an accurate statement then you should be fine.
You'll be fine, I wouldn't worry about it. Good luck on the interviews!
BB Phone Interview- disclose layoff? (Originally Posted: 11/02/2015)
Hey Everyone,
I have a phone interview this week with an IBD recruiter at a BB and am very unsure how to deal with the following situation:
I am currently working at a boutique firm, and about 2 weeks ago there were announcements that there would be major layoffs due to business being slow. The CEO basically told us that if anyone was considering leaving in a few months to a year and wasn't totally committed to staying on, we could consider this an opportunity to accelerate our plans and volunteer to leave. I had been considering leaving for a while for a variety of reasons and ended up meeting with the CEO and volunteered to leave. I figured that was more honest than taking the spot of someone who really wanted to stay, among other reasons.
However, officially and on paper I was "laid off," meaning I got a letter saying I was let go, got severance, etc. My end date is in about a week (so it would be after my phone interview but it would be during the interview process if I make it through). Not sure if it matters, but the layoffs ended up being about half the company.
I am conflicted about how to deal with this. Should I: a) tell the recruiter that I was laid off b) tell the recruiter that I decided to leave for XYZ reasons and not mention layoffs c) tell the recruiter that I volunteered to leave but was officially laid off on paper d) not tell the recruiter anything during the phone interview but disclose one of (a-c) later in the process
I am concerned that anything other than option (c) could lead to some consequences down the line if the BB does an employment verification and what I told them doesn't match up, and especially if I didn't tell them anything. Obviously I am also concerned that options (a) and (c) make me look like a weaker candidate.
I would appreciate any input on this.
Thanks!
thanks John!
Option C
100% option c
Thanks for the input, sounds like telling the whole story is the best option
I would give them the resume you applied with.
laid off at a BB in IBD + interviewing at a PE firm (Originally Posted: 12/17/2011)
Here's my situation:
I was laid off a couple months ago for reasons completely unrelated to performance (this could be verified by references). In fact, I was a top ranked analyst. Many of the headhunters have an older version of my resume which states that I'm presently working at the BB. I recently got involved with a process at a PE firm through one of these headhunters (went through 2 rounds, now working on an at-home case study, next round would be the final round), but have yet to voluntarily divulge the fact that I was laid off. I have absolutely no intention of lying during a background check or providing false information, but I clearly haven't been 100% upfront during the interviews.
How would you suggest I handle this situation? If invited back for the final round, should I immediately tell people? Or should I wait until I receive an offer (G-d willing), and just make sure that I'm completely accurate when filling out the background check forms?
My advice is to tell them prior to your final round interviews. Few reasons:
1) They will conduct reference checks on you prior to extending an offer. They will ask to speak to your current supervisor as well as other people you've worked with. There will be no way to hide it at this point. Furthermore, I suspect that the PE firm you're interviewing at already has a relationship with your bank. It is possible that they would call friends of theirs to get the inside scoop on your performance before you even walk in the door. Believe it or not, this is pretty common. If this happens, you'll be in a tough situation.
2) You want to control the message regarding what happened. If for whatever reason they find out about it from a source other than you, you risk losing control of the message. You would also lose their trust, as their immediate assumption would be that you were lying to them. This is incredibly difficult to recover from.
3) Your final round interviews could be incredibly awkward if you try to walk the line between intellectual honestly and not disclosing your departure. Your work experience will undoubtedly be a key area of discussion in the interviews and it would be very, very difficult to tell your story without disclosing this information. Again, you may be able to weasel your way through it, but maybe not.
Given your termination was not performance related, I don't foresee this being an "auto-ding." It could turn into an auto-ding if presented the wrong way though. I suggest that you build a compelling argument/rationale for your termination and present it to your main point of contact at the PE firm in advance of your final rounds. If possible, develop support for your position with facts. Do you have proof that you were a top ranked analyst? This could go a long way in getting the PE firm comfortable that you're a top performer despite the circumstances.
Goodluck.
Why didn't they fire someone else?
I was laid off because they knew I was looking for opportunities to leave. Given they knew that layoffs would occur, they preferred to let me go knowing that that was my plan anyway.
why wouldnt they get rid of ppl who already had offers then? like a 2nd year who's going to leave in the summer. if you're at a bb, presumably there's enough of them hanging around.
the sense i'm getting is it was performance related and that's just a convenient excuse for them to use to avoid needing to tell the truth. or you were just doing a really, really bad job of managing your recruiting process (always skipping important things, poor attitude, etc) and they had enough of it. both of these are red flags - be able to explain why this isn't the case.
but yes, be honest about being laid off. it will b e a negative that you will need to explain, but it will come up regardless and i seriously doubt you'll get an offer if they find out from someone other than yourself.
I won't go into details publicly, but suffice it to say that I'm 100% positive it was not performance related. Regardless, it sounds like your advice is to be upfront about it before I go any further in the process.
I guess my only question is what makes you so certain it'd come up regardless?
Agree with compbanker, if you weren't laid off for performance-related reasons and your references at your former BB are great, it shouldn't cause you to be dinged from the process at all. I would be upfront about it.
Quick update for anyone who cares:
I submitted my case study on Tuesday, and they called me Wednesday to inform me I was being invited to a final round on Thursday (yesterday). I immediately called one of the senior guys informing him that I had actually been laid off a few months back and explained the entire story. He said the only thing I did wrong was not tell everyone during the initial rounds, but that assuming I did well in my final round, they'd call references and try to get comfortable with my story and ensure that it was not performance related. Long story short, I just got a call with an offer! Phew...I guess honesty is indeed the best policy.
Thanks especially to CompBanker and frank_reynolds.
Happy Holidays
CONGRATS!!!
I've been following this thread and your last post put a smile on my face for whatever reason. Congrats!
Congrats! It's good that you told them before final rounds, otherwise they could assume the worst. Good luck with the new PE job.
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