Fired from probation
Hi everyone
First time posting on WSO for a while, in a bit of a tricky situation. For background I worked at a top healthcare M&A shop for c.1.5 years in London before doing strategy at a high growth start-up. Made the move to a growth equity shop 6 months ago and just found out the blue I didn't pass my probation. Am just wondering if you all have any insight on how easy / relatively more difficult it is to get another job in the same space with a "didn't pass my probation after 6 months'" on your CV?
If anyone's interested: the reason they gave was that I was taking on too much responsibility for the level I was at. I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary for an associate at a growth equity company (reaching out to companies, advisors I knew from my first job as a banker). Sure, I was hired on the deal-side but with little deal flow at the time, asked if I should help with origination (which they said yes). This was all supervised by colleagues who said I was doing a good job. What's more, when I joined I was told being entrepreneurial and self-starting is what was expected, so to get feedback out the blue at the end of probation like this was a big shock.
Help appreciated.
H
Sorry to hear about your situation, that is really shitty from their side. Frankly sounds like they changed their mind about hiring in general and wanted to cut costs.
I don't know a lot about this side of the industry but my advice for future interviews would be:
If you got on well with your manager at this shop, reach out to him/her and ask if they could write a reference letter. If you get this, you can speak to employers and say "this is how I departed but I still have a good relationship with the team there and can provide a reference if necessary".
If they don't write you a reference, then frankly you're in a tougher spot. But I'm a firm believer that if you want something enough you can get it.
I was let go at my workplace and assumed I would have this mark by my name forever and wouldn't be able to get another job. Same rules apply as when you were an undergrad, it's a numbers game - keep applying to as many relevant roles as possible. Get yourself in front of the recruiter/team and impress them. Those who stay in the industry long enough, will have seen people being let go for shitty reasons, and they will understand your situation and sympathise with you.
Ultimately, if you can prove you can do the job and are come across well in the interview, why would they let something that happened in your past, stop you from working for them? Put your best foot forward
Best of luck
Thanks for your comment - appreciate the advice. You're right, I've spoken to all my direct colleagues who said I was doing a fine job and they've already said they'd happily write a reference for me. They're not that senior though (Investment Director level); the Managing Partner who I had my exit interview with and made the call I imagine won't write but to be confirmed. Thanks again for the advice and support.
I echo what black_mamba said.
But I honestly think you can just avoid mentioning that you were fired from probation all together... You could instead just create a story about how you wanted a career break to focus on your personal life or something. Perhaps the culture is different in the US, but in the UK I have moved companies twice and both times my ex-employer was not contacted for references.
But if a reference is requested, I am sure you could politely ask your old manager to give you a nice reference and avoid mentioning your reason for leaving.
That's interesting - I would say from my and colleague's experiences in PE / Finance in the UK references are almost always asked for.
I totally agree saying that I needed a career break / personal reason / leave on mutual grounds is definitely something that would be easier to explain during interviews - it's not something I had fully considered so thanks for this.
Equally I'm not one to be comfortable telling even white lies. It seems there were a lot of small things that contributed to the probation decision in my case; couple of other examples being 1) once I came in an hour later than everyone else, and was reprimanded despite being told there's no FaceTime and I had no work to do (it didn't happen again). 2) At one point I contacted our Salesforce customer support and it got back to the managing partner who got upset as I shouldn't have done that without asking. The circumstances are so baffling I'd potentially look better / be easier to understand if I just explained the situation (not to mention COVID) rather than explain it away with a false albeit neutral reason....
The more I think about it the more I think a straight-up answer as to why I left probation (personal or otherwise) is the best story to go for in interviews...idk
H
From my experience when a company does background checks they have to get a 'reference' from your old work place but this is simply a letter that your previous employer will send that states "x was employed here between x date and x date under the job title x". All they need to do is confirm that you in fact did work where you said you did, for the right time and under the right job title. It is not a full breakdown of your responsibilities, performance and reasons for leaving etc.
So in theory, you could go down the "I wanted a career break to focus on personal life etc" but it just doesn't add up imo.
If I'm a recruiter I'm thinking... You left strategy to do growth equity because you supposedly want to work in that space. 6 months later you want a career break... and now you're applying for a similar role? How do I know this is really what you want to do? If you're telling the truth and wanted a career break, why are you applying again and how can I be sure you're here for the right reasons if just so recently you had doubts about it?
Even if you manage to convince me you've had a change of heart and are ready to get back in the space, the industry is a small place, and if someone knows your old work colleagues, they could call up and find out what really happened.
I think honesty is easier to convey alongside " I am super hungry and enthusiastic to get back in the space" instead of any grey areas.
These spots are tough to land and are high paying. They want perfection and if they have the slightest indication that they could hire someone better, they're going to bin you off at the probation. Reflect over your experience, write down the areas which you could have handled better. If you don't do this, you're just going to make the same mistakes again at your next spot.
The anecdote about getting in an hour later than everyone else - there's a no face time culture but does everyone adhere to that? Yes you didn't have any work to do but does everyone know that? If they don't they're simply getting the wrong impression when you rock up as the most junior person an hour after everyone else. I'm not saying this is how the world should work, its stupid frankly but if you really want the job, play by the rules and don't give anyone an opportunity to have something negative to say about you - whether it's justified or not.
I appreciate hindsight is 20/20, and telling you this now isn't going to change the past, but I think highlights the importance of reflection - just my 2 cents
if youre interested in tier 2 consulting (non big 4) corporate transformation / transaction advisory / business modeling opportunities reply and i can refer to my firm (London based). sorry to hear what happened
Thanks mate - I'm going to try and give it another crack but who knows where we'll be in 6 months time. Appreciate the offer.
H
Maybe my experiences with references are different because I work in Infra / Energy sector, so the hiring process usually involves a 3 hour modelling test with all the bells and whistles (perhaps give the employer more confidence you can do the job and removes the need for references??) But maybe there was a basic HR type reference to confirm my job title etc (but I was never made aware if this did happen).
Yes you are probably right about being honest, at least your mind can feel at rest if you tell the truth and don't have to worry about the hiring managers finding out. Another approach you could take is wording it so that you are honest about failing probation but indicating that it was more related to company finances / deal flow etc (something out of your control and not because of your performance).
The face time thing is a bad sign in my opinion. Sounds like being fired might be a blessing in disguise, especially if they reprimand you for being an hour late but I presume do not give you credit for working late into the night most days? I understand these are excessively high paying roles, but I still feel that employers should be a little more mindful about our personal life outside the office...
That said, I presume the issue may be more about communication, or lack thereof? I imagine if you just pinged your boss with "hey, is it okay if I arrive an hour late this morning as I need to do xxx?" he probably would have been okay with it, but just rocking up an hour late gives the impression you just slept in or are not motivated to put in the effort when the workload is low.
Thanks Leem. When I applied I also had an all day modelling / case-study type task.
Appreciate your opinion and insight mate. Just going to have to reflect on it all and move on.
H
Sounds like you may have inadvertently stepped on some cultural fit toes ... still quite rare to be fired from probation and I am sorry to hear that happened to you! I work in London at a tech GE/LBO, if you want to feel free to DM me and I'll give you my perspective on the specific situation and any tips / referrals I can for finding something new
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