Had A Crazy Fight With The Manager

Amanda, who graduated with a degree in Business, now manages for a national lingerie retailer, the same store she worked in part-time as a student. In her current position she regularly interviews and hires CSRs, customer service representatives, for her store. A while back as she was reviewing a stack of applications for her chain's seasonal hiring she came across a curious notation. In the space designated for applicants to explain why they no longer worked for a previous employer, one applicant had written, "Had a crazy fight with the manager." Intrigued, Amanda called the applicant, a female student, for an interview along with several other candidates. During the interview Amanda found the applicant, who we will call Nikki, to be experienced, friendly and talky, very talky. When Amanda asked about the 'crazy fight' the job seeker responded, "Oh that is history and I am so totally over that." Amanda decided to give Nikki a try and hired her as temporary part-time help in the store's youth fashion section. Nikki's energetic personality and her tendency to talk ( and talk and talk) proved a perfect fit as she related well to the younger buyers the chain was trying to entice. Nikki has proven to be a worthwhile employee although Amanda does keep an eye on her.

What can a student learn from this? Well, first of all it, is probably not necessary to include potentially troubling details on any job application. While past experience is useful for a potential employer to know,( it can help them place you appropriately), you need to strike a balance between candor and discretion. When asked why you left a certain job "Scheduling conflict" will usually suffice. Although for this student a surprising statement at least got her an interview, for you, when filling out an application skip the "crazy fight" history. Give enough details to supply the potential employer with a general idea of your duties. Unless you are being hired as Director of a National Security Agency do not include derogatory information about yourself. In the case of a National Security Agency they probably already know.