Taking the blame when you don’t get a job you felt you had coming can be difficult. It’s much more enjoyable to assume the employer wrongly didn’t hire you, and that you can make money off this mistake.
It’s sad to say that we all have to live in fear of getting sued – so allow today’s post to be my disclaimer.
I keep all records, interview notes, and documentation for at least three years out of fear that one day someone will wake up and say, hey, I’m X sexual orientation and really wanted that call center representative position I interviewed for. I bet they didn’t hire me because of that. I’ll sue so I can make lots of money off the city because they have it to spare.
Then I pull my notes.
Their resume had spelling errors and they could not describe what they did at more than one place of employment, they cursed 3 times during the interview, which they showed up for 40 minutes late. They chewed gum, didn’t take off their blue sunglasses, and didn’t take off their Bluetooth. Their phone rang during the interview, which they did not apologize to the hiring manager for, even when they took the call, to tell the caller they would call them back later. Their clothing was disheveled and stained, hygiene issues noted…
Wow, and this person’s suing. That’s why we keep notes. But save yourself legal fees. It’s very hard to prove you weren’t hired for a specific role for a specific reason – but worse than that, you’ve now burned a bridge. You will never have another interview with the place you’re suing, or its parent companies or affiliates. You never know who owns whom nowadays, or when you might want to be considered again by the employer in the future.
I once had an employee cut due to budget cuts, and then someone voluntarily left the department. I knew the employee was still job hunting, so I recommended to the department’s director that he rehire her. And his answer, “I probably would have, but she’s suing us, claiming she was let go for discrimination, so I can’t.”
So next time you’re thinking of suing over being let go or over not getting a position, why not instead invest those dollars you’d have spent on the lawyer on a career coach, to help you figure out why you’re not getting the positions you want.
They’ll tell you to shut the cellphone, take off the Bluetooth and sunglasses, spit out the gum, show up on time, oh yeah, and apply for position’s you’re qualified for.
I’m very sorry to all people who lose their positions or don’t get the ones they’re after, it’s happened to all of us, but suing isn’t the solution. You’ll just end up in years of conflict with bad karma and a bad name. Maybe you will make some money, but probably not as much as if you had put all that time, money, and effort into finding a better career.
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Sharon's Career Coaching (.cc) 