reference / need advice

kiwi07

I just lost my first job at the council in the end of 6 months probationary. They did not give me a permanent job and just terminated my employment. I did not get on well with my manager and a month ago I made a complaint to her Senior manager against her on basis of bullying and asked to be transferred to another team. He did not do anything at all. My manager has been trying to get rid off me from the day one and used the situation that I was on probationary.One month later when my probationary was due her Senior manager called the meeting and my line manager brought a case against me saying that I am not suitable for the job. Now I am looking for a new job and asked HR what they will put as a reason for leaving and they replied "If a prospective employer asks us for a reference, we would need to give a reference stating your reason for leaving as being an unsuccessful probation period".

The questions are - What the impact it can have on my future job search within the same career. Will it put people off giving me a job? Is it a bad reference for potential employer?

SarEl

It could be - but a lot of that will be down to the way you play this. Complain or moan about how unfair it was or how your last manager hated you from day one, and it won't matter how true it is - many employers do not want to hear a sob story and will think that you may be trouble and not want to take this on. The best thing to do is be positive. You tried hard but could not settle into the job; you realise that the job wasn't for you because.... and now you have a clearer idea of what you are good at and think this job would be perfect because...; Or some such thing. What employers will expect is an explanation (and preferably before they hear it from the reference!) and they will not want to hear about how awful your last employer was. So find a convincing version of events that shows that you have learned something from this.

kiwi07

SarEl wrote: »

It could be - but a lot of that will be down to the way you play this. Complain or moan about how unfair it was or how your last manager hated you from day one, and it won't matter how true it is - many employers do not want to hear a sob story and will think that you may be trouble and not want to take this on. The best thing to do is be positive. You tried hard but could not settle into the job; you realise that the job wasn't for you because.... and now you have a clearer idea of what you are good at and think this job would be perfect because...; Or some such thing. What employers will expect is an explanation (and preferably before they hear it from the reference!) and they will not want to hear about how awful your last employer was. So find a convincing version of events that shows that you have learned something from this.

I appreciate your advice and I try to stay positive but the problem is I can't find a convincing version to my perspective employer why my probationary was not successful. I worry that it will be difficult for me to find another job bacause of this bad reference. Do they always want a reference from your last employer? In this case it was my first "proper" job and I tried hard but it did not work...

getmore4less

Councils seem to be a bit of closed shop.

don't toe the line and you are not welcome.

Making a complaint during probation is nearly always going to end up with the need to look for other work.

You might be able to spin a culture story along with the type of work not being suitable.

Also look for any stories about cutbacks thats another angle easy to get rid off to save budget.

kiwi07

getmore4less wrote: »

Councils seem to be a bit of closed shop.

don't toe the line and you are not welcome.

Making a complaint during probation is nearly always going to end up with the need to look for other work.

You might be able to spin a culture story along with the type of work not being suitable.

Also look for any stories about cutbacks thats another angle easy to get rid off to save budget.

The problem is that I am still looking for the same type of job. This is the only experience I've got in this field.