Looking for work after being dismissed

determined_new_ms

Please be gentle with me, it's taken a lot of courage to make this post...

In June I was dismissed from my employment. It was totally out of the blue, has shattered my confidence and I really don't know how to explain this to potential employers on applications or in interviews.

I had worked there for just under a year. The whole year was dogged by difficulties. 4 weeks before I was taken on they had taken on a new manager and I sat under him. He wasn't a great manager, was constantly on my back (so much so I went to the trustees over this a couple of times) and he wasn't performing. They dismissed him at the point where he should have been confirmed in post.

They then came to me and said they would have to extend my probation for 3 months as he hadn't assessed my performance or set me any objectives enabling them time to set objectives and assess my performance. The project went through a really turbulent period (it is a project for homeless people) and I didn't have any 121s with the person who became the manager. So at the 3 month point they extended my probation again but assured me it was their intention to confirm me at the end of this further extention. Predictably I didn't have any meetings with the manager until the last month of the probation but I have the minutes that confirm she was happy with my performance.

I then was ill so was off for a week and a couple of weeks later I went to Turkey for 10 days. The day I returned from leave I was called into a meeting and told they had decided not to confirm me in post so were terminating my contract effective immediately. The only concern they raised was the amount of time I had had off (we took custody of our granddaughter at the time of starting this job so over the year I had had to have time off to either look after her if she or the childminder was ill - probably 4 days over the course of the year - and court appearances and every couple of months I needed to leave work 1/2 hour early to have a meeting with a social worker).

At the point I asked for the meeting to end and reconvene as I was very upset (and started to cry). However since then they won't go into why they decided to let me go, all they have said is they had concerns about my performance. But they did say they will give me a good reference. As I was then driving home I received a call from a hospital to tell me my mother had died. The combination of these events left me reeling and I really didn't have it in me to follow this up.

I am now starting to apply for work again but my confidence is shattered and I really don't know what to say about this previous employment and why it ended without it seeming like I was a bad employee.

I'd really appreciate any advice.

HappyMJ

What bad timing...very bad timing. Sorry about your loss.

Are you sure you're ready to go back into the workplace?

You have a child you don't really have to if you don't want to.

What I would do is take on a day or two at a charity working for expenses only and ease yourself back into working again.

As the timing of your mother's death and the end of the employment is so close I would say to future employers that the reason for you leaving was your mother's declining health was requiring you to take days off work and that was incompatible with the employers needs so together you and your employer mutually decided to end the employment. As you will get a good reference as I'm sure you're a good employee except just for the fact of the multiple cases of days off and early leaving without notice this should be acceptable.

determined_new_ms

Thank you for replying HappyMJ. It hasn't been an easy 3 months. I'm not a 100% ready to start work yet, but my partner has felt the brunt of responsibility since I have been out of work and is worried a lot about what would happen if something happened to his job. I don't want to put him in a situation where I am enjoying somewhat of a sabbatical at the expense of his peace of mind.

I am reconsidering what I want to do and considering returning to university to do postgrad study and am looking for p/t work in the field I want to study further.

Because of my confidence being so low I have been loath to complete applications but I finally forced myself to on Thursday and did another yesterday. While I'm sure the 1st wasn't my best work it does seem to have removed a blockage. I've always been so confident about my abilities, both at application & interview stage and in the work place, but I'm not right now...

jobbingmusician

You've asked us to be gentle, but what you really need is to be gentle to YOURSELF.

I would put good money on their being one core reason why you were dismissed - the organisation didn't have sufficient funds to keep you on. I honestly believe that your dismissal had little or nothing to do with your performance. (OK, if you had been superwoman they might just have kept you. But I know what it's like for charities out there!)

So - look after yourself. When you are feeling a bit more chipper, you could consider contacting your past employers and asking them what they are going to put in your reference. Or you could get a trusted friend to write and ask for a reference as if they were going to employ you.

HappyMJ's advice is quite good, and you don't actually have to lie at all if you are careful - if you said at interview that you left your post at the time your mother was very unwell, and she died very shortly afterwards, most employers would assume that you left in order to care for her. Even if they directly asked you this, you could truthfully say that her death was very sudden.

I don't know how often you read this board, but if you read your post as if it had been written my someone else, I think you'd probably come to the same conclusion as I did 'the organisation wanted to close that unsuccessful project, and their decision to dismiss had very little to do with this employee'. I hope that helps with the confidence issue - their reasons for extending your probation sound sensible but unrelated to performance, and remember they did say they were intending to confirm you!

(Probation periods are ridiculous anyway. OK, they can tweak some terms and conditions following a successful probation period, but you have no full employment rights until you have been employed for 2 years irrespective of probation.)

Good luck with whatever you decide.

elsien

You went into a new job with a poor manager who was removed because he wasn't doing his job, into a chaotic work situation.
You were left to carry on with no supervision or proper objectives, but despite this performed well enough for the new manager to minute she was happy with your performance. And well enough that they are prepared to give you a good reference instead of a basic confirmation of the dates you were there, which they could easily do if they chose.
I'm with JM on this one - it sounds more like politics than performance to me. It would be helpful though if you could find out what the reference says about the reason for you leaving.
Good luck with applying for jobs when you're ready.