There’s a disciplinary action against me pending – must I mention it at job interviews?
I have worked in my present job for nine years and my work has been highly praised by my line manager and the committee I work for. Sadly the chief executive of the society (consisting of five staff including her) is a very difficult person and we have had several quarrels over minor issues. She was my line manager for the first five years, after which I asked to be transferred to my present line manager.
Three years ago one of my colleagues raised grievances with the CEO and I also raised a grievance with her 20 months ago.
My grievance was never dealt with and five months ago she raised a disciplinary action against me, which was actioned by the trustees with a first written warning for gross insubordination. In addition the trustees said that they wanted to arrange mediation for the CEO and myself. I took legal advice and appealed. When the appeal’s hearing was to be arranged, I heard that the person holding it had asked for clarification from the trustees and since then everything has been put on ice.
My line manager supports me and is very keen to keep me, but he is a busy hospital consultant and remote from the office. The atmosphere since the incident which led to the disciplinary action was initially awful – the CEO did not communicate with me at all for eight weeks. It then became slightly more normal, but there is still a lot of tension. I do not want to continue working in this environment and have started looking around for a new job.
Do I have to mention the disciplinary action when I go for interviews? At what point and how can I do this, without raising the suspicion that I may be a difficult employee? I am 55 years old and had four different jobs before the present position, each between five and seven years. I have never had a disciplinary action raised against me before.
Jeremy says
You refer to “the incident which led to the disciplinary action”. I wish you’d told me what that incident was. It’s probably unfair but I’m left with an uneasy feeling that you may have been a little less than even-handed in your description of your relationship with the CEO. However, I can see that the atmosphere in your office must be pretty poisonous and that you have every reason to be looking for another job.
You ask when you go for interviews whether you need to mention the disciplinary action. I’d be pretty certain that you do. Any request for a reference by a recruiting company would surely disclose it and it would certainly count against you if you were seen to have withheld it.
Once that disciplinary action is known, however, the incident that provoked it will also have to be known. Since I don’t know what it was, it’s hard for me to gauge the harm it might do to your chances, but my general advice is to be absolutely open. The slightest suggestion that you’re being economical with the truth is going to raise doubts about you, and when there are equally qualified candidates for the same role, just one lingering doubt can be decisive.
The core of your problem is your relationship with your CEO. Don’t attempt to disguise this fact. Most interviewers will know that personality clashes are common – particularly, perhaps, in smaller offices – and won’t necessarily side against you. But please don’t come across as either bitter or vindictive – the more measured and reasonable you are, the better your chances. And be sure to ask your line manager for a supportive letter. He doesn’t have to be critical of the CEO in order to reassure prospective employers of your proven qualities.
Readers say
• No. Don’t. It’s still under appeal, so it’s not on your record and wouldn’t stand up in court. If it comes up, deal with it then – but to offer it up would just be excluding yourself for something that sounds like it wasn’t your fault. HotSnow
• Keep records of everything and consider seeking legal advice. If the company is stupid enough to inform any future employer and/or block you from moving on (when an outstanding appeal is in progress), I’d say you’d have a pretty strong case for constructive dismissal. reefdogg
• It has been my experience that once you raise a formal complaint via the disciplinary process against a colleague (or boss) are they are formally made aware of this, you can probably never work with that person again. Best to leave. stevenhope1964
I’m a history graduate with a good degree. Why am I unable to get a better job?
I graduated with a 2:1 in history in 2013. I am now 22 and have become stuck as a waitress. What started out as a short-term solution to paying off my overdraft has now become a seven-month job working irregular hours at minimum pay. I have now come to wonder: why as a graduate am I not able to get a “better” job?
My CV is good, although arguably basic. Ideally, I would be looking at a career in publishing which, yes, I’ve been told is a vulnerable sector, but it also appears to be impossible to gain entry into. No employer will take you on without work experience or a completed internship but, like so many other recent graduates, I am not in a financial position to undertake an unpaid internship – and any paid ones are like gold dust.
It’s a vicious cycle. It appears you need experience in everything before you will even be considered for an entry-level role.
Jeremy says
I suspect you were led to believe that a good degree would entitle you to privileged entry to a good job. You shouldn’t have had to find out the hard way how cruelly misleading this can be. It suggests that employers are out there, just waiting to employ you. They’re not. Your degree has a value: it provides entry-level reassurance to potential employers that you’re intelligent enough and disciplined enough to be worth considering. Beyond that, it’s up to you to show what they might gain from employing you – put crudely, what they’ll get for their money.
What, of practical utility, have you learned from your study of history? And from your seven months as a waitress? And how could it all apply to a job in another sector? Put together a compelling product pitch, with you as the product, and go for it.
Readers say
• Why can’t you get a better job? Because there are too many people chasing too few jobs. More specifically, there are too many graduates with unrealistic expectations. Neil Jones
• You can have interesting graduate jobs at 5% entry, not at 50%. Someone has to do the jobs which were once not considered graduate level. The whole system is screwed up and there needs to be less entry into universities and a re-introduction of proper technical (in all senses of the word) colleges. Cranebill
• I think getting a job in a difficult field can be done. But you need determination and focus from the get-go. You have to be clear on what qualities you bring to the table and you have to have a vision of why – what you do is more relevant than what other people do. Simother
For Jeremy Bullmore’s advice on a work issue, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or reply personally.
