Please, for the Love of All That’s Holy in Corporate America, Stop Saying These 8 Things at Work
Doing your work absolutely matters. But you can easily sabotage yourself by saying the wrong thing. These are a few phrases that quietly sabotage your reputation.
Welcome to the Scarlet Ink newsletter. I’m Dave Anderson, an ex-Amazon Tech Director and GM. Each week I write a newsletter article on tech industry careers and tactical leadership advice.
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Sometimes I really get carried away with my headlines. As my wife says, “You really crack yourself up, don’t you?”
My wife and I spend a lot of time trail running. Earlier this week we spent a couple of days running the hills near Yakima, Washington. I wouldn’t say that it’s the prettiest place we’ve run (apologies to all my Yakima readers), but it’s nice to run in new places occasionally.
If you’ve only done city running, you might not know how different trail running is. It’s not just that you have to deal with roots and rocks and dirt and hills. I think the bigger difference is that it’s far slower. Not just because I’m a slow runner. But unless you’re elite level, you’re spending an awful lot of time walking.
Steep hill? Walk it. Log on the trail? Better walk around or over it so I don’t trip. Bunch of rocks on the trail? Walk to avoid twisting my ankles. Need to eat some candy to refuel? Time to walk.
So anyway, my point is that a 3-hour run sounds impressive (and it’s certainly not bad), but the distance we travel in 3 hours is a bit sad.
That being said, I frequently spend some of those long runs thinking about what to write. I was going over potential articles about things you should say. Like things you should say to get a promotion, or get hired, or get your project approved. But it didn’t excite me. I’ve written articles on those topics, and I felt like doing something more unique.
Then I inverted it, as you should always consider doing when brainstorming. What if I wrote about things not to say to get a promotion, or get hired, or get your project approved? Ah yes, that sounded like a lot of fun.
So that’s where we are. I hope you enjoy!
1. “I was fired from my last role.”
This is an extremely common question on Reddit.
“So, I was fired for swearing at my boss. How do I explain this in future interviews?”
“I was just given a PIP for underperformance. How much should I defend myself in upcoming interviews?”
“I think I’m about to be fired, but it’s my manager’s fault. How can I explain in interviews that my manager was wrong?”
Your future team doesn’t need to know any of this.
The vast majority of companies will answer a specific question about you. “Did this person work for you?”
And their answer will almost certainly be the same that every company gives. “Yes, from X date to Y date.”
That answer is true regardless of you being fired, quit, laid off, etc. No professional company will actually say that you were fired. As I understand it (from Amazon’s HR and legal team, since I’ve asked), it’s a legal risk for them to talk about you in a negative way, so they just won’t do it.
Your story is your own to give. And you should think carefully about what story you want to tell yourself and others. Because I do think that the message you give yourself is also important.
Sometimes roles aren’t a fit. Sometimes managers aren’t a fit. And it’s your job to decide how you’d like to view leaving the company.
If you get fired, or told that you’re bad at your job, or laid off - forget all that nonsense. Take a deep breath, and shake it off. The best people get fired. The worst people get promoted. What happened to you is not a true measurement of your worth.
“What happened with your last role?” - What can you say? All the following are fine, and they’re all they need to know.
“I thought it was a great time to find a new role. I felt like doing something new.”
“I hadn’t taken a long break in a while, so I decided I would leave and take a break.”
“We just had our first child, and I thought it would be great to spend some time at home.”
“I was excited about a startup idea, and decided I should take a swing at it. It didn’t work out, but that happens. I’m glad I tried. So now I’m looking for a new role!”
No one will contradict you, and your story is your own business.
What about that big gap in your resume, when you couldn’t find a new position for a while? Again, your story is your own to tell. I wouldn’t personally want to tell a story that no one wants to hire me. That doesn’t sound like an attractive employee.
“You’ve been out of work for quite a while?”
“I was working on a few exciting startup ideas of my own, and I wanted to see if they had legs before going to work again.” - Make sure you’re ready to explain what those ideas were.
“I hadn’t had more than 2 weeks off work since I graduated from college. I wanted to spend time with my family, travel, and relax.”
“I’ve always wanted to learn how to write / build robots / make cheese / other interesting hobby. I had a great time focusing on a hobby for a while.” - Better be ready to talk about your hobby in case your interviewer knows about it.
Hopefully they don’t care that you have a gap in your resume, but having a reasonable excuse is always a good idea.
What about references? That’s why you can choose your own references. Pick your friends, and talk to them ahead of time. You’ll be good.