I blew my chance at the interview

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Recently I had an interview for a job I really wanted. The first interview went fine and they invited me back for a second interview. It was during the second interview that they asked me about my redundancy from my last job. Instead of telling them the truth I told them that the company felt my skills were too specialised and because I was the last in they let me go.

The real reason I was made redundant was because I suffered a period of exhaustion and became depressed and so was off work for some time. In that time the company ended my contract.

Now I am thinking it is best to tell the truth if I get another interview and say that I was made redundant because of ill health. The only misgiving I have about this is that it could open up a can of worms and lead me to disclose my aspie traits. Plus they will want a doctors report to see if I am fit etc.

A friend advised me to tell my next interviewer that I left my old job because of family problems which are sorted out now. But I am no good at being convincing so feel it best to tell the truth.

What do people think?

I know that the word redundant means repetitive but I don't know what it means in the context in which you wrote it. Sorry.

I think that's a perfectly acceptable answer. I would stand pat.

I think you have a pretty good feel for the social landscape, that if you told them it was a period of exhaustion and depression, might lead to disclose of aspie treats. They might want a medical report, even though I've read 25% of people during the course of their life will struggle with depression or anxiety seriously enough to potentially be helped by medication (by the way, the first medication isn't always the one which works for a particular person). And it sounds like your social read is that all this is too personal for a new company, and I tend to agree with you. They really shouldn't ask and they shouldn't judge a person as damaged goods for something as common as depression, or even something less common for that matter!

If I may use an analogy from poker, let's say a player makes a mistake and under-bets the flop. Well, that then becomes part of the texture of the hand and may be a big part of the reason a player is able to make a good play at the turn (4th card in Texas Hold'em).

PS I think 'redundancy' is a UK term and means the same as 'laid off' here in the states.

Last edited by AardvarkGoodSwimmer on 13 Jun 2012, 1:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

no need to disclose anything honestly about past job
only we aspic's are so naive and honest
NT's are smarter and they good at fooling people

It means that an employer has ended your contract of employment.

It is very hard to know what the best thing to do is. I know I should not disclose past illness to a potential employer but I worry that they can check up and find out why the employer laid me off.

I have been off work for 2 years now and getting bored of having no job. I have been specialised in softward development for over 12 years and haven't got a clue when it comes to other jobs.

Thanks for the responses.

That is one way, and be matter-of-fact and leave it somewhat vague and indefinite. Or, another matter-of-fact reason might be the deflecting reason of back to school.

Some people take the approach that they want to 'shine' or 'sparkle' during an interview. I guess this is the high risk, high reward strategy. I more take the approach that the point is to avoid pot holes. For example, if they ask the standard question, what are your weaknesses? I can give the deflecting answer of, sometimes I can be too much of a perfectionist. Which is kind of the corporate answer they want to hear anyway.

And, on a deeper level, the interview process is to see if you're willing and able to buff and deflect for the benefit of the corporate. For example, let's say the assignment is to re-write a manual and let's say it's just terrible with all kinds of inaccuracies. Maybe the official fiction is that we are "updating" the manual, and that's fine, unless maybe you have a more open relationship with a co-worker and the two of you are driving to a conference where you can speak freely in the car, something like that.

Maybe a somewhat broader variety of people are tolerated once they are on the job. But during the interview process, the widely held beliefs seem to look for and favor people who are steady eddie, effectively low-key, problems are like water off a duck's back and no big deal, etc, look forward to the work, sounds good. (One job ad said they wanted people who were both self-starters and team players! When of course people tend to be one or the other, and the two mindsets seem to go in different directions. But during interview process, sure, no problem, sounds good.)

Last edited by AardvarkGoodSwimmer on 15 Jun 2012, 2:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Honest to gosh, I really think two years without a job will be a bigger issue than the fact that one contract was not renewed. And people here are skillful and will help you find ways around that. Twelve years experienced in specialized software development, that's a big positive.