Is Negative Talk About an Ex-Job a Red Flag?

mhajieva
Mar 2
3 min read

Updated: Mar 3

The internet offers many dos and don’ts for interviews, workplace behavior, and relationships. One common recommendation which I observed is to avoid criticizing past experiences to maintain professionalism.

But is it really that crucial to avoid negative talk about a previous job?

While some advise focusing on 'how to answer such questions,' I would encourage you to come to your own conclusions. Let’s dive a little bit into the topic to find our own approach.

Is it bad or good?

I believe good or bad depends on how much one is ready and can afford to take steps for better results. To evaluate whether it’s bad or good to complain about previous experiences, I would suggest first broadening the perspective.

As a psychologist, I would say each case, as well as each candidate, is unique and requires an individual approach. It's important to work together with the individual to determine what works best for them.
From an HR perspective, I would consider the measures we can afford to reduce turnover risk, the competitiveness of the candidate among the applicants, the budget, and contract type. I would also assess how much time and energy I can invest in aligning with the hiring manager, all within the given deadlines, market demands, and other factors when hiring an employee.
As a hiring manager, I would focus on how much energy and attention I can afford to give to the potential employee to achieve the expected work performance, while also considering their fit with the team, skills, long-term potential, and alignment with organizational goals.
As a candidate, I would pay attention to whether the complaint aligns with my general approach or if I'm simply reacting to situational stress during my response. It would be even more helpful to consider what I expect from the hiring side by expressing (or even just having) such a complaint.

Above mentioned approaches are just samples from many other perspectives. So in the end it is a matter of perspective to evaluate it good or bad.

For the best interest of a candidate

For a candidate it might be helpful to get aware about own willings, weak and strong points, opportunities etc. SWOT analysis might be helpful tool here.

Or I would also suggest three potential options for a wider view. Here, Erik Berne's transactional analysis model might be a sample approach. One can evaluate expectations based on three ego states he or she is experiencing:

Child: If a candidate tends to complain about a past experience, it’s important to consider whether they trust that person for help, advice, or action. In this case, the hiring team plays a key role in deciding how to respond.
Adult: Otherwise, an alternative approach is accepting a constructive approach to the situation by taking at least partial ownership of an experience. This seems more about mutual agreement of matching.
Parent: Another approach is taking a full responsibility to one’s own shoulders where there is no chance to consider any help or action from the side of hiring team. This is more about full independency and not less about hiring match.

Ultimately, all approaches are healthy if they align with the candidate’s sincere approach.

P.S. Being in a child, adult, or parent ego state does not necessarily correlate with one's actual age, parental status, or maturity.

Your choice

As, again, returning to the approach of "it is a matter of perspective," I would like to end with a question: Is negative talk about a previous job a red flag for YOU?

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References

WordStream. (2024, July 16). How to do a SWOT analysis. https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/12/20/swot-analysis
Berne, E. (1964). Games people play: The psychology of human relationships. Grove Press.

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"Angelo" by Juan Martín Uranga