Explaining a Dismissal

[Irem]

I was recently fired from my first "real" job after 11 months.

In my exit interview they stated "restructering," but in my dismissal letter they cited declining performance, and also cited failure to improve following numerous conversations regarding my performance.

This is all untrue, as there was not ONE single conversation regarding my performance(excepting my 3 month review in which I received "above average" marks in almost every field), nor do I believe that my performance was inadequate. I believe that the real reason is that I disagreed with the way the department was being run and had a personal dislike of my manager(which I believe I did a decent job of disguising). I do not want the job back as I have been unhappy there for months and have been looking for work elsewhere(albeit at a more leisurely pace as I was currently employed).

However, I am worried about explaining this in future interviews. The company restructured several times in the time I was employed. All of my previous supervisors at the company are more than happy to give me an excellent reference; although all of them have subsequently left the company for many of the reasons which I had for doing so. I would also add that in the 11 months I have been employed, over 50% of the people that were employed when I started there have since left the company.

I have several people currently employed there also willing to give me excellent references, and support my explanations of the problems that I had with the management there, although none of them were in a supervisory role to me, and all are currently searching for work elsewhere as well.

This has already cost me one interview, which was to follow a preliminary interview with another department of the same company which had gone extremely well; as I felt compelled to be honest with the director.

How should I approach the topic? Should I keep silent and hope an interviewer will not ask under what circumstances I had left the company? Should I discuss honestly the circumstances in which I had been fired, and explain that I had been trying to leave anyway?

Any advice on how best to approach this in future interviews/job seeking situations would be MUCH appreciated, as this is not a topic I've had to face before!

Also, a friend recommended that I approach HR and ask them to remove my dismissal letter as it contains information that is untrue, and that they would be unable to substantiate. Would this be a recommended course of action, or likely to make any difference?

[Leonie9nj]

First off, don't lie.

When someone contacts your former employer, all they will probably get is the dates you worked and your title. Employers are not going to give out information that might come back to harm them later.

Tell your potential employer that you had above average performance reviews but the company let you go during restructuring. Slowly shift the conversation back to the great things you did for the company and how you improved the former company’s bottom line.

Everyone understands restructuring, and it’s more common now than it was years ago.

I wouldn’t worry about the dismissal letter at your former employer. Releasing that kind of information would set them up for a lawsuit.