Carol Kleiman’s Jan. 14 column contained one of the most irresponsible comments that I have ever seen in a newspaper. Characterizing a prospective employer’s question–“Why do you want to leave your present employer?”–as “invasive,” she cites a reader who wrote that he replies to this question: “My present employer `isn’t paying his bills.'”
According to the reader, this answer stops employers in their tracks and they move on to something else. Ms. Kleiman’s comment: “In other words, it has the desired effect.” By encouraging job applicants to lie about their employers and to expose themselves to lawsuits for defamation, Ms. Kleiman is giving advice that is harmful to both the applicant and the applicant’s employer. She also fails to understand that the purpose of an interview is to get a job. I have been representing employers in employment matters for more than 30 years, and I know that a lot of employers are not interested in hiring someone who makes disparaging comments about his or her current employer.
Furthermore it is absurd to characterize as “invasive” a question as to why an employee wants to leave his or her current employer. For most job applicants, this is an opportunity to express what they are looking for in a job; a carefully considered answer benefits both the interviewer and the interviewee.
Ms. Kleiman should be ashamed of herself for encouraging job applicants to deliberately lie about their employers. She should also be embarrassed about giving advice that can harm someone’s job opportunities.
