Advice on reason for quitting my job in interviews

[greenandsilver]

I could use some advice, I quit my job at a nursing home after six months because the DNS hated me, was making my life miserable, and I was basically forced to quit. I have references from my co-worker nurses but none from the DNS obviously. In my job interviews they ask why I quit. I have been told recently from a nurse I trust to say that I quit due to insurmountable personal differences with administration which resulted in my leaving the facility. Does this sound like a good answer to this touchy question or would you say something else? I loved my job and hopefully this comes through in interviews

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

I used something along the lines of "My previous job created a solid foundation of nursing knowledge, I am looking to build on and expand my nursing skills and gain experience in another area"

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Does this sound like a good answer to this touchy question or would you say something else?

I would surely say something else. Here's a cardinal rule of thumb: you, the interviewee, should never give any indication that you had any difficulties with former managers or coworkers. Never indicate that someone disliked you. Never indicate that you had irreconcilable differences with administration.

Keep things light and say, "I resigned from my last position because I wanted to explore other opportunities and continue to build upon my skill set as a nurse. If you hired me, I can envision myself building a lengthy relationship with the company."

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I agree with Commuter. Nursing is a small world and you'd be surprised who knows who and where. Criticism about your former coworkers/management is more likely to get back to them than you'd think.

[caliotter3]

I agree with Commuter. Nursing is a small world and you'd be surprised who knows who and where. Criticism about your former coworkers/management is more likely to get back to them than you'd think.

And chances are high that they already have a pretty good idea what the other side of the story is and they are very curious to hear what you have to say about it.

[greenandsilver]

Thank you for your comments everyone, if anyone else has anything to add, please do, I need all the advice I can get but I think I will go with what Tenebrae and TheCommuter said.

[mursinary]

To reiterate what others have already said, I would be very careful about saying anything negative about your former employer. Spin it into something positive, i.e. looking for more opportunities, challenges, skills, etc.

[RunBabyRN]

I agree, NEVER, EVER say anything bad about a former employer or company. You wanted to give yourself the opportunity to explore options more in line with your career goals, and *this* job is your dream! Personal differences reads that YOU were the problem, regardless of whether or not it's true. There are challenging personalities in every workplace- don't give them a reason to think that you are one of these.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Last week, someone was honest in their interview and informed us that she left after 3 months because she didn't get along with co-workers and the staffing was poor.

While that is valid, we didn't hire her. The same issues would surface at our facility no doubt. We weren't willing to take the risk.

Say you need a new environment, you wanted a different schedule, you want to learn new things.

[tinybbynurse]

I'm interested in this post and can understand where you're coming from in a way - while I didn't have interpersonal issues with my job, I am being assigned cases that don't require RN skill and should go to a cna and I am being paid as an LPN and not RN and this relates to the majority of my cases...and the hours are either way too many or way too little ...rarely steady...this job, like yours i suspect, has caused you undue mental stress and affected your health. Mine played a large role in almost sending me to the hospital with a panic attack where I couldnt breathe.so while we have different issues I understand why quitting felt like the better option in the end.

I agree that you shouldn't mention the personal differences (even though your boss prob was a butt) just because your new employer doesn't know who to believe even if you know for the better.

I'd Def say something along the lines of looking for a new challenge, environment, practice a new skills set etc ...basically saying without actually saying "I want a new environment / challenge / skills to practice because my last ones sucked and THIS job has what I'm looking for".