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I am an accountant looking for another opportunity. I went on an interview through a recruiter for a Staff Accountant position at a medium sized company. The interview seemed to go well and they want me back for a second interview. There is something that the accounting manager who interviewed me said that gave me pause though. I asked why the position was open, and he said, "The last person in this position was here about 4 months and I let him go. He did good work, but there were some other issues." I said, "He didn't fit in personality wise?" He said, "No. He was a nice guy. The issue was it just didn't seem like we could keep him busy. I would see him in the break room away from his desk a lot. I think he was bored with the job." This threw up a red flag. It would have been one thing if he said, "He didn't know what he was doing," or, "He had a lousy personality and caused conflicts with co workers." But he even said, "He did good work and was a nice guy." We all know that in this job market, it is hard to find good workers. If there is an employee who does good work and has a good personality but doesn't seem to have enough work to keep him busy, what would most managers do? They would give him more work. The other thought that went through my mind was, "Is this guy a micromanager? Does he monitor his employees all day long?" Do you think this should be a red flag about this manager?
I don't think the fact that a position is open due to someone meandering around aimlessly throughout the day is a red flag, no. I think with any job, there is almost ALWAYS something you can do to stay busy, it's whether or not you choose to do those things. Like right now I could be sitting and re-organizing some of my folders but I'm choosing to be on City Data instead for a few moments as a "mini break."
Also, unlikely they would be forthcoming with the actual reason, "Eh, he was cooking meth..."
Meantime - if true - this isn't about a manager keeping him busy. It's about a lack of initiative in keeping yourself busy. There is no time for "wandering" if the rest of the shop is not "wandering." No need to micromanage to notice such things.
Don’t colleagues from other departments or customers regularly come by to ask questions or need assistance? In that case there needs to be staff available to see them. That’s how I got most of my “ on the job “ training, being put on the spot to know something and using educated trial and error to work it out. That’s being proactive, and how to progress in any career.
I would see him in the break room away from his desk a lot.
If I hired a guy and during the first four months of his employment, I found him in the breakroom not on lunch or actual break, I'd fire him too. Usually your first 120 days you are on your tippy toes, trying to wow everybody. This guy just didn't want to work, and the interviewer is actually being nice about it.
What I would worry about is "we couldn't keep him busy" could mean that there simply wasn't enough work to go around.
It could mean that business isn't doing that great or management isn't good at delegating work to staff.
If someone had plenty of work but the person just wasn't doing his job, the interviewer probably would have said that. IMO, "couldn't keep him busy" is more of a red flag than "he wasn't doing his job."
What I would worry about is "we couldn't keep him busy" could mean that there simply wasn't enough work to go around.
It could mean that business isn't doing that great or management isn't good at delegating work to staff.
If someone had plenty of work but the person just wasn't doing his job, the interviewer probably would have said that. IMO, "couldn't keep him busy" is more of a red flag than "he wasn't doing his job."
I would also see that as a red flag. The other red flag to me is the supervisor answered the question. That's not something you share with a prospective employee. Either situation sounds like they have management problems.
It's good to trust your gut. That said, a response like that could just be a way to avoid going into greater detail. They might not want to bad mouth the former employee or get into the weeds, so they'd give a simple, generic answer to move along.
Anyway, what does your gut tell you? Based on the interaction, tone, body language, etc. Was this the entire story or just a more casual, keep it moving, reply?
I think it's pretty hard to tell from your short conversation what all the details were of what happened and how that might effect you, should you decide to take the job. What kind of concerns me in general is when the previous person in the position was fired. Of course it could be entirely the employee's fault, or it could be the employer, or both. Hard to tell from an interview, but would be a concern to me.
The employer would be pretty irresponsible to tell you why someone was fired. It is none of your business. Digging for an answer about the termination can also be viewed as a red flag. During your second interview you can get into specifics about tasks and responsibilities, and time needed for those individually and collectively.
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