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I got fired today from a company I joined about 3 months ago. Before that I was fired from another company after joining them for 2 months. Both positions were as a Software Engineer and from both it was due to not adequate performance. There were not specific quantifiable targets in any of the cases and most feedback was verbal and a bit wishy-washy. Also worth noting that in both cases there was a big absence of the team to ask things which made things a bit harder.

From the first company I indeed had a pretty slow start due to being uncomfortable with the hardware and due to new things to me. There wasn't much for me to do about that but I learned my lesson I think (going the extra mile in the very beginning and showing pro-activity).

At my second job I was told that they had some seniority concerns after 1 month. This was due to a mishap from my point of view - asking me to suddenly switch to a new project and finish it by the end of the week. It was decided for me to switch to a 3rd project to work a while while my work is being reviewed. From this point I think I did pretty good. I managed to get enough code out (3 PRs in 1 week for the tech-savvy). Then there was the Christmas holidays and after that 1 week of off-site work where not much work was involved. On the trip I got sick and then when I finally did get back to work, I managed again to make good progress (getting PRs out, etc.). Unfortunately the day after that was a 1-2-1 meeting that had been pre-scheduled ahead of time and that's where I was fired.

I did mention my progress. The feedback was that the code was not of senior quality which I find weird to hear. Namely since the code was reviewed and only minor changes were requested and some optimizations.

In any case I feel a bit devastated now since I don't know how to go about all this when looking for a new job. I'm pretty sure no employer will feel comfortable hiring someone who was let go so shortly twice due to poor performance..

  1. Do I scrap these 2 jobs from my CV? Before all this I have a gap of 3 months and then 1 year of a permanent position where my position became redundant.
  2. What to tell during a screening or an interview about my last 2 positions?
Johannesberg
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1 Answers1

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Do I scrap these 2 jobs from my CV? Before all this I have a gap of 3 months and then 1 year of a permanent position where my position became redundant.

You could, but you risk it being discovered if the company you apply to does a background check. If they do, you will have some explaining to do and most likely won't get the job. My general recommendation is do not lie.

What to tell during a screening or an interview about my last 2 positions?

Your best bet is to tell the truth. Be honest about what happened, but be as concise as possible and redirect any such talk back to how you would be great for the position you are interviewing for.

I would suggest that whatever job you do get next, you suck it up and stick with it for awhile to help build up your work history.

Good luck.

Neo
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