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At my last job I was in a project, my performance was good, I was even going to get a raise, but the pandemic happened and it was put on hold.

I was then changed to another team and project. That manager thought I was doing poorly and my contract wasn't renewed.

What can I say when asked 'Why did you leave your last job?'

Glorfindel
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Progs
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3 Answers3

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You've said it perfectly yourself.

"My performance was so good on the XYZ project, in fact I was about to get a raise, but the pandemic happened and the whole project was put on hold."

One further point: note that contracts end!

It's meaningless to "explain" why a contract "ended", it simply ends after the time period or the project is complete.

Fattie
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    I think you missed the last line – Progs Feb 25 '21 at 17:03
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    @B.J.A.A. I think he is arguing that you obfuscate. – Matthew Gaiser Feb 25 '21 at 17:08
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    "The whole project was put on hold and I was laid off." This is true. By the way, you don't get laid off for poor performance. You get fired for poor performance, laid off for lack of work. If you really were laid off stop equating that with a performance review. – Kate Gregory Feb 25 '21 at 17:31
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    hi @B.J.A.A. !! No, I saw it. You should say what I said in my answer. Because it is correct and true. You also tried out on another project, but that didn't work out. Good luck! – Fattie Feb 25 '21 at 17:42
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    also, of course what Mz @KateGregory says is spectacularly true. A great point – Fattie Feb 25 '21 at 17:43
  • @KateGregory why do you assume all companies and countries are the same and handle ‘poor performance’ the same way? – DrMrstheMonarch Feb 25 '21 at 17:50
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    @MatthewGaiser, if he was laid-off, he can just say the project he was working on was put on hold and there was not enough work because of the pandemic. An interview is not the time for radical honesty, it's OK to mildly obfuscate the experience with the last manager. Laid-off is enough of a stigma as is. No need for the OP to make it as bad as being fired in an effort to be excessively honest. – teego1967 Feb 25 '21 at 18:16
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    Indeed, there's no obfuscation at all. The "process of being laid off" often includes details like "you can try another project for awhile" or "you get your holiday pay money" or "19 others were laid off at the same time" and so on. You wouldn't go in to such detail. It's remarkably straightforward, covid hit and the product was cancelled. – Fattie Feb 25 '21 at 18:26
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    Most countries have actual laws about laying people off. You can't just lay off one person randomly for being a bad performer. It's a specific piece of jargon connected to employment legislation. The word for "this one person is a poor performer and can't work here any more" is "fired". If OP was told they were laid off, that is what they should tell others and stop mentioning performance. – Kate Gregory Feb 25 '21 at 18:39
  • @KateGregory just remember, the law is for those who can afford a lawyer. – Old_Lamplighter Feb 25 '21 at 20:26
  • @MatthewGaiser Bob has a great employee Joe, who he wants to save when the project gets shut down, so he has him transferred to Tim's team in order to try to save him. Tim, unfortunately isn't concerned about Joe, but wants to preserve his team. Tim is asked by HR to cut his team by 1. Joe is out the door. That's how it often works. – Old_Lamplighter Feb 25 '21 at 20:31
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    So since it turns out OP was neither laid off nor fired, they can still use this answer, but end with "the project was put on hold and my contract wasn't renewed" which doesn't volunteer performance information and will be both true, and something the interviewer is happy to hear. – Kate Gregory Feb 25 '21 at 21:57
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    I wouldn't even say the contract "wasn't renewed". That sounds slightly negative to my ears. I'd just say the contract was completed. – Gregory Currie Mar 02 '21 at 13:26
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I would simply say that the project they first contracted you to do was completed successfully and you worked with them to look for a new project for you to work on, but they just didn't really have any further work that was a good fit for your skills.

David Schwartz
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  • Indeed. If people ask why did you leave Project X, I can say truthfully, we finished it on time and delivered it and the customer is happy with it, so the engineers are no longer required. Price of success. – RedSonja Mar 01 '21 at 08:02
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At my last job I was in a project, my performance was good, I was even going to get a raise (but the pandemic happened and it was on hold), then I was changed to another team and project, manager thought I was doing poorly and I got laid off.

I would explain it in that same exact sentence except leave the last part out. Just say you were laid off because the pandemic hit and your project got put on hold and ultimately got laid off.

However, it's important to understand laid off vs fired. If they laid you off, then you are good to go. If you were fired for poor performance, then you need to bring up at your next interview and go with the full story above that a project switch during the pandemic ultimately lead to a poor performance.

Dan
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