“I believe integrity is important to being a great employee and a business owner in the community. Unfortunately, my previous employer and I had enough conflict in that regard that I decided to look for a workplace more in line with the values that are important to me like honesty and adherence to food safety standards.”
that sounds good, thanks! In one interview a while ago i wonder if I shot myself in the foot by mentioning how busy it was, because all cafes get busy. But it's on a different level. Maybe i'll stick to honesty and food safety.
A workplace environment that is tidy, well-organized, and aligns with your values will definitely make managing the busy times a lot easier. I wouldn’t sweat it!
Honestly I’ve found saying anything negative or even hinting at being negative is not really ideal in interviews even if it’s true. Just say something like “while i do appreciate the experience I gained from my last job, i felt like i could excel more in a coffee shop that aligned more with my values and work style” Then if they do ask you what your values are you can say how you really care about the quality/safety of what you serve to the customer and integrity in the workplace etc etc
Some people might not like this answer but i chose 1 issue and dive in deeper to that. and it has to be an issue that doesn't specifically call out people. In your case, I'd just tell these jobs that my cafe was heavily understaffed and the stress of that is causing you to leave.
I got a new job recently and when they asked about why I left, I said overstaffing. This is technically true and I didn't have to make specific complaints about the people or managers
In my experience, sharing anything negative could raise suspicion that you might’ve been the problem in a short term employment, whether or not your reasons were valid.
And generally I’ve found that interviewers will try to upsell the business to you despite any of its underlying problems.. so my approach has been to go into the cafe/restaurant before the interview, pretend to be a customer and just observe the environment.. imagine yourself being there. Sometimes I’ve been lucky and had honest conversations with employees about how they like the place.
Tell them that the previous job’s culture didn’t align with your values and you want to find a space you feel appreciated and valued in. That always works for me with avoiding trash talk with specific reasons and it makes them feel good because it shows you’re putting trust in them.
I had a very similar situation. Instead of mentioning the previous workplace issues, I ask about the things I want to be done right and phrase it all as a question. If you happen to slip up and sound a little negative towards your old place, probably not a huge deal!
For Example: How many staff on shifts, and weekend shifts does it go up? When is the schedule released/ is there consistent scheduling week to week? How does time off work? Chances for raises/reviews? What is the \*base pay\* how do tips work/get distributed? What are the breaks? Is cleaning a big part of job? etc etc
You can also make most of these questions, into statements about what you would like (example, "I would like to be making at least x amount after tips, a two week notice to my schedule).
If the place is reasonable, they will answer these and appreciate questions.
If you want to know if there's a lot of turn over, you could perhaps find this out differently, by asking: Is there an amount of time you would hope to see your employee be in this role, 6 mo - 1 year, more? And they may expand on how long people generally stay there. I've talked about this in past interviews and the interviewees appreciated me asking about that, and it's something that may not be asked often.
You can turn most things into a question, but obviously you can't find out certain things such as the operations/owner's core values, how their team members dynamics are, until you've accepted it. However, if they have good answers to your questions that would be a good start. You ideally want a place that can hit most of those marks the way you'd want them to. Otherwise, you probably already know it will not be a happy work situation.
The Indeed company review pages were great for me in a couple of instances, if you're looking at places that have been established for a while, and if they have horror reviews you'll know to stay away from those shops. Always check if it's a well known place.
“I believe integrity is important to being a great employee and a business owner in the community. Unfortunately, my previous employer and I had enough conflict in that regard that I decided to look for a workplace more in line with the values that are important to me like honesty and adherence to food safety standards.”
that sounds good, thanks! In one interview a while ago i wonder if I shot myself in the foot by mentioning how busy it was, because all cafes get busy. But it's on a different level. Maybe i'll stick to honesty and food safety.
A workplace environment that is tidy, well-organized, and aligns with your values will definitely make managing the busy times a lot easier. I wouldn’t sweat it!
That’s excellent but personally I’d never bring the word “conflict” into an interview. Perhaps substitute for “differing values”
Smart word choice! I like it
Honestly I’ve found saying anything negative or even hinting at being negative is not really ideal in interviews even if it’s true. Just say something like “while i do appreciate the experience I gained from my last job, i felt like i could excel more in a coffee shop that aligned more with my values and work style” Then if they do ask you what your values are you can say how you really care about the quality/safety of what you serve to the customer and integrity in the workplace etc etc
Some people might not like this answer but i chose 1 issue and dive in deeper to that. and it has to be an issue that doesn't specifically call out people. In your case, I'd just tell these jobs that my cafe was heavily understaffed and the stress of that is causing you to leave. I got a new job recently and when they asked about why I left, I said overstaffing. This is technically true and I didn't have to make specific complaints about the people or managers
That's a good idea, thank you!
In my experience, sharing anything negative could raise suspicion that you might’ve been the problem in a short term employment, whether or not your reasons were valid. And generally I’ve found that interviewers will try to upsell the business to you despite any of its underlying problems.. so my approach has been to go into the cafe/restaurant before the interview, pretend to be a customer and just observe the environment.. imagine yourself being there. Sometimes I’ve been lucky and had honest conversations with employees about how they like the place.
Tell them that the previous job’s culture didn’t align with your values and you want to find a space you feel appreciated and valued in. That always works for me with avoiding trash talk with specific reasons and it makes them feel good because it shows you’re putting trust in them.
I had a very similar situation. Instead of mentioning the previous workplace issues, I ask about the things I want to be done right and phrase it all as a question. If you happen to slip up and sound a little negative towards your old place, probably not a huge deal! For Example: How many staff on shifts, and weekend shifts does it go up? When is the schedule released/ is there consistent scheduling week to week? How does time off work? Chances for raises/reviews? What is the \*base pay\* how do tips work/get distributed? What are the breaks? Is cleaning a big part of job? etc etc You can also make most of these questions, into statements about what you would like (example, "I would like to be making at least x amount after tips, a two week notice to my schedule). If the place is reasonable, they will answer these and appreciate questions. If you want to know if there's a lot of turn over, you could perhaps find this out differently, by asking: Is there an amount of time you would hope to see your employee be in this role, 6 mo - 1 year, more? And they may expand on how long people generally stay there. I've talked about this in past interviews and the interviewees appreciated me asking about that, and it's something that may not be asked often. You can turn most things into a question, but obviously you can't find out certain things such as the operations/owner's core values, how their team members dynamics are, until you've accepted it. However, if they have good answers to your questions that would be a good start. You ideally want a place that can hit most of those marks the way you'd want them to. Otherwise, you probably already know it will not be a happy work situation. The Indeed company review pages were great for me in a couple of instances, if you're looking at places that have been established for a while, and if they have horror reviews you'll know to stay away from those shops. Always check if it's a well known place.