1. A Strong Candidate and a Missing Sentence
A few days ago, I interviewed a candidate as part of an executive search assignment who initially made an excellent impression. His career history was interesting, his professional background was a very good match for the position, and he was equally convincing in our conversation.
Along with his CV, he had also sent me his employment references without being asked. I usually only skim these documents. They often follow similar patterns and offer limited insight. This time, however, something in the reference from his most recent employer caught my attention.
The customary expression of thanks at the end was missing. In itself, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Employers in Germany are not legally required to thank employees for their contribution in a reference. Still, it made me curious. I wanted to understand how his most recent employment relationship had ended.
2. An Answer That Raised More Questions
During the interview, I asked the candidate why he had left the company. He explained that his employment had been terminated for operational reasons. When I asked whether the company had been experiencing financial difficulties, he said no.
Of course, a termination for operational reasons does not necessarily mean that a company is in financial trouble. Organizational changes can also justify such a decision. But the candidate's subsequent answers did little to clarify the situation. Eventually, he vaguely mentioned that there had been some disagreements.
I then asked him directly about the missing expression of thanks in his reference. At that point, he acknowledged that he and the company had not parted on good terms. He didn't want to elaborate. I couldn't, and wouldn't, draw any conclusions about who had been responsible for the conflict. But I increasingly felt that he was withholding an important part of the story.
3. The Same Search, a Completely Different Response
Shortly afterwards, I spoke with another candidate for the same position. His CV also contained a period that warranted a closer look: He had left one company after just over a year.
When I asked why, he began his answer with the words, "I'll be completely honest with you." He then described a working environment in which it had become increasingly impossible to do his job properly. He had been solely responsible for the German market, while new projects and additional responsibilities kept piling up. There was no clear prioritization and no realistic alignment between expectations and the resources available.
He had raised these concerns repeatedly, but nothing substantial changed, and the situation took an increasing toll on him. More and more tasks were left unfinished or could no longer be completed to the required standard. Eventually, he decided to resign because, under those organizational conditions, he could no longer see a way to do his work effectively.
4. When an Apparent Weakness Became a Strength
Naturally, I asked more questions here, too. What had he done to try to improve the situation? Why hadn't a solution been found? And how had the departure itself unfolded?
His answers were open and convincing. What I found particularly interesting was that he had maintained a good relationship with his former employer. In fact, he still works for the company as a freelancer. According to him, they would like to bring him back as a permanent employee. He, however, has no intention of returning to a situation in which responsibilities and available resources are so badly out of balance.
What might initially have appeared to be a problematic episode in his CV became a revealing story. The candidate had recognized that the organizational conditions were preventing him from doing his job properly, had repeatedly raised the issue, and had ultimately acted on his concerns. At the same time, he had managed to preserve a positive relationship with his former employer. This gave me valuable insight into his ability to reflect on his own experiences and handle difficult situations.
5. Honesty Builds Trust
Both candidates had experienced a professional departure that called for an explanation. There is nothing unusual about that. Few careers unfold without conflicts, poor decisions, or situations in which expectations and reality fail to align.
For me, the crucial difference was not why they had left, but how they dealt with the subject. With the first candidate, even after several follow-up questions, I was left feeling that an essential part of the story was missing. With the second, his openness actually strengthened my trust in him. I could understand his decisions, even though I had only heard his side of what had happened.
I consider this kind of openness particularly important when speaking with an executive search consultant. My job is not to present a flawless CV, but to determine whether a candidate and a company are genuinely a good fit. That also means putting difficult career episodes into context and considering together how best to explain them to a prospective employer. When candidates withhold important information from me, they deprive me of the opportunity to help them do exactly that.
In this case, I recommended only the second candidate for the next stage of the selection process. Not because I knew exactly what had gone wrong with the first. But because the necessary foundation of trust was missing.
6. My Impuls
Few careers are entirely free of conflicts, disappointments, or decisions we might make differently in hindsight. What matters to me is not whether someone has had such experiences, but how they deal with them.
How openly do we talk about professional setbacks? Do we try to conceal difficult experiences, or can we explain what happened and what we learned from them? And how much trust might we build precisely by being willing to speak honestly about uncomfortable things?
A difficult departure doesn't have to stand in the way of the next career move. Trying to conceal it, however, may quickly become an obstacle in itself.
