Comment by Barry Frydman on March 15, 2012 at 10:10am

If necessary I tell my candidates it should never take more than 2 sentances to explain why they are looking for a new position or have changed jobs in the past.

 

And that's probably one sentance more than needed.

 

Comment by Christopher Poreda on March 15, 2012 at 10:12am

Nice piece!  Of course it's free speech but look...in the end you need to serve your master; you.  In my youth, I'd fire off messages like this without hesitation (and have).  But looking back, what purpose did they really serve and did [I] benefit?  The answer was usually none and no.  Sure, I got it off my chest but I could have done that by writing it and deleting or simply venting with a friend over a beer and pizza.

As for opinions, they are just that.  You're only seeing the rant in two dimensions.  GS would have been better served by no responding, it simply validates. 

Comment by Cora Mae Lengeman on March 15, 2012 at 10:53am

Well done!

I've had candidates vent and then I tell them ‘you will never, never repeat what you just said. Not to me, your friends and certainly not to any other recruiter or company you are interviewing with. YOU look bad not the company’.  You need to come up with a short – 2 sentences is about right Barry – reason for leaving and if fired say it, not everyone is fired for misconduct or fraud.  It could be a change in management and they wanted to bring in their own team.

But in Greg Smith's case - good for him and I agree with Christopher that GS simply validated his comments by responding.

I try not to burn bridges, however I have burned a few after deciding that regardless of everything I didn’t care.

Comment by Valentino Martinez on March 15, 2012 at 2:12pm

This is déjà vu all over again.

I also found the same quote you found and posted it in placard form on Oct 6, 2011, in the RBC photo section entitled “Burning Bridges”.  (http://www.recruitingblogs.com/photo/burning-bridges).  And later commented and posted it again on *Mark Bergman’s treatment of the subject in his RBC post, Oct 16, 2011, entitled: “Getting Out Cleanly – How to Leave Your Job” (http://www.recruitingblogs.com/profiles/blog/show?id=502551%3ABlogP...).

There is a conundrum here about "Burning Bridges"; "Whistle Blowing" or “Getting Out Cleanly – How to Leave Your Job”*.  By any other name it all has something to do with telling the truth, or some version of the truth--or looking the other way when a truth could/should be told.

I applaud employees like Greg Smith who see something wrong, finally confront it, and light the way for others to appreciate the value of the example he has set relative to truth telling.  I think it is important for employers, who expect to hire honest minded employees, to operate in an ethical way as well. 

BTW--I “liked” Tim Spagnola’s recent: Question of the day: How do you deal with a candidate who has lied? And how everyone agrees that operating “honestly” and “ethically” rules.  So shouldn't it go without saying that truth telling and ethical behavior also apply to employers who expect it of their vendors, employees and job applicants?

In fact, the best employers, in my experience, welcome constructive criticism from vendors, employees and customers otherwise they run the risk of small problems becoming big problems.  The smart employers make an organizational ombudsman available to employees for the purpose of assuring no repercussions when the truth must be told for the benefit of the employer.

“Mum” or “Getting Out Cleanly” may be the words to be taken seriously when one opts to leave one employer in search for another.  Or maybe, better words, if they're warranted should be:...

Comment by Patrick Richard on March 15, 2012 at 5:29pm

I think it depends on the situation. There are times when burning a bridge is necessary in order to stand up for your beliefs. I personally think that it's warranted and worth the risk in those cases. Similar to what Greg Smith seemed to do. Burning a bridge because your trying stick it to someone you simply dislike is probably not worth it. Great blog post and very interesting topic for discussion.

Comment by Maisha Cannon on March 16, 2012 at 12:07am

@Barry That's fantastic advice! Thanks for taking the time to respond to the post.

@Christopher Thanks for reading and commenting. I can relate to what you're saying about sending off "hasty" messages that really served no purpose but to vent. The nifty "recall" feature in Outlook was likely invented for moments like those!

@Cora Mae Just realized after reading your comment that the author and company - Greg Smith and Goldman Sachs are both "GS" - you're right in that the employer GS validated the employee GS' concerns by responding!

@Tino I missed those posts but will definitely go back into the archives and check out the discussions! You're so right in that the best companies welcome corrective feedback. Your sentiment reminds me of a quote I shared on Twitter today - "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." – Bill Gates #leadership

@Patrick I totally agree that burning a bridge for the sake of seeking revenge is not worth it at all. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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