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Ask HN: I think I am being black listed

9 points by throw_awayplx ↗ HN
I was fired from my previous job at a corp and now after spending months searching I am unable to find a new one. I believe the reason is that I am being black listed. Has anyone gone through a similar situation? or do you know someone who has been recruiting and got told from a superior or a colleague not to hire certain person ?

9 comments

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vtesucks
What industry is this? Some industries do blacklist. IT doesn't
Babycino
I am software developer, with experience doing web applications.
vtesucks
Then very unlikely. I'd say no way.
godot
Just so you know, in case you actually are the OP, you used a throwaway account in your original post but your (maybe) real account in this reply. (But looks like this real account is relatively new and has very few posts anyway)
sethammons
I'm not familiar with some kabal that keep a blacklist. However, potential employers will check references and will call previous employers. If you've burned bridges, that could be coming back to haunt you. I believe one question that can be asked is, "would you rehire this person?" If the answer is "no," then you could have a big barrier.

Smaller startups/companies are less likely to check with your previous employers. Maybe try more of them.

When you say you can't find a new role, are you not getting any interviews or are you not landing the jobs post interview? It could be that you need to work on your interview skills. Or it could be that you need to retool your skill sets. There is not enough info to say much on that.

Again, I've never experienced black listing on the interview side. But, depending on the community, people do talk. If someone knows people at a previous employer of yours, they might ask them about you.

Also, it matters how you present being fired to the potential new employer. It is viewed as more risk to take on someone who got fired vs someone who left on their own terms.

Best of luck.

samuraiseoul
I'm not a hiring manager by any means, but if OP wants to check if this is the case, couldn't he have a friend call up his employers/references to see if one of them is saying bad things? I think it may be a smart way to go.
awareBrah
What were you fired for? Could be the reason
johnpython
Have you tried applying for remote jobs?