Dear Evil HR Lady,
About two years ago, I did not leave my last job on the best terms. My boss and I butted heads over the smallest things. I wound up leaving because she was about to fire me. During that time, there was a long, drawn-out war, and it involved HR. The HR representative was friends with my boss, and I think he likely ruined my personnel file.
Since then, my boss left and so has the HR rep. I reapplied to the company in a new position out of desperation — I can’t find a job anywhere today. Even though the company is large, I’m afraid of what is in my file. From your expertise, in all honesty, are personnel files looked at closely? Can HR see why you left? I burned my bridges, to say the least. I’m not sure why I reapplied because I was never really happy there.
To read the answer, click here: After the burned bridges
OP, you don’t need to go back. If it was intolerable while you were there, it’s likely to be so now. You’re dodging a bullet, really.
I had a similar thing happen to me during this last job hunt. A job I had been terminated from in 2003 posted a blind ad, and I replied to it, not knowing who it was (I did try to find out).
The HR lady called me but apparently had not even glanced at the second page of my resume, where the company name was plainly listed. She said “We used to be Company X, but now we are Company Y.” I was like, WHOA.
I very politely said, “Oh dear…I was employed by your company some years ago, and it didn’t turn out well. I really have no interest in coming back. I’m sorry; I would not have applied if I had known.” She was REALLY embarrassed, but I made it out like it was my mistake. I thanked her and we terminated the call.
Whoops!
My organisation have a red list of all the people we’ve ever fired for cause or who are otherwise ineligible for rehire. It’s checked every week against all our applicants then the hiring department gets a call.