‘I felt my stomach drop’: Candidate believes she lost job opportunity after discovering the interviewer is ‘good friends' with her last boss, who fired her from the job

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Jul 5, 2026 3:15 PM EDT

What would you do if your old job came to haunt you? 

When you decide to start looking for a new job, stuff from your past that you might have preferred to forget tends to come back up. Whether it is how badly you performed at your last job, or your relationship with that one manager, these topics of conversation are very likely to come up at an interview for a new job, and you should prepare yourself for any question that would come up in the process.

After you've done a few interviews, you learn to polish the truth in a way that benefits you the most or puts you in a better light. You can say that your old job "wasn't a good fit" instead of explaining that your manager kept overworking you, or you can say that you're looking to "expand your skills" instead of saying that your current job got boring. There are plenty of professional ways to describe a situation that will make you seem like a good person to hire. All you need to do is learn how to best describe even the trickiest situations.

The only way a hiring manager or interviewer can call your bluff is if they have any way of contacting your other places of work and hearing the perspective of someone else, which is the case in the story below. This job candidate discovered during her interview that the person interviewing her is a good friend of her old boss, the same guy who fired her many years ago. So, while she can go on and on about how that job wasn't a good fit, nothing is stopping the interviewer from calling up his good friend and hearing his side of the story. A side that can cost the job candidate the job that she really wants.

Is there any way for her to avoid this fate? The rest of the story below might shed some more light…

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  • Interview went great... until the interviewer mentioned the person who fired me 8 years ago

    Hi all, I could really use some advice. I've been at my current job for 8 years and, for the most part, I've really enjoyed it. I'm good at what I do, get along with everyone, and it's
    via MissElle85
  • Boss on the phone talking to another business owner about a potential candidate.
    via Ocskaymark

    Boss on the phone talking to another business owner about a potential candidate.

    Subject is a model.

  • been a great place to work. Lately though, I've started feeling like I need a change of scenery and a fresh start. A couple of my closest work friends have left, and it just doesn't feel the same anymore.
    via MissElle85
  • I applied for a job that matches my skills and pays about $10k more. I got an interview and was really excited. Here's the part that's worrying me.
    via MissElle85
  • The job I had before my current one ended badly. It was a horribly toxic workplace. I was thrown in the deep end from day one with virtually no training or support, despite
    via MissElle85
  • repeatedly asking for help. I genuinely tried my best, but I inevitably made mistakes because no one had shown me the correct way to do things.
    via MissElle85
  • Management became increasingly hostile. I was even sworn at. Eventually I was called into a meeting, told I was "unsuitable for the work," and fired on the spot. I was already under a huge amount of
    via MissElle85
  • stress, burst into tears, and walked out, slamming the boardroom door behind me. Not my proudest moment, but it was one of the worst periods of my life.
    via MissElle85
  • Job candidate shaking hands with her interviewer.
    via sturti

    Job candidate shaking hands with her interviewer.

    Subject is a model.

  • A few weeks later I started my current job, where I was actually trained and supported. Since then I've thrived. Eight years later, I'm still there with a great track record.
    via MissElle85
  • Fast forward to this interview. Everything is going really well. I'm answering the questions confidently, the role sounds like a fantastic opportunity, and I'm thinking I actually have a good shot.
    via MissElle85
  • Then he asks about that previous job. At first I thought it was just a standard interview question, but he kept digging into it. Then he casually mentioned he's good friends with the owner.
    via MissElle85
  • The owner who fired me. The second he said that, I felt my stomach drop. I just said that it wasn't quite the right fit but I learned alot from the experience.
    via MissElle85
  • Now I'm convinced he's going to call his friend and ask about me, and the fact I was fired all those years ago is going to come up. I'm worried it'll completely overshadow the last 8 years, during which I've proven I can do the job well.
    via MissElle85
  • If you were the interviewer, would something that happened over 8 years ago outweigh eight years of solid employment since? Should I get ahead of it and explain what
    via MissElle85
  • happened if I'm asked again, or just leave it unless it comes up? I really want this job, but I'm worried my chances have already been ruined.
    via MissElle85
  • Coriolanuscangetit I would not want to work for a guy who is "good friends" with a toxic boss who fired me. He's probably toxic too.
    via Coriolanuscangetit
  • Robinraang If the interviewer is good friends with the boss that treated you that way and he speaks to your old boss about it, there's two ways it could go.
    via Robinraang
  • He could know your old boss can be a dche, and take it with a grain of salt and only consider your actual work experience OR he could be as horrible as your other boss, take the information, and not hire you.
    via Robinraang
  • If the latter, than you dodged a ginormous bullet.
    via Robinraang
  • Stevenitrogen Usually if they call your reference, all they find out is that you worked there from this date to that date.
    via Stevenitrogen
  • If the manager calls up his buddy it's possible they will remember you and tell the story and you don't get the job. I don't know what else to tell you. Hopefully they don't remember.
    via Stevenitrogen
  • 4614065 I wouldn't say anything. See how it plays out.
    via 4614065

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job offer boss employee fired job owner work new job job candidate job interview interview employment
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