As you are being interviewed for your next job, there will be a few questions you can guarantee your potential employer will ask. For example, you can guarantee your potential employer will want to know about your previous place of employment. Fortunately, if you can remember the acronym PASS, you will have no trouble discussing your previous employment during the interview.

P is for Prepared

It is vital for you to take time to plan and prepare for the interview. You want to have all your facts straight before you sit down and start talking. You should assume this employer is going to want to know about people from your past. If you cannot remember the name and phone number of previous employers, write this information down. There is nothing wrong with having notes with contact information for the interview. What you want to avoid happening is having to tell the potential employer you do not know the answer to one of his or her questions. This is never an answer a potential employer wants to hear during an interview.

A is for Affirmative

One of the most important rules to keep in mind during an interview is affirmation is vital. You should never talk negatively about a previous job. It does not matter how much you hated the job or how poorly you were treated, the employer does not need or want to know this. You want to stick to the positive aspects of your previous place of employment. Complaining about work conditions, co-workers, money, or schedules will send up red flags to the potential employer that you might be a complicated employee he or she would rather not deal with.

S is for Short and Sweet

There is a fine line between sharing too much and sharing too little. You want to make sure you answer the question, but the employer does not need to know your entire life story. Just focus on the highlights and make sure you fully answered the question. Giving a never ending narrative about your previous job is not necessarily going to indicate you are a bad employee, but most employers only set aside a certain amount of time for an interview and you want to make sure he or she gets to ask you every question he or she has.

S is for Sincere

The last and most important rule is to be sincere. Regardless of how small the lie might be it is always a bad idea to lie about your previous employment. It just takes one phone call and one conversation for your potential employer to know you lied. Getting caught in a lie will guarantee you do not get the job. Just stick to what is true and try not to exaggerate your abilities as an employee.

With these four rules in mind, you should be able to PASS the interview and nail discussing your previous employment with your potential employer.

For employment services, contact a company such as Kable Staffing.