Fired Just After Training

I was employed and went through a few weeks of both home and home office training. I passed all of the exams and passed the verbal presentations etc. I then attended the national sales meeting and myself and fellow trainees avoided the breakout sessions to the best of our abilities. I was called on to present in one of the breakouts and got through the presentation but was thrown a curve ball by a new detail piece I had never seen before. Sort of a spreadsheet type item. I explained that I had never seen it before and the other reps pitched in for support. I learned and moved on. During the week I learned that my manager had been realigned about 6 months ago due to not getting along with his Area VP. He had extremely high turnover in his previous district and recently fired half of the current team. I actually witnessed him fire one of the representatives after my last face to face interview with him. Then the following week he came for a visit. I picked him up from the airport and he sat down and told me that he wanted to recap training and areas I was successful and areas he wanted me to work on. He gave me a to do list. Showed me best practices for salesoforce.com. Then we made a few cold calls. Only gathered information about the practices, personnel etc. He led the way! I then put him on a plane. A week later he called asking if I could make a 12:30pm call and I agreed. HR was with him and he just said "based on training, national sales meeting, and our meeting last week I have decided to terminate you. HR guy read me my rights and that was it. Completely surprised. Im curious what you do to deal with this or how to manage the fact this company will be in your background check forever for only being employed for a month. I think im still in a bit of shock but want to move on and take the proper steps to get re-employed and put this behind me. Has this thing happened to anyone else? Any suggestions?

 

Any feedback. I realize this is a duplicate post on accident but didn't finish the previous without hitting the submit button. I am completely surprised by the turn of events and never thought anything would happen like this to me in my 23 yrs of medical device sales. Any input would be appreciated

 

Well....couple things come to mind here.

- Is this a publicly-traded or private company? Established or start-up?
- Did you shirk responsibility related to mandated participation and/or tasks at the National Sales Meeting?
- Any behavior that you aren't mentioning? (Did you drink your ass off at the meeting, for instance.)
- What state is the employer located in?

That information would make things a bit clearer on what your next move might be.

 

This sucks. I’ve been there and it’s a real gut punch. My advice would be to move on as fast as possible. Find something new and get back on your feet, even if it means taking a job you wouldn’t have considered previously.

 

This seems bizarre based on the info you have provided, however I doubt there is little that can be done as new hires with any company are on a “probationary period” (usually 6 months) and can be terminated without process during this time. Personally, I would try to take down the assclown manager on your way out-as in like spend a few hundred with letter to ceo/vp of hr; but more importantly jump on job search and probably omit this blip from your resume. Good Luck

 

1) Publicly traded 2) Mid 7-8 year startup 3) No I didn't dodge anything at all its just that the meeting followed training almost seamlessly. Each trainee had our fingers crossed to not get called on. I was called on and just fumbled when I saw the spreadsheet..afterwards I had a better understanding and learned from it but it was pushed out there to the forefront as if I should know what it was yet we never saw anything like it in training. No in regards to behavior, I stick to the 2 drink rule while out with business. The state would be California. The manager is notorious for firing and makes quick decisions. A joke was made about him having BPD disorder at one of the lunch tables. I had to look it up and I can see sort of why you could make that assumption... I felt I had worked for managers like him before and although tough to please I have been able to earn my way in the past. He made me a little nervous on the work with but I felt I kept it together. Im baffled by it all. The territory has "0" business so perhaps he just didn't think I was talented enough to take on the territory and introduce the device to it. Thats all that I can figure at this point. I would almost feel better knowing why then being where I am at today. My cohorts and teammates were confused as well. Oh and in regards to anything administrative I had only completed one expense report that was approved without any red flags. I had not been late with anything, nor did I ignore any email.

 

So, given that California is an at-will employment state (meaning you can be terminated at any time, for any reason), you are in a less-than-ideal position. HOWEVER....illegal reasons for terminating an employee in California include discrimination based on your age, sex, gender, religious belief, or sexual orientation.

If you fit the bill for any of the above, you could perhaps create a discriminatory case. Would depend on how far you intend to push this. But as mentioned above, the best move here is to quickly align yourself with former colleagues, recruiters, etc. and forge ahead. Doesn't seem fair, I know. Much better for this to happen at this point, rather than for you to log multiple years there, build a level of comfort, and end up getting even more blindsided.

 

Thank You!

 

One question for you, how do you explain the "short stay"......I mean there is no way to scrub it from your background check? I plan on removing it from my resume but how do you explain it if it comes up in a background check?

 

Hireright and other background check organizations use the employment application for their background check. They call the companies you have listed and ask them if you were employed. Your concern with this leads me to believe that there were other issues that lead to your dismissal. Not everyone is cutout for sales. You sound like a Pharma rep that thought you could make the transition to device. Go back to big Pharma and tell them you took a sabbatical to care for a sick parent. you tried!

 

LOL... Yep...we device reps are the best of the best!!