Reason for Leaving a Job

There are lots of reasons why someone leaves a job, but when asked, many corporations will only confirm a former employee's dates of employment.

When we are asked to investigate further, our approach is to identify, and quietly interview, knowledgeable former co-workers for their unofficial, confidential—and candid—assessment of the ex-colleague's tenure. In these informal conversations, we often read their former colleague's resume to them to check its credibility.

Most importantly, we try to determine how our subject's past employment ended. It's the only way to separate the real resignations from the “resign or we'll fire you” situations.