Is it better to resign or be fired?

[scary cary]

Hey guys,
Would you say it is better to resign or be fired? In a previous thread I stated that I might be getting laid off. Now I wonder if I am being put on the spot so that I will resign on my own. I don't have anything lined up yet, but I have heard from past employees that left on bad terms that the management here will be very negative if new employers call about a reference. A bad reference is the last thing I need at this place

[RealUnimportant]

I can only speak for UK law, but in that situation being fired would be better due to unemployment benefits; quitting means you can't claim for 6 months, unless you can substantiate a "constructive dismissal" case & prove you were "made" to quit.

[PepperElf]

quit vs fired - I would personally recommend asking at your local labor board. Each of us lives in a different location and may have different laws than what you personally have.

References. If you already know from former employees that the bosses give shit references, I'd say be careful with listing them.

You might also want to consider that not all references have to be former bosses. You can also list former coworkers, or people you've associated with professionally. It doesn't even have to be from "work" - if you do any volunteering, you can also list those organizations or associates as references too. For example, I volunteered to make a website for a local roller derby team ("South 2"); I'm pretty sure they'd have much better references for me than would my last real supervisor.

[RealUnimportant]

From personal experience, I've been able to request that a reference not be taken from a specific employer due to differences, and it was respected; not all potential employers may be as understanding, of course.

[scary cary]

From personal experience, I've been able to request that a reference not be taken from a specific employer due to differences, and it was respected; not all potential employers may be as understanding, of course.

This is what I am afraid of
I have to list this job, unfortunately because it's the first job I've had in this field. I have tried HARD applying in other fields and have got absolutely nothing back! So I figure I may as well try to stay in this field

[csquared]

Laid off, quit or fired.

Typically, if you are laid off, you are eligible for unemployment. If you quit or are fired for cause, you typically will not get unemployment. Laid off may also get you a severance package (don't hold your breath). From a potential employer's point of view, it is the least offensive of the three.

If you are about to be fired for cause, it is better to resign.

As Pepper Elf said, check your local labor laws.

ETA:

I have to list this job, unfortunately because it's the first job I've had in this field.

References should be from a list of people that YOU give to the perspective employer. No one should be on that list that you have not confirmed to be willing to give you a glowing recommendation.

The perspective employer may contact your current employer to verify that you were employed during the period specified. Most businesses will not provide any detail on your performance or reason for leaving. Doing so can set them up for a lawsuit and the lawyers strongly recommend against it.

Talk to your current and previous coworkers and see who is willing to give you a recommendation.

[bhskittykatt]

Being laid-off will likely mean you are eligible for unemployment. Quitting could screw that up. Remember, there's a difference between laid-off and fired.

The perspective employer may contact your current employer to verify that you were employed during the period specified. Most businesses will not provide any detail on your performance or reason for leaving. Doing so can set them up for a lawsuit and the lawyers strongly recommend against it.

Talk to your current and previous coworkers and see who is willing to give you a recommendation.

Here is what I, as a potential employer, have on my little form that I check for when I call references:
- Dates of Employment
- Job Position
- Salary/Wages
- Attendance
- Reason given for leaving
- Eligibility for rehire
(there may be a couple others, as I don't have the form in front of me, but those are the big ones)

Basically, when I get to "reason given for leaving", being laid-off means it was out of your control, and isn't necessarily a negative. (Being fired would be a big negative, however.)
If you do decide to resign, though, make sure you are giving appropriate notice; a candidate who is ineligible for rehire is a big red-flag when I am doing reference checks.

[scary cary]

Here is the backstory:
Initially (about 5 weeks ago) CW & I were told we might be laid off. Within the past 2 weeks, Boss has been pretty unbearable calling me out on things like typos and making a huge deal about it. She recently said my performance is appalling, but had none of these complaints before 2 weeks ago. I am getting the feeling that I will probably be fired so they don't have to fork out the unemployment.

[scary cary]

I've got to get this off my chest:
I get incredibly frustrated seeing the amount of interns we take on vs how many we keep (of about 6 that finished in the past few months, we have kept 2 'part timers')

We currently have 10 interns. If there's "not enough work" why do we have so many?

[BeeMused]

We currently have 10 interns. If there's "not enough work" why do we have so many?

Oh that's easy! Interns are cheaper.

[scary cary]

More tales from the workplace:
CW was asked to come up with some marketing ideas for our company and a few ideas for business cards/internet fliers (she has some experience in graphic design).

She sat down with her manager and the owner to discuss and said "Hey you've got me wearing a lot of hats here, am I getting a promotion?". The owner looks her straight in the face and says "If it's too much work for you, we can just have one of the interns do it." He didn't say it in a rude way, but basically letting her know who has the upper hand here. It's BS anyway, as CW would have to show the interns how to do anything he's asking her to do!

The big manager meeting is happening next week. All the branch managers from other cities are coming down and figuring out how to streamline the company and where to go from here.

My stomach is in knots. I hate the fact that I need this job. I know they're trying to fire me now, as I was asked to upload all client files I have to our internal database. That's usually step 1 when they get rid of people, they don't want anything falling through the cracks. I've documented my managers rude/abusive messages for when I get locked out of my email. What else should I do at this point?

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Several years ago I sold cell phones for an "authorized retailer". Basically this was a company separate from the provider who sold phones on the providers behalf.

For example there are official AT&T stores OWNED by AT&T and there are "authorized retailers" run by other companies that sell the same products.

The company was not managed well. The sales quotas they gave us weren't necessarily unattainable but the lack of support from management as well as the refusal by the company to do ANYTHING to better compete with the providers official offers made them impossible to achieve. There was no incentive for customers to buy from us when they could get better deals at the provider run stores.

I knew I was on my way out so rather than wait for the inevitable, I put in my two weeks notice. A week later they told me I was finished.

My thought was that it would look better on me to have voluntarily left the job than to have been fired.

I got lucky in a sense because this happened to be in late 2008 when the economy was tanking so potential employers don't question it at all.