How to explain to interviewer why I left my job due to bullying/bad work environment? [duplicate]

Question

I worked at this company for 6 months, about 3 months into my job, I started getting made fun of and laughed at from roughly, 5-7 people. This behavior continued pretty much everyday, up until I quit/got fired.

I made attempts to figure out was going on and why I was being treated that way. One person in the group started smiling and laughing and told me "I would never know." So I mentioned this to my supervisor about a month before my termination, and he told me "c'mon man, they're 18-20 years old, you know how immature they can be".

Since he wasn't going to do anything about it, I made a complaint to HR, and out of the group, they only talked to 2 people, who basically said they didn't know what I was talking about and they would never do such things.

I made the decision I wasn't going to tolerate it anymore and I didn't show up for my shift. I had received a voice mail the next day saying I was fired for a no call no show. I learned a lot about myself since this happened. (roughly 2 years ago). Now, I'm filling out applications and since they want my work history, they want to know the reason why I left. I'm not sure what to say on the application.

Answer 1

Firstly you have my sympathies - it sounds like you were in a toxic situation and I know how soul-destroying that can be. So I absolutely understand why you wanted out ASAP but don't tip-toe around this by trying to claim you "quit", you didn't you were fired and with cause.

As you say this was some time ago so you've had time to reflect on this and I'm sure you can see why just no-call no-showing wasn't the best way to handle that situation. So that is what you say when you talk about it - there's no way to pretty that up so you own it.

I was in a situation where colleagues were harassing/bullying me and my attempts to resolve it through management and HR had hit a dead end and I walked away with no notice in frustration. On reflection I should have given my notice and left with professionalism.

Only idiots expect other humans to be perfect all the time and never to have made a mistake. Speaking from a hiring manager perspective the candidate who can own their mistakes and demonstrate that they have learnt and grown better from the experience are much more worthwhile than those who try and whitewash over everything.

Answer 2

Do they need to know? because this is often that is something that can be mostly omitted.

If for example you fill in a form where they have a "reason for ending previous emplyment" field you could fill in

After a few months I found out I did not fit the company culture and we decided to part ways.

This is both true and something that happens all the time. If you get to a interview stage where you talk to an actual person I would recommend Motosubatsu's answer as a way of building rapport and showing a grown-up human part of yourself.