Sinsull has some good advice regarding "selective truths" and turning negatives to positives, but if you fumble around with that approach you're in trouble. Its a good idea, don't get me wrong, but if you don't believe it yourself, the person across the desk won't either and will ask a few questions which will probably expose the lie.

I had a guy in for a sales position and his record (verifiable) with another company in the auto equipment business was outstanding. Then came a two year gap. He was currently working out of sales as a dealer service writer. I asked about it and he said, "I'd like to tell you something good about that, but to be truthful........." and then gave me a 3 minute summary of his problems of burnout and pressure. It made sense, I'd seen it happen to others, and he had a plan to keep it from happening again, which included having a clear understanding of expectations from whatever company he would work for in the future. Sold me......and became a solid producing, "no problems" rep within the first 4 months. When I left the company he was still cranking it out regularly, good numbers, no problems to his regional manager, no customer complaints.

The truth CAN be to your benefit.....even the worst of it probably has a good side somewhere. Find it. If you don't you'll fail in the new job too, even if you get it.

Spaw