>>16575386
Ideally you feel bad about what you did and are showing remorse for your actions by not drinking or not attending parties, etc.

From what you've written, it looks like you're trying to avoid accountability, especially in this line (I have been a model employee, and had no animosity towards the victim - I don't even remember doing it!).

That is the wrong attitude to have toward the incident, dude.

I feel awful about it, I take full responsibility. This is a fact though, this is my only instance of misconduct.

Also, I agree and I have not wanted to drink since due this.

But the question is, how do I approach the incident in interviews?

>>16575401

I feel awful about it, I take full responsibility. This is a fact though, this is my only instance of misconduct.

Also, I agree and I have not wanted to drink since due to this.

But the question is, how do I approach the incident in interviews?

>>16575410
Let them ask you about it, first of all.

If they do, you tell them frankly that you went to a company christmas party, drank alcohol, and then punched a colleague. Don't include any excuses like you did in your OP.

Go on to talk about the aftermath by putting yourself in the shoes of your colleagues and the company that fired you. Say something along the lines of "The workplace is supposed to be a safe place, and I broke that rule, and hurt the reputation of the company, especially among its employees, because for a while everyone is going to go to work a little less comfortable. I got to see first hand the wide ranging effects that a sort of small incident can have. It was incredible, and it has caused me to re-evaluate my decision making so that X, Y, and Z"

Again, no excuses unless they ask you. If they ask you if it was the first time an incident like this has ever occurred, then and only then can you say that it is the only time that it happened.

So, with this you should have 1) shown yourself to be accepting of responsibility and 2) shown yourself to think bigger than yourself, to think about and be concerned with the group/team/mission.

If you have these qualities, the employer should be more likely to give you a chance and to see you as a person who made a mistake.

>>16575442

This is genuinely good advice. My HR manager suggested I lie in my future interviews, which I cannot contemplate doing. She suggested I remove the company from my CV and say I went travelling! I don't really want to make up 6 months of travelling - that will only come to hunt me too.

Any suggestions for what to put on an application form? "Dismissed" sounds like it would stop an interview.

Thanks Anon!

Can you make up a reason why you punched someone? Would they even check? If they don't, you can just say you did it because of some made up 'noble' reason like preventing rape or something.

>>16575495

I see what you mean, apparently I punched him for selling drugs (which doesn't actually bother me - so I find it odd).

I mean if they asked why I left, and I say dismissed for gross misconduct then I guess you are right, it would be good to have a noble cause. Then again, saying I wasn't myself and have learnt from my mistakes may fair better.

>>16575505
Don't most companies love anti-drug stances? You could actually relate to or get a higher rating from the interviewer if they're a bleeding heart for anti-drugs. You can talk about made up or real friends/relatives that ruined their lives with drugs.

>>16575516
So general advice is to tell the truth?

Have you talked to your former supervisor or HR department? What would THEY say if they got a reference call?

Talk to them and try to come up with an innocent reason (company cutting back, job eliminated, etc...) and use that. In fact if they agree to that ask if you can get a letter stating that. This way they are less likely contradict that if they are called.

>>16575442

I know honesty is the best policy but that advice won't get him hired. Companies are risk-adverse these days and would worry that if they hired someone who had punched a co-worker, they'd be likely to do it again.

>>16575468

Travelling isn't the answer. I've hired hundreds of people. One of the things I do is when I call a previous employer I ask what you did when you left. So a previous employer may say "When anon left he went to Punch-City Company."

Strangely enough Punch-City Company isn't on your resume.

Take proactive steps to determine what the fuck happened.

Contact the person you punched and apologise. Don't ask for anything in return, and CERTAINLY don't expect forgiveness, but just let them know you don't even remember it happening and you're sorry.
If you can, contact somebody else and try to figure out what exactly led up to the incident. Did you just literally punch them for no reason? Did they insult you? Was there some past work-related incident which sparked this?

Once you've done that, maybe contact a counsellor or something and see how if you can figure out what happened and how to not do it again.

Then, when you approach another employer, explain to them precisely what happened, why it happened, and how you've been counselled to avoid it in future.

That's not just showing honesty, that's showing diligent self-awareness and accountability.
Everything can be turned into a strength on you resume, but you have to actually make it a strength first.

>>16575386
"There was an unfortunate incident at an office party and a number of us were made unwelcome in the company"

>>16575386
Not wishing to sound like a mormon or whatever, but after getting so intoxicated that you physically assaulted a co-worker with no provocation and don't even remember doing it, a more pertinent question would be "what are you going to do about your alcohol problem?".