To properly deal with troubled points in your work history you need to first identify them. You must be honest with yourself. The only person you are going to hurt by lying at this stage is you. Do not sugar coat anything. By fully understanding and accepting what you have done wrong in your past will allow you to properly address it. If you have had issues at other companies, been fired, criminal record or other issues you need to be ready to address them. Below are some general guidelines on how to answer questions about a difficult questionable background during the job interview.

First just give the information that is asked for. No more and no less. This is no time to confess every bad thing you have ever done in your life including shop lifting the bubble gum when you where nine years old. Talking to much can be a sign someone is hiding something.

Always keep eye contact through out the job interview. If you do not look the interviewer in the eye they may feel you are being dishonest about something. Even though you may not be hiding anything it all comes down to the impression they get.

Briefly talk about what you have learned from your mistakes and what actions you have taken to correct them. It is also very important to take responsibility for your actions. Trying to pin it on someone else may be the truth but will not help you come off well. One trait that employers really want in an employee is that of owning their decisions and taking responsibility for them.

If for whatever reason you feel it is absolutely necessary to bring up a negative aspect to your past do not do it until much latter in the interview. Hopefully you will have impressed the potential employer so much with your skills, experience and personality it will soften the blow. On the same note you dont want to bring whatever the issue is up at the very end of the interview. The last thing you want to do is leave the interview with your very final impression being a negative one.

Nobody has a perfect past unless they have lived in a cave. As long as you own it and address it properly you should be able to get by it.

David J Clemen - http://jpcservicesinc.com/tips-interviewing.html