This Is How to Get Your Next Job

#2: Don’t Talk About Bad Bosses and Companies, Ex-Husbands and Wives, and Negative Things in General

You might feel better pouring your heart out about your nightmare boss, others who did you wrong, the depressing economy—even those orange barrels you had to avoid to get to the interview on time. But what it says about you is not for the better.

When it comes to talking negatively about others—in particular past employers—here’s what the employer is thinking: “You’ll do it to us if you did it to them.”

This thinking was aptly demonstrated in a 2012 episode of AMC’s Mad Men. Ad man Don Draper is having a cocktail with the Dow Corning executive. Draper is hoping to drum up new business for his advertising agency at the American Cancer Society soiree ...