The case against badmouthing your former employers publicly

Most Human Resource professionals will tell you that it is a supremely bad idea to badmouth your former employers in front of new prospective employers. And they're not wrong. There are no tangible benefits to doing so, no matter how emotionally satisfying it might be in the moment. 

Examples... (actual situations with fictional names)

"When I was employed by ProTouch, I was working for this guy who was a real kan-cheong spider."

"Last year, I was working in C Media Pte Ltd. The CEO was such a slimy piece of shit."

"In my last company, my CTO was Sebastian Lee, a temperamental jackass who had the emotional maturity of a teenager."

Even when I've had the occasion to say uncomplimentary things about companies I've worked for, even companies I've merely encountered during an interview, names are generally left out, unlike in the examples above. That's because my relating of the incident is meant as an exercise in retrospection, not as a means to discredit those parties in any way. Besides, I believe that such parties get found out eventually, with or without my help.

If it's already in the
news, it doesn't count.

When I say "badmouth", I should clarify that this does not extend to statements of fact that are a matter of public record. For example, if I worked for a company that got into trouble for failing to pay employee salaries, I would not be shy about discussing the subject if it ever came up. But if I had found out that my employer was having an affair with the receptionist, well, it's not my place to discuss the issue.

Usual reasons to refrain

It leaves a bad impression. That's about the sum of it. Any other reason I state in this section inevitably comes right back to this - it makes you look bad. And when you're in a position where you want to persuade someone that you're a good fit for their organization, the last thing you want to do is look bad.

Now, your lack of success at your last workplace could be attributed to a terrible boss or company. But part of being an adult professional is the ability to at least own your shit. That's not to say that any of it was your fault, but this is about optics. Being able to present it as you taking responsibility for a situation does portray you as being a big boy (or girl) who can take things in stride and learn lessons from adversity. Conversely, failure to do so paints an entirely different picture.

Reflects badly
on you.

And in cases where the unpleasantness happened months back, that's worse. Harping on issues that happened back then, even if they were a hundred percent true, does you no favors. All prospective employers are going to see is some bitter disgruntled former employee who just can't let it go.

Also, your ability to sell yourself is arguably the biggest test of any interview. If you can't sell yourself without tearing some other party down, that says a lot about you... none of it good.

But the biggest reason...

I, too, prefer not to name-and-shame my previous employees. Not that I couldn't, or that I'm afraid of legal repurcussions.

Anything negative I could say about my previous employers, I have on record somewhere. And if you think that sounds horribly cynical, do you for one moment believe that they don't have a record of your transgressions which they will break out the moment they find it necessary? You actually do? You dear, sweet summer child, you.

My point is, even if all the negative things I could say were indisputable facts which I can back up with documented proof with zero legal ramifications for divulging them, I still would not say anything bad about my former employers - on record, that is.

And that's because I shouldn't have to.

I'm a trained professional with more than a decade of software development experience, who works hard to keep himself current. My skills are in demand. I have options, dammit. There's a whole world of them waiting for me on the road ahead.

Eating my dust.

Why should I take the effort to lambast my former employers, regardless of what unpleasant experiences I've had with them? My former employers are history. Over and done with. Shrinking objects in the rear view mirror of my life. I have bigger fish to fry.

And that, dear readers, is the biggest reason. It's not about taking the high road. It's about taking the road where you don't look back. Whatever happens to them from this point forth is no longer your concern, schadenfreude be damned.

Conclusion

There's rarely a good reason to speak badly about your former employers, to a prospective employer. If you can't say something nice, either change the subject or say something really superficial. Your interviewer will get the message. What you don't say, speaks louder than what you do say.

My former employers were... really stylish!
T___T