What Do I Do If I’ve Been Fired?
July 16, 2008 by Darlene McDaniel
Filed under Jobs
What do I do if I’ve been fired has become the most frequently asked question I get asked weekly here at Interview Chatter. The question is usually written in a comment on my most popular post, So You’ve Been Fired. I thought I would take a moment a restate some of my recommendations to people who have been fired.
My Recommendations:
1. BE Honest, Don’t Lie – I can not stress this first point. If you have been terminated from your employer for cause or without cause, you are facing a rather large hurdle. Dishonesty on your resume or application, will only make scaling the hurdle more difficult.
2. If they ask you directly, “Have you ever been fired?”, the answer is “YES” in a word. My point here is, don’t try to skirt the issue. If they ask you directly, answer directly and then follow-up.
3. If you have been fired, and you admit you have been fired, you may be screened out. Be prepared. There is nothing you can do about it. What you can do is continue to move forward in your job search. Every hiring manager gets to decide who they will interview and offer a position. You can not control them. Don’t let it frustrate you. Move on to the next potential opportunity.
4. Choose out of “Shame and Blame”. No matter whose fault it is. Choose your ATTITUDE. How you respond to a termination, just or unjust will be one factor that will determine how long you spend in your job search. Savvy hiring managers can smell a bad attitude. They can sense when you are carrying baggage into the interview. Get your emotions in check. Choose out of frustration and choose to see your great potential.
More to come on this topic. In the meantime, please feel free to scroll down and leave a comment. How can I help you navigate the turbulent waters around terminations?
Hi Darlene!
Nice post! The keys here are “just the facts” and “personal responsibility.” When you get into the details of your firing, keep your opinions out if it and stress only the facts (”They told me x, but I believed y.”). And if you were wrong and learned something from it that made you better in the long run so that you would become LESS of a hiring risk, it wouldn’t hurt to admit it, and detail how it led you to take a different approach. Hiring managers tend to like “turnaround” types of stories.
I agree. As with everything in the interview policy honesty is best. Almost, all companies are going to do a background check so it will likely come out if you were terminated. When you answer the question honestly, at the time you are asked it gives you the chance to clarify and give an explanation. If it comes up later on you will not have that opportunity.
As is mentioned the key is not to blame and be able to explain what corrective actions you took to prevent a similiar situation in the future.
Hello Darlene!
The interview that I had last week I reschedule for today.The interview I think went well it lasted longer than 30 minutes hopefully that’s a good sign.I brought my re’sume’ in with me she looked over it the job that I was terminated from was on there but, she never said anything about it.I’m worried though b/c I didn’t put the job on my application that I filled out some weeks back.
I was confident during the interview;she didn’t ask me many questions except,why did I choose my career?She told me all about the job and what to expect if I was hired. She was yawning the whole time,ugh! I had to volunteer information b/c she wasn’t asking me anything.She even said,she liked my personality and that she liked the fact that I was open.I had about 7 questions for her,which was good on my part.
I’m going to send out a “thank you” card tomorrow.She told me that she thought I would fit in,but of course she has more people to interview.I’m hoping my re’sume’ and the “thank you” card will give me the upper hand.It’s sad though when you go in for an interview and the person has no clue how to interview.I’m pride of myself though b/c I felt good,my re’sume’ was damn near flawless,I kept the conversation going,I asked questions, and I looked good.I showed up on time too..lol.She told me to call her on Monday.
I don’t think it matters telling a future prospect that you have been fired. Jobs do background checks on all future hirees but they can’t find out if you have been fired. All they check is that you did work at all the jobs you said you did and at what times that’s all.
i have been terminated from a high paying profession because of sickness. i know that there is no hope for me to ever to become successful again. i know that i am going to commit suicide by the end of this year.
Hi tnn12305, Thanks for stopping by Careers and leaving a comment. I appreciate your comment, but you are mistaken. I talk to job seekers every day. Some tell the truth about their termination – they say “I’ve been fired.” And they have no problem converting an interview into a job offer. But I have lots more people who I talk to that lie about it or attempt to cover up and some how they get caught. Some have actually lost job offers. Don’t believe that organizations won’t find out about your past. Given the climate we live in today, it is foolish to walk into an interview and not be truthful. Integrity has been lost in many organizations and HR professionals are tasked with understanding who is really walking into organizations. If you want to hold back or hide, that is your decision, but organizations will find out information about you, whether you believe it or not. Not every organization will do a background check. Not every organization wants to know, but it is a bad assumption that every job seeker will have the luxury of your assumption that organizations verify the basics. Thanks for stopping by.