How To Make Getting Fired Into A Good Thing

By Kourtney Jason | Life2pointoh

Getting fired isn’t just a shock, it’s a HUGE blow to your confidence. Along with the stress of finding a new job right away, you also must face the realization that you’ll have to explain why you were fired in your future interviews. Awkward.

How do you make yourself still sound hireable and desirable? To get those answers, we chatted with Jim Camp, author of Start with No and a renowned negotiations trainer and coach.

Tip #1: Analyze and understand your responsibility in the situation.

“If you are in the dark and this firing seemed to come from nowhere, you should request that the leadership team provides the necessary feedback,” Camp tells Life2PointOh. Get a full explanation of the situation and reasoning behind the decision. With that, you can build upon it and not allow such a thing to happen to you again. “Get them to see that providing you with a detailed account of what they were unhappy with will be of benefit to them, as it creates goodwill and will help you be a more valuable employee at your next job,” he says.

Tip #2: Turn it into a learning experience.

Getting fired can be a positive thing. No, really. There is a lesson to be learned and new/better opportunities to be grabbed. “There is no such thing as a perfect employee with a perfect performance history,” Camp explains. “The greatest employees analyze their mistakes and weaknesses, and then work hard to overcome them and be better at the next job. The ability to create that for a new potential employer is priceless.”

Tip #3: Know what NOT to say in your next job interview.

Any language that puts the blame on your former employer (i.e. “They didn’t like me.” “They were crooks.” “They were not fair.”) shows that you have not moved past the real reason you were fired: your performance. Don’t go down that road, or you’ll raise giant red flags during the interview.

Tip #4: Know what to say to still look hireable.

“This interview is about you–your talents, your development, your ideas, your attitudes, your lessons, and so on,” our hire-me-guru says. “And it’s about your new employer–how your four or five best assets will benefit them.”

Don’t avoid the elephant in the room (the fact that you were fired from your last job) by trying to hide it because you’ll risk looking dishonest. “What you need to do is explain the steps you have taken since that mistake to be a better, stronger, smarter job candidate for them, and how this learning and growing process is a plus, an asset for them.”

Tip #5: Practice your explanation for getting fired.

Use this sample script and form it to fit your personal situation. “I was fired and rightly so. I take full responsibility. Here is what I have done to strengthen my skills/attitude/performance since then.” And practice your answer over and over and over until you can say it with confidence and honesty.

This post originally appeared on Life2pointoh.com.

More from Life2pointoh.com:

Are You Silently Sabotaging Your Job Search?

Is Gen Y Too Entitled At Work?

Nailing the Interview: 7 Questions You Should Ask

Comments

[ABQNM]

10:46 AM on 08/30/2011

"analyze and understand your responsibility in the situation"

The situation was this: The corporation had a new President who wanted to
be promoted to head an even larger entity so he laid off 108 employees.
This reduced operating expenses and afforded the maximum bonus structure for
the upper executive team.
Headquarters was so pleased that he got his promotion one year later.
I took the responsible role in the organization by being laid off so as to get out of
the way of such a needy deserving individual.

[Mike Edelman]

03:29 PM on 08/27/2011

but if the reason you were let go is financial then none of this is relevant...and for the
most part people in this economy are loosing their jobs because companies are cutting
back period

[bmitche]

02:15 PM on 08/27/2011

You can rebound after being fired, but it is definitely NOT a good thing.

[lynnej]

01:51 PM on 08/27/2011

This article does not take into consideration that there are some really crappy managers out there who should be fired rather than the employee but they do it to cover there own butts rather than being honest. Grateful to have a fabulous boss these days who has my back as I have hers.

[phmcgrath]

12:53 PM on 08/27/2011

I lost my job in December of 2010 due to a company workforce reduction along with a few others. I received six months of severance pay that included vacation time I would have earned in that period. Then a couple of days ago I learned my former employer just got bought out. There is a such thing as Karma! This is the first time I've ever been unemployed. It's not a comfortable position to be in. Thank goodness I get a very nice annuity from employment previous to my last job.

[Jennifer Walker]

12:24 PM on 08/27/2011

I don't even know where to begin on this one-sided waste of cyberspace. Clearly the US economy, HR departments and upper management of every company, ever, are without flaw, and the only possible reason one could get fired is due to poor performance. Perhaps you should also roll over and offer the prospective employer your soul as well...

[KalElofKrypton]

02:34 PM on 08/27/2011

I'll second that. Honesty, especially when you go job hunting, may be good for the soul, but it will never get you hired. You have to minimize the negative, and put the focus back on your good points and what you can offer.

A little white lie, which is what most resumes and job interviews are full of, can be useful when used properly. If you've done your research on the company, dressed appropriately, prepped yourself for the interview, and are able to be brave enough to ask questions about any position that is offered (including pay ranges), you will seem more focused to the interviewer and this will help you minimize any negatives.

[catsdogs]

12:19 PM on 08/27/2011

Generalizations are simply not applicable on an individual basis – barring downsizing and massive layoffs; in most instances each individual action is varied.

Anyone who believes that the “Employers” are “Always Blameless” [Tip #3] is living in fantasyland.

As an employer I would rather have the truth than to listen to the same rehearsed answers canned and fed by employment gurus and parroted by the candidates.

Years ago when I would be interviewing candidates – after listening to the canned praises, and feigned self-realization, etc. I would pose the question as follows:

You worked for the company for (Fill in years). Now after all those years suddenly you went from hardworking dedicated, etc to “not needed” or… Why? Additionally, explain what do you think of Managers who took years to discover that you were {fill the deficiency} should even be considered as being management material – if my managers took so long in making such a discovery, I would certainly be questioning their ability and judgment.

Another question that I would pose to the candidates would be direct and specific: “Tell me the weakness and errors of your former company without revealing confidentialities – and, if you were running things what specifically would you do differently than what they are doing?

Another question would be “Given that there is no such thing as “Absolute Perfection” or error free – list and explain five things that were “Wrong” at your former place of employment?

[jmartinlegal]

11:23 AM on 08/27/2011

I was working for a food-processing company and found out that they were grinding up dead old people to make the Solyent Green. I mentioned this to my supervisor and was fired the next day. When I got another job as a ninja assassin, I went to my old supervisor's house in the middle of the night and killed his hamster. That'll teach him.

[lynnej]

01:47 PM on 08/27/2011

Thank you for making me laugh as I await the hurricane!! Priceless!

[frankieboy26]

10:32 AM on 08/27/2011

I worked for a family-owned small company. My employer's daughter moved back from another state. She started hanging around me in the office, asking me a load of questions about my work. I had a feeling what was coming. About a month later, my boss called me into his office and told me they were downsizing and the no longer needed me. I heard through a gal who continued working there that his daughter took over my job the next day.

At my next job interview, I was asked why I left my job. I told the interviewer I didn't leave, I was asked to leave. She asked me if it was my performance. I said no, the boss wanted to give his daughter my job, and that's what he did. The interviewer said, "Let me give you a tip. Never say anything bad about your previous employer in an interview." I said, "I didn't say anything bad. I just stated a fact." She had a look on her face like she smelled someone passing gas. I never responded to the call-back for a second interview.

[rensational]

12:20 PM on 08/27/2011

I'm surprised you got a callback, considering the interviewer's reaction. It's simply not always the case that getting fired or laid off is about performance or the worker's fault. And the way your interviewer responded is exactly why I don't think there is a "good" way to explain getting fired, which is why when I got fired earlier this year I simply elected not to even put that position on my resume. I know not everyone can leave off a position because of length, but I was there for a couple of months only. Really, my advice would be different from this article's advice, i.e. I would say if there's any way you can avoid talking about having been fired, unless there was a great reason that doesn't make you sound like a liar/whiner/bad worker, then just come up with a way to not have to address that issue. Try to downplay it as much as possible and provide a simple answer if asked about that job, one that doesn't indicate you were fired, while not providing contact/reference info to that place if possible or provide name/# of someone there whom you discussed everything with and know they will give you a good reference.

[lynnej]

02:06 PM on 08/27/2011

And when theydo a background check and see that omitted position, how do you respond? Though when they see that you have omitted it you will probably not get a call back.

[phmcgrath]

12:59 PM on 08/27/2011

I briefly took a job with a small pharmaceutical company. Of the 18 employees, one half were related to the owners who are in their 70's. It was the most uncomfortable, pretentious employment environment I've ever worked. They used old software, dot matrix printers, crammed 4 desks into a 14 X 16 room and had old outdated manuals and assorted other paper crap piled high everywhere you walked. The turnover was high among the non related employees. The atmosphere was terrible and after 2 weeks I resigned. Working for small companies isn't always the best place to seek employment, no matter the income.

[tjo2330598]

10:17 AM on 08/27/2011

COULD YOUR NEXT ARTICLE ON THIS SUBJECT APPLY TO HOW TO HANDLE 'BEING SETUP TO BE FIRED BECAUSE YOU HAVE LEARNED TOO MUCH ABOUT THE COMPANY, OR YOU MAY HAVE ASKED THE WRONG QUESTION IN THAT WEEKLY MEETING. THIS HAPPENED TO SOMEONE IN THE IN-HOME OXYGEN PROVIDER BUSINESS WHEN HIS OFFICE INSTRUCTED HIM TO REMOVE AT LEAST ONE PORTABLE OX BOTTLE FROM A HOME AND REPLACE IT JUST SO MEDICARE WHO HAVE TO CONTINUE TO PAY $70-80.00 PER MONTH TO THE PROVIDER. THE OXYGEN IN THE BOTTLES IS GOOD FOR 5 YEARS-AS STATED ON THE BOTTLE. THE EMPLOYEE WHO WAS FIRED LATER ASKED WHY REPLACE GOOD MEDICINE? HE LATER DISCOVERED IF THE PATIENT DOES NOT CALL IN FOR MORE PORTABLE OXYGEN EVERY 3 OR 6 MONTHS MEDICARE LAW STATES NO REIMBURSEMENTS. THIS COMPANY HAD MANY,MANY PATIENTS LIKE THIS IN ONE RESORT TOWN. SAD BUT TRUE. RIGHT TO WORK/AT WILL LAWS PREVENTED HIM FROM HAVING A VOICE.

[ladyrider1958az]

10:09 AM on 08/27/2011

I got fired after 10 years as a corporate accountant and I moved out of state within months, finally left the only home I ever knew for 48 years. I tried to find a job in my field and I found a few here and there then the economy took a turn for the worse and I finally just changed my path. I started doing freelance accounting and I now have so many clients that I am busy every day of the week and alot of nites too working from home. But I am my own boss, I come and go as I please and I love it. Being fired was the BEST thing that ever happened to me

[shhurtjr]

08:54 AM on 08/27/2011

As manager/owner of a laundromat, I had to fire some as a result of leaving their post, immaturity in the way they treated customers, and even embezzlement. I had others who were good people. There are some good people out there, but there is also riff-raff.

[Justthom]

08:51 AM on 08/27/2011

Nobody should ever be surprised that they were fired. If the supervisors and managers have been doing there job, there should have been negative feedback along the way.

I had a number of new hires a few years ago and when it came to their 90 day evaluations and possible raise, only one lady didn't qualify. I had already pointed out where her deficiencies were at regulat intervals during the 90 days.

She finally said, how much does the average worker do. I told her to not strive to be average, work to be superior and raise the level of the work on the floor.

30 days later I went back and gave her the raise. First time I had ever done that.

She is not a manager after 6 years of excellent front line work and 2 years as supervisor.

[Pam512]

01:27 PM on 08/27/2011

Nobody should be surprised? Some people should - like me. I got nothing but great reviews and was constantly complimented on my work and my work ethic and positive attitude. Apparently everybody liked me. Then I sent an e-mail to a coworker discussing how one person was allowed to work overtime and nobody else way. Apparently I was discussing "office policies" which I apparently was not supposed to do. And since the director of the department was going through the "change", her moods were not always the best. So she decided to read everybody's e-mails, just for the heck of it. So they fired me and the other girl (the two oldest in the department and the two that had been there the longest). So, no, I did not see it coming. It happened in December 2009 and I'm still furious.

[captnsfate]

08:41 AM on 08/27/2011

There is the thing. Everyone in the job market has been downsized and restructured out of a job in the past. But the tough question to answer truthfully on a job application is: "Have you ever been asked to leave a job?" The truth is yes. A restructuring, downsizing, or decline in business caused your employer to invite you to leave because the job. In my case, the employer gained the cost of my salary and benefits, but that employer also lost a million and a half in revenue.

I will add another truth. If you are not hired by someone else within six months, no one will hire you. It is time to think up a small business plan, find funding, and get back to work on something productive. If the business can not accept the prosperity you will bring in productivity, deploy your skills for yourself.

That person looking back at you in the mirror is more interested in your success then anyone in any company HR department.

[LizLemonsbrother]

06:00 PM on 08/26/2011

A few of us had just received raises, had a good performance reviews, earned bonuses and a few months later were "fired" when the old manager left and they brought in a new CFO. This person was sexist, rude, and wanted to hire his "own people." My HR manager said they can't tell prospective employers we were fired or give any details and so I tell what really is the truth--there was a reorganization and our whole department left. HR managers can be sued if they say the wrong thing and prevent someone from getting employment because unless it's something like bad performance, being tardy, or misconduct on the employee's part, people can be fired because someone wants to hire a relative or just because they're having a bad day. So this advice sucks -- if you answer that you deserved to be fired you won't get hired. Use common sense.

[captnsfate]

08:44 AM on 08/27/2011

Amen Brother. Tell them the truth.