 |
|
|||||
Choose words carefully when explaining firing
Being fired from a job is one thing; having to explain the situation is quite another.
How do you describe the circumstances without putting yourself in a bad light? Or, if your firing offense was truly egregious, how do you convince a new employer that the past is behind you?
And what if you were fired unfairly? Will the interviewer believe your side of things?
Try these tips in your next interviews:
1. Keep it in context. You are in this interview because someone believed you might be a good addition to the company. Be sure the interviewer knows what you can do. Listen to the questions and answer with confidence. Most likely, only one question will require you to discuss the firing: "Why did you leave the last job?"
2. Get the vocabulary right. Were you really fired? Being fired is when your employer asks you to leave. So if you quit or were demoted, you weren't fired. Likewise, if your position was eliminated, you were laid off, not fired. You might say: "I would have liked to stay in my last job. But the situation wasn't working out the way my boss had envisioned, and he decided to cut the position."
3. Get your story straight. This is especially important if you were fired for just cause. Perhaps you made a mistake that cost the company money, or maybe you were late to work too often. Decide which facts you're going to relate in an interview and stick to them.
4. Find the lesson in the situation. Interviewers care less about the details of the firing than about the potential for the situation to happen again. They want reassurance that you will be a good hire if they take a chance on you. One way to provide that assurance is to tell them what you learned from the situation. Here's an example: "I was with my last employer for three years, which is why it stings to have been let go. For the most part, I did very good work. But I made a mistake on a customer's account that cost the company a major client. I know now that I should have asked for advice from others in the department before I sent the file to the customer. That's not a mistake I'll make again. In fact, one thing that attracts to me to this job is the teamwork that you emphasize."
5. Keep it clean. If you were fired unjustly, you still were fired; extended explanations are only going to emphasize that fact. Concentrate on a brief answer that doesn't make you look like a blamer: "I left the last job because my manager asked me to. We had been struggling with personality clashes in the department, and it seemed like a good way to give the team a fresh start. I'm looking forward to a fresh start myself."
6. Bring your show and tell. To keep the focus where you need it, bring work samples, letters of recommendation and a reference page that includes people other than those who might not speak well of you.
7. Get over it. If you are feeling shame, embarrassment, anger or other negative emotions, you will telegraph them to the interviewer. You have to be ready to move on.
- Amy Lindgren owns Prototype Career Service, a career consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com or at 1071 W. Seventh St., St. Paul, MN 55102.
