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Topic: Explaining a termination
| Author | Message |
| Notyet | Posted – 7/11/2006 2:08:20 PM | show profile | email poster I'm sure this topic has been brought up before but is there any nice way to explain being fired? I was fired (unfairly in my eyes) and b/c of this, I feel like I'm having a hard time finding a job - let alone passing a phone interview. I've tried explaining this everyway I can but I always get pauses over the phone or weird looks in the interview. I feel like I was sabotaged. ------ I'm almost there. I can feel it... |
| CamelMan | Posted – 7/11/2006 2:40:49 PM | show profile Honesty is the best policy, of course. I'm wondering though if you were you fired or downsized? There is a difference and most hr folks will understand that companies change their plans and have to let people go at some point. Is there any way you could spin it like that? |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 7/11/2006 2:47:58 PM | show profile Give details. How long we're you there? What was the reason your employer gave you for firing you? How are you explaining it? |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 7/11/2006 2:49:26 PM | show profile Oh, yeah. Do you know what your former employer is going to say about you? That makes a big difference. |
| Notyet | Posted – 7/11/2006 4:03:59 PM | show profile | email poster The reason I was fired I was fired b/c I was "not a good fit" with the company. What really happened is the trainer did not agree with what I said to her. (Nothing bad really, just something I felt would benefit me and the customer. She did not see it this way and I was fired two days later. I received no warning, no nothing.) And I don't know what they would say about me. I did all my work and had one of the best numbers there. ------ I'm almost there. I can feel it... |
| The phashionista | Posted – 7/11/2006 4:38:01 PM | show profile Notyet, Have a friend call them and do a reference check for you. It's really the best way to find out what they will really say. Have your friend ask the three questions: 1. Dates of employment 2. Job title and responsibilities 3. Eligible for rehire. Or, if you had a boss that you did get along with, use that person as a reference. Good luck. |
| Cyrus | Posted – 7/11/2006 4:42:50 PM | show profile I wouldn't stress about it that much. It happens to everybody, and you don't have to say you were fired; you can say something like you weren't a good fit for the company. Former companies aren't going to make life difficult for you because they don't want to be attached to the hiring process of another company, for legal reasons. That's why so many companies will only confirm dates of employment. ------ Cyrus Afzali Astoria Communications www.astoriacomm.com |
| overthehillwriter | Posted – 7/11/2006 8:32:49 PM | show profile | email poster When asked "reason for leaving former job" -- which is a given -- you might say something like this (and practice it ahead of time for a friend, so your tone is self-assured. Don't want to sound bitter, snarky, angry or anything that would make your future employer think bad things are ahead. PRactice your tone, your body language (no looking down, failing to meet their gaze, folding your arms, etc.) "It just wasn't a good fit. I'm really looking forward to ..." and convert the topic to something that flatters you and the company you're looking at. Chances are, the person you're talking to can also recall a time she either fired the company or the company fired her. Should someone probe, if worst comes to worst, you might think about trying something like "I prefer not to talk negatively about former employers." Most everyone can think of a job they fired or that fired them. With some luck, this will only be an issue for you this time. Next time, you'll be able to say "I loved working there!" |
| joyeuxnoelle | Posted – 7/11/2006 8:59:25 PM | show profile I still don't feel I understand why you were fired. You disagreed with something someone said?? If you're as vague with interviewers as you are with us, it's no wonder prospective employers are worried. Saying you were fired puts up an automatic red flag. "Is this person difficult? Insubordinate? Armumentative?" Either go with what some of the other posters said and say you weren't a good fit or find a way to explain what happened without making it seem like you're not telling the whole story... |
| Notyet | Posted – 7/12/2006 9:03:39 AM | show profile To joyeuxnoelle: Believe it or not, this is the most I can give you. What I wrote actually happened. I was not given a clear reason. I got the standard "not a good fit with the department." I received no warning no nothing. When they called me into the conference I thought they were going to discuss what happened regarding the disagreement but instead they fired me. I'm still pretty shocked that it happened because my disagreement with her was nothing major. I was always on time and had one of the best performances there. But what happened is water that is well over the dam. The suggestions here are great. I like Cyrus' and overthehillwriter's the best. Thank you all for the advice. ------ I'm almost there. I can feel it... |
| chucho | Posted – 7/12/2006 11:58:10 AM | show profile I think being humble helps. Even a little light self-deprication. I have no problem admitting that I've been fired before. And, frankly, anyone who has a problem with that is not somebody I want to work for anyway. And being open about it is far better than sounding like you're "spinning" the event in your favor, or worse, leaving it up to them to find out the details. (Keep in mind that many organizations have a strict policy of only confirming or denying your employment there, not details.) "Not a good fit" is just another way of saying you weren't working to their satsfaction, regardless of whose fault that was. What you want to avoid at all cost is any discussion with your potential employer over where the fault lies in your termination at a previous job. Don't go there. Honestly, it's often better to just say it was your fault and that you learned something important from the experience. A good employee is willing to absorb a good degree of "injustice" in this regard, easily accepting crticism even if it isn't deserved, and doing it all with pleasant water-off-a-duck's-back disposition. I know how desperate I once was finding a decent job in NYC (assuming that's where you are) -- it turned me into a neurotic mess for a while. Once I pulled back and said to myself "my sense of self-worth is not going to revolve around the approval of some Fairchild HR desk jockey that I'm the best man for the job when even I don't believe that." |
