Oh Good I See You Were Fired…Said No Hiring Manager Ever

It’s one of the toughest subjects to deal with during a job interview – talking about being fired from your previous job. You would just like to avoid the whole horrendous topic, but you know you can’t do that. How should you approach this elephant in the room during the interview? Here are a few ideas.

Work through your emotions first.

Before you even go for the interview, you need to deal with your feelings about being fired. It’s never easy. You may feel anger, sadness, or confusion. But you need to work through these feelings. It’s important to be able to talk about your termination during the interview in a calm, rational manner to best explain what happened.

Remember, you are talking to people just like yourself. They know that people lose their jobs for many different reasons. We all make mistakes. Some of the people interviewing you may have been fired from jobs themselves. This is something to keep in mind as you talk to them.

Be simple, clear and direct in your explanation.

When you explain what happened, do it in a straightforward way, without embellishment. Provide a just-the-facts rendition. If you try to explain too much, you may come off as insincere, as if you are trying to hide something. Explain, then move on. Don’t dwell on it.

Focus on what you learned from the experience.

If you were let go because of some error that you made. You need to emphasize that you recognize the mistake and what you learned from that experience so it won’t happen again.

Don’t criticize your former employer.

You may feel that you received a pretty raw deal from the firm that fired you. Whether true or not, don’t let any resentment show during the interview. It makes you look petty and unprofessional.

Move the conversation back to what you can do for the new company.

After you have offered your explanation and lessons learned, get back to the purpose of the interview – what kinds of skills, knowledge and experience you can bring to the company interviewing you, and what you bring to the table that will help the company’s bottom line. Tell them why you are the best person for the job.

If you are an insurance professional looking for work, or thinking about making a change, contact Insurance Relief™. We are one of the best in the business, winning a Best in Staffing award for our accomplishments. We care about the people we recruit and provide job opportunities that fit. We treat people with respect and fairness.