{"id":1602,"date":"2021-03-07T17:42:29","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T01:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.virtualjobsearchcoach.com\/?p=1602"},"modified":"2021-08-04T15:04:47","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T22:04:47","slug":"how-to-explain-why-you-were-fired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.virtualjobsearchcoach.com\/how-to-explain-why-you-were-fired\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Explain Why You Were Fired"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Have you been fired or terminated from your job? Not sure how to explain it in an interview? I am going to give you some facts, strategies, and tips on approaching the subject of being fired and give you 9 true-story example explanations from some of my past clients to help you figure out how to explain your story.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How To Explain Why You Were Fired, Terminated, or Laid Off\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lv978cwIh5c?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the hardest things about being fired is trying to figure out how you\u2019re going to explain it when applying for a future job am I right?\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, I want to start off by giving you a few facts and insights that might help you put things in perspective. The first fact is that the average worker currently holds <\/span><b>10 different jobs before age 40<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the average person will hold between <\/span><b>12 and 15 jobs in their lifetime<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-609\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virtualjobsearchcoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/change-v4-300x122.jpg\" alt=\"Time for change\" width=\"315\" height=\"128\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>People change jobs for a variety of reasons including:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Higher wage<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Career advancement<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Career Change<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Company or personal relocation<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Less stressful job<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Toxic or negative work environment<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Management\/ownership change<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Didn\u2019t get the promotion they wanted<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More challenge\/variety<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not feeling valued or recognized for their contributions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Office politics \/ difficult co-worker\/boss<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Layoff \u2013 job redundancy \/ company downsizing \/ restructuring<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Changing personal priorities \/ wanting better work-life balance<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fired for cause \/ wrongful dismissal<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Company is declining \/ job stability concerns<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a recruiter and former hiring manager, when I am hiring for a position, my focus is on finding the candidate with the best overall fit for the position, the company culture, and the team, and my decision to hire is based on skills, abilities, education, attributes, personality, competencies and a certain degree of personal intuition because that\u2019s one of my natural talents.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although I may ask why you left your last role or why you are currently looking for work, I am not focused on that as my sole consideration for hiring you.\u00a0 If you tell me you were \u2018let go\u2019 from your last job of course I will be naturally curious and looking for potential red flags.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1630\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virtualjobsearchcoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Depositphotos_147570585_ds-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Business man recently fired sitting on a desk\" width=\"289\" height=\"192\" \/>However, people get fired, it happens! I know that and I know there\u00a0<\/span>are two sides to every story. Of course, recruiters will want to know what the reason was, and if it was something you caused, they want reassurance that you learned from it and won\u2019t let it happen again. I am telling you this because I want you to understand that if you were fired from a job, you are not alone there are many reasons people leave a job and they aren\u2019t all easy reasons to explain. When an employer is hiring, there are many aspects they take into consideration when looking for the ideal candidate so being fired from your last or a past job is not going to automatically disqualify you \u2013 got it?.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Now, here are some tips and strategies to implement when trying to explain why you were fired:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b>Tip #1:\u00a0 <\/b><b>If You Aren\u2019t Asked Don\u2019t Tell <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2013 If you aren&#8217;t <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">asked why you left your last role or a past job, then don\u2019t offer an explanation. This means don\u2019t put it in your resume or cover letter. Some employers won\u2019t ask because if they like what they see on paper and they like your first impression when they meet you, then they\u2019ll be more interested in what you can do for them, than why you left your last job.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>TIP #2:\u00a0 <\/b><b>Tell the Truth<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 If you are <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">asked why you were fired or why you left your last job then don\u2019t lie!\u00a0 You know what happens to Pinocchio! You will only get yourself in more trouble and jeopardize a job offer if you get caught in a lie. However, not lying is not the same as spilling all <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the beans, you don\u2019t need to explain why you were fired in full detail.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h5><b>Strategy #1:<\/b><\/h5>\n<p><b>Keep it brief, factual, appropriate and keep your emotions out of it<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u2013<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t place blame, don\u2019t bad mouth your employer, take responsibility if you did something wrong, explain what you learned and what you would do differently to avoid it happening again.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>Strategy #2:<\/b><\/h5>\n<p><b>Develop a concise answer and practice it<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u2013<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trust me I have seen it happen \u2013 where people are asked why they left their last job, they are already nervous in the interview and when that dreaded question comes up they panic and verbally vomit the entire story in full detail, including all the things I advise not to say\u2026. out spills their anger, resentment, blame, defensiveness and often things that even the employer would keep confidential and you know what\u2026. it\u2019s a huge turnoff and can cost you the job!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is one of those situational answers you want to have well-rehearsed and feel comfortable answering quickly and concisely and if at all possible try to put a positive spin or segue to something positive\u2026.I will show you what I mean in a couple of upcoming examples.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>Strategy #3:<\/b><\/h5>\n<p><b>Non-disclosure agreement <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2013<\/span>\u00a0<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you were fired for a sensitive issue such as inappropriate behaviour, bullying, harassment, or really any issue, you may have been asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement as part of your termination\/release. It is a good thing if you have because that now becomes your reason for not being able to explain the details of why you were fired.\u00a0 However, this also may leave a little too much to the imagination of your potential new employer\u2026.so what I recommend is to come up with a simple explanation and then move on.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Here\u2019s an example:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI was required to sign a non-disclosure agreement when I left the company so I can\u2019t get into the details but what I can say is it involved me having to file a harassment claim against another employee. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was uncomfortable for me to continue working with this person and the company and we came to a mutual decision that I would find employment elsewhere.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are fired for a reason you are embarrassed about or really any reason for that matter, as I mentioned earlier, you want to segue your answer to a positive statement or another topic such as a question like I\u2019m going to show you in some upcoming examples. Depending on the circumstances of why and how you were terminated\u2026 sometimes it is simple enough to say \u201cthe position wasn\u2019t a good fit\u201d, \u201cthe company was bought out, the new management restructured and my position was made redundant\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Now let me give you 9 different examples of true story termination situations from some of my past clients that you may be able to relate to and find helpful in crafting your own story:<\/strong><\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Story #1:<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMy manager of 4 years who I had a great relationship with left the company, and unfortunately I just couldn\u2019t build the same working relationship with the new manager \u2013 we continually clashed \u2013 it was one of those unfortunate situations that was bound to end in a parting of ways and he took action before I did.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Story #2:<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe company was sold and the new owners had a different business philosophy that I didn\u2019t agree with ethically in how they billed customers, I voiced my concerns several times and was eventually asked to leave the company\u2026but I learned a lot from the experience and recognize how important it is for me to work for an employer who truly values their customers. That is what attracted me to your company&#8230;the company mission and values as stated on your website align with my values and business philosophy.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Did you notice how the last sentenced segues to a positive here?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Story #3:<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;The company grew and a supervisory role was created. I applied for the role, but it was given to another co-worker. Unfortunately, the team dynamic changed, and my new supervisor had a micromanaging style which I wasn\u2019t adapting well to after 3 years of doing my job well without supervision.\u00a0 I was frustrated and wasn\u2019t getting along well with my supervisor and she made the decision to let me go, but I think it was a blessing in disguise because am ready to take on the challenge and responsibilities of a supervisory role and it has given me the push I needed to explore other opportunities that better suit my qualifications and interests. That is why I am intrigued by your supervisory position in ___ .&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Story #4:<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;As you may know, sales can be a very challenging field. I was in the top 5% in both of my first two roles as well as received an award for salesperson of the year 3 years ago.\u00a0 My most recent job was in the ABC industry. I didn\u2019t know much about that industry but was excited by the challenge of learning something new. I was given an assigned territory but soon learned it was very cut-throat with competitor companies and meeting sales targets was difficult to achieve. I gave it my all for 12 months and although I met my targets 7 out of 12 months and brought in several new key clients within that time, the company had higher expectations on achieving consistent monthly targets and they chose to let me go.\u00a0 I think with a review and restructuring of the territory regions which I suggested but the company wouldn\u2019t agree to, things could have been different. Nonetheless, it was a great company, I learned a lot and enjoyed the work because \u2018sales is my passion\u2019 and I am excited to bring my energy to your company and prove how I can be in your top 5%!&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Story #5:<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;It was my first time in a role as a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">human resources Manager<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. While I liked the company and the staff, I was struggling with some aspects of the job because I had never done that type of work before.\u00a0 The company did send me for training, but I guess I just wasn\u2019t cut out for <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HR<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0 It was a great learning experience and proved to me that I am better to stay with what I am good at and go back into a role more similar to what I did before that, which is why I applied for your posting for an <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Administrative Assistant<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0 I really enjoy that type of work and my education, skills and natural strengths are better suited for it, so I am excited to learn more about your position in that field.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Story #6:<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1617\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virtualjobsearchcoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Depositphotos_30464549_xl-2015-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"Man holding papers and looking at watch running late for a meeting\" width=\"310\" height=\"208\" \/>&#8220;I am embarrassed to say I was fired for being late too many times. I was using public transit to get to work and unfortunately, there were occasions where the bus was not running on schedule and it caused me to arrive 5 to 10 minutes late. It was my responsibility to open the office and turn on the phones for 9 am sharp so when I was late, the business didn\u2019t open on time which was bad for customers.\u00a0 The buses only run once per hour and although my employer knew I used transit when I was hired, we didn\u2019t realize what a challenge it would be to accommodate the business hours. The only way I could avoid being occasionally late was to take a bus 1 hour earlier but then I would arrive to work an hour early and they didn\u2019t want me opening the business that early so it was an unfortunate situation. Other than that, my job performance was great, and my former employer gave me an excellent reference letter.\u00a0 The position you are hiring for is exactly what I did for my former employer and I love the work. The great thing is I only live 3 blocks away so I can ride my bike or walk, and I can assure you I will never be late!&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Story #7:<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;I was fired for breaking a company policy.\u00a0 Normally we always had 2 or 3 people working in the branch but if we happened to be working alone, for security reasons company policy stated we were not allowed to leave the branch during business hours.\u00a0 I was a smoker at that time, and it is illegal to smoke in a public building.\u00a0 By law, my employer was required to provide me with a break after 5 hours which wasn\u2019t happening.\u00a0 Our branch was short-staffed and on two occasions I had to work 13 hours straight without a break.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t go that long without a cigarette so I was put in the difficult position of having to choose between breaking the law by smoking in the building (which carries a fine of up to 3 months in jail if prosecuted) or leaving the building and breaking company policy.\u00a0 I was desperate and used my best judgment to quickly step outside the front door for a cigarette when there were no customers present.\u00a0 I did technically break company policy by leaving the building and I was fired as a result.\u00a0 Although my District Manager did not want to fire me because I was a great employee she had no choice due to the corporate zero-tolerance policy. This was a unique and difficult situation; I understood the reason and learned a lot from it and one positive was it gave me the motivation I needed to quit smoking!&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Story #8:<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;I am used to working in roles where I have a clearly defined job description. I was hired for a newly created position and there wasn\u2019t a formal job description developed so there was a lot of confusion over what was really expected of the person in the role and what the duties and responsibilities should be.\u00a0 I had some good ideas but being new I was nervous about approaching management and questioning their decisions.\u00a0 In hindsight, I should have taken more initiative to ask more questions and offered my suggestions to help my supervisor determine what the company truly needed from the role to develop and establish the position. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After 6 months it was decided that the position wasn\u2019t benefiting the company and I was terminated. That experience taught me a valuable lesson about not being afraid to ask questions, offer ideas and suggestions.\u00a0 Because I have a tendency to be shy around management, I since joined toastmasters to build my confidence in public speaking and hired a career development coach who taught me how to develop a 30-60-90 day plan to ensure success in a position that I am excited to demonstrate.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Story #9:<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Unfortunately, I had some personal problems come up that were upsetting my work life. I have since resolved these problems and they no longer exist, so it won\u2019t become an issue again. I am ready to jump into my new job and exceed expectations.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I hope these explanations and story examples help reduce your fear and anxiety when it comes to explaining to future employers why you were terminated and helps you develop a strategy and framework for crafting your story. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember \u2013 <\/span><b>keep it concise, factual, leave out your emotions and practice it until you can say it comfortably!<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What you\u2019ve learned here is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to interview strategies and tips. To learn more, check out my YouTube channel (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/VirtualJobSearchCoach\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">VirtualJobSearchCoach<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), where I post new content to help job seekers like you, determine, pursue, and land their dream job!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you would like one-to-one coaching to equip you with the confidence, necessary tools, critical knowledge, and strategies to find and land your ideal job\u00a0 \u2013 then let\u2019s talk! You can book a complimentary 15 minute discover call directly in my calendar at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/calendly.com\/virtualstacey\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/calendly.com\/virtualstacey<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and let\u2019s chat about how I can help you fast-track your job search success.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you been fired or terminated from your job? Not sure how to explain it in an interview? I am going to give you some facts, strategies and tips on approaching the subject of being fired and\u00a0give you 9 true-story example explanations from some of my past clients to help you figure out how to explain your story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,120,124,135,19,18,16],"tags":[59,30,36,65,67,68,66],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virtualjobsearchcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1602"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virtualjobsearchcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virtualjobsearchcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virtualjobsearchcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virtualjobsearchcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.virtualjobsearchcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virtualjobsearchcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virtualjobsearchcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virtualjobsearchcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virtualjobsearchcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}