What to say in an interview if you were fired

Back in “the old days,” it used to be considered a really bad thing to get fired from a job. Having a termination on your record was an indelible mark that you needed to be prepared to explain away in every job interview.

But in today’s economy, with over 8 million Americans out of work, increasingly there’s not much shame in being fired. So many good people have lost their jobs in the past few years for all sorts of reasons; there are a lot of really talented, hard-working people who are unemployed through no fault of their own.

If you got fired from your last job, how should you talk about this in a job interview? What do you need to say to put the bad times behind you and start fresh with a new employer?

• Be honest. If your job was eliminated due to financial reasons, there’s absolutely no shame in that; many people get laid off every year. Just say, “My position was eliminated due to a restructuring,” or “I got laid off.”

• If you were asked to move on, say so. If you were fired “for cause” – that is, for some fault of your own – this can be a more difficult conversation. If you were fired for mistakes you made on the job, or because it wasn’t the right fit, say so – but don’t feel like you have to reveal every last detail. You can say, “There were some things about that job that weren’t the right fit for me. I’ve learned from my mistakes and I’m ready to move forward.” You don’t want to hide the truth from your new prospective employer – after all, they can always call your previous workplace.

• Don’t undermine yourself. Even if you were fired for mistakes or poor performance, you don’t have to share every last detail of why things went wrong. Focus on the positive aspects of your previous work experience. Talk about what you’ve learned, and what you hope to do better in your next job. Say, “Although things didn’t work out as well as I would have liked, I also had some significant successes at that job.”

• Be positive about your prior employer. Be gracious and upbeat. Don’t bad-mouth your old boss or your former company – don’t make it sound like you’re bitter, resentful or paranoid about why you were fired. Instead, say things like: “I wasn’t the ideal fit for that company’s culture, but I learned a lot from the experience and I’m ready to move on,” or “I have some significant strengths and a really solid skill set; I just need the opportunity to move forward with a new employer.”

You don’t have to be ashamed of being fired from a job, and it doesn’t have to trip you up in your future job interviews. If you put some thought into understanding how and why your last job wasn’t right for you, and spend some time developing strategies for how to learn from your past mistakes, your next job interview will be smooth sailing.

Ben Gran is a freelance writer based in Des Moines, Iowa. He is an award-winning blogger who loves to write about careers, personal finance and the future of work. Ben can be reached at http://benjamingran.com/

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