Employees get fired for a lot of reasons. Some are legitimate- performance issues, unethical behaviour, while other reasons could be unjustified such as dirty corporate politics. Irrespective of reasons, employees have a strong foundation for communicating the story & circumstances without impacting their candidacy with future/prospective employers. Lot of my clients who were laid off landed up with excellent positions & handsome compensation.
The following paragraphs discuss in detail how to end up having a successful job winning interview after being fired by your previous employer.
- Give yourself time to rethink your strategy: If you have lost your job, you must be going through a grieving process similar to other losses you experience in your life. If you interview prematurely, you may not find it comfortable to talk about your previous employer with the kind of conviction & discretion you need, to keep potential employers focussed on the value you offer to them. If you are looking to interview immediately after getting laid off, you should give yourself time by just taking a ceremonial vacation, read the book you love the most, go for a trek or spend time with family & kids. This is your decompression & reviving time & will certainly provide you with mental benefits & gear up your thought process before your start going for interviews. This will do wonders for you as it has done for a lot of my clients.
- Connect with your allies/contacts: It would be a wonderful strategy to connect with your allies with your previous company. These could be your past colleagues, people that have worked with you, clients or vendors- anyone that can endorse your strength, competencies & your positives. It could work in your favour if any of these folks/professionals can give a signal that there were problems in your previous company beyond your control. Also look out for references from people other than your boss/manager. Focus on gathering as many written references having short/crisp quotes as possible. Skill endorsement on LinkedIn can further add value to your credibility & candidature.All these, summed up in a reference page can further give your marketing collateral a winning edge.
- Prepare a statement or a pitch: Be ready with a crisp & clear statement why you were fired & practice saying it. You can use this statement in your future interviews. You statement can be like this
Unfortunately, I had to quit my last job–
When I took this job, I was energetic about —–
However, sooner as the organisation top management toppled & a new management came to take charge, a strong hostility among the top management emerged. I was so excited about this wonderful position that I could not read the difference in the bigger picture which was shown to me at the time of interview & now post organisation restructuring.
Now I am focussed on looking ahead & look forward to speaking with you about the corporation’s objectives.
Whatever you say, your statement should be crisp, forward looking & positive. Interviewers would be keen to learn on what your skill & competencies bring you, so focus on how you can help them create value for their corporation.
Using this above mentioned strategy, you can minimise the damages & move on in your career.
Are you looking for some career advice & guidance about how to write an executive resume or have a rebranded LinkedIn profile? As the founder & executive resume coach at Sushant Kumar Ventures, offering executive resume writing & LinkedIn profile writing services for modern day job seekers, I would be happy to chat to help you meet your career goals; Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/fbPEMJ3
