You've Been Fired - Now What?
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Your chances of being fired today are roughly 1 in 100 according to data from the U.S. government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics which shows a termination rate in the US workforce of a tick over 1%. That is good news but the other, bad news is this: what if you are the one who is fired? How do you get the next job?
And what if it is fired for cause? Not a layoff because of a business slump. Your boss just decided to push you out the door and replace you with a new candidate. Now what?
Understand this: there will be a next act. And it may even be a much better act. But you have to be psychologically resilient, and it helps to be prepared for the ax to fall (usually it is preceded by warnings, tense meetings with a grumpy boss, and often a session with HR - the signs of trouble are ample). It will hurt.
Listen to Carlota Zimmerman, a career coach: “I myself was fired from my first job working for an English-language magazine in Moscow. I was all of 22 and I was convinced that my life was over. I was distraught.”
Her story continues: “Since I wasn’t ready to leave Moscow, I started applying for other jobs and ended up being called in to interview with NBC News, which eventually led to almost ten years in network news, in Russia, New York and Washington, D.C. Six months after I was fired from a minor magazine, I was interviewing VP Al Gore when he came to Moscow. I still know that being fired was one of the best things to happen to me.”
You want that to be your story? Just maybe you can make it happen. Getting fired can be a prelude to a better life - if you work at it.
Career experts offer plenty of tips and probably the first is: get into motion. Don’t sink into despair. Don’t spend hours tweeting negativity about your former employer. Focus on what you want - that better gig - not what you lost. Positive thoughts are your fuel now.
Focus in on what your skills are. Get very precise about your talents and what you want the next opportunity to be.
Also: start working up your stories. Rehearse. Rehearse more. You have tough questions you need answers to. “Why did you leave XYZ?” You will be asked. Stammering is not how to respond.
Robbie Abed, author of Fire Me I Beg You, offered this advice: “In interviews ,you can't talk bad about the employer that fired you. Just simply state it wasn't a fit for you and you've both moved on. The more you focus on it, the less someone will want to hire you.” Whatever you do, don’t lie - but also move as quickly through the topic as you can.
Understand too: there is no stigma about getting fired unless you make it so. Common reasons for termination, said multiple experts, are office politics and personality conflicts with the immediate supervisor - and neither of those brands an employee as useless.
More on the why did you leave question comes from Jill Jacinto, Millennial, careers expert at AOL.
“Deflect, deflect, deflect," she said. "There is an art to that. It's not just avoiding information you don't want out there, it's about keeping the interviewer on task. You want to make sure you're not getting lost down the path of a conversation that isn't selling you. Depending on the specifics of your job loss, you might simply say, ‘It wasn't a good fit. I'm a better match for your company, and here's why.’"
You are job hunting, but it is taking a lot longer than you expected? Partly that is nothing personal. Hiring remains anemic in many industries. And, maybe, too it is personal, maybe word has leaked out that you got fired. Suck it up, and keep marching after the goals you have set.
Career counselor Roy Cohen, author of The Wall Street Professional's Survival Guide, advised not to expect quick fixes. “You must persevere," he said. "Unlike most projects with a beginning, a middle step, and an end, there is no middle here. You start and you continue. It is over when you get an offer that you are willing to accept.”
That day will come - if you hang tough and persevere and, really, what are the alternatives?
This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held TK positions in the stocks mentioned.