Answering the dreaded “why were you fired?” question

I read an interesting piece on answering that age-old question “have you ever been fired?” (http://bit.ly/1rJ5AaC) In truth, as a recruiter with many, many years’ experience and as someone who has been on both sides of the table in interviews over my career, I’ve never been asked that specific question. I have always asked candidates why they were no longer employed or why they moved from a particular role or why they made the moves they did. I want to understand their career history and progression and what prompted them to decide to move on (or why those changes were made for them).

Years ago, it might have been more of a stigma to be fired. Today? Not so much. With so much downsizing, rightsizing, reorganizing, etc., I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who hadn’t left a job due to the decision of someone else (in other words ‘fired’). Most are easy to explain away. Sometimes, however, it was a nasty break.

My advice to you if you are in one of these situations:

1. Review the circumstances of the termination. Do a bit of soul searching (OK, a lot of soul searching) to understand why it happened, your role in it and the circumstances surrounding the termination. It is seldom a one-sided decision – no matter how great you think you are, something led to that decision being made.
2. As part of this think about how the organization might have changed. How the needs of the company might have changed. How your strengths and attributes might no longer have been aligned with the current needs of the role, the department or the corporation. Did you really love the job? Was it evident to others that you were unhappy? Was it really fulfilling you? Were you happy to get up in the morning or had it become ‘just a job’? Really, this might have been the best thing for you. Perhaps you were afraid to take the plunge and quit.
3. Then – and this is key – craft your message. Craft your answer to that dreaded question “why are you no longer there?” This is where so many people fall apart. They talk endlessly about what happened and why. They unconsciously reveal things that you don’t want revealed in an interview. Maybe they malign their past employer or boss – fatal mistake.
4. Keep your reply short and sweet – keep it clear and concise. Come across with the facts but only in an overview (if they want to know more, they will ask) and leave it on a high note. It happened; it’s done; you’ve moved on. Perhaps you’ve learned from it.
5. Stress all the good you did in the organization, what you’ve learned and perhaps what you now know about the type of working environment and role you can excel in – and hopefully it’s the one you are interviewing for.

True story

I remember well an interview when I asked the candidate why he was no longer employed at his most recent employer. He went on and on about what a great Canadian company it had been, how wonderful a place to work it had been, how nice everyone was, etc., until the big, bad, mean Americans shoved their way in, took over and ruined everything. They tried to do everything the way it had been done in the states with no regard for the differences north of the border. What’s wrong with that? I’m an American. Think he got the job??

It certainly would have been better had he talked about what a great Canadian success story the company was, its values, its culture, etc. and the fact that after the merger, the dynamics changed. The company that took over did not take into account what made the company unique and so successful and changed the culture without regard for what it was. Perhaps it was no longer a place he was happy to go to work for. Perhaps he was not energized to get up in the morning and go to work. This was felt by his superiors. The decision was made for him and he can now focus on finding a company that is a good fit for him – where his strengths and attributes can best be utilized. Then he could have gone on to outline why he felt the company he was interviewing with fit the bill for him.  See the difference?

So, what are you going to do?

Practice and know what you are going to say to any difficult questions you may come across. Be prepared. Ace that interview!