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How do you explain a termination (getting fired) to a potential employer?
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Depends a lot on the circumstances. Care to share any specifics?
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I'm not sure you're even obligated, unless they ask why and they may not even be able to ask you why legally in an interview.
Job apps often have place to list reason for leaving former place of employment. You don't have to write "terminated." You can use an innocuous term like "let go" or something else. I don't hire librarians at this point, I hire Pages. If something looks suspicious in the reason-for-leaving field, that is one way I can sort and put the application in the "probably not." pile.
I think if a candidate is strong in other areas, I might want to interview him/her if he or she looks like a good fit for the position no matter what happened in a previous position.
My .02.
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IF you were not at the location for very long and If there were extenuating circumstances (bad boss, toxic co-workers, etc.) - I would suggest just leaving the job off of your resume - call the period not covered as "recharging time" or "pursuing other interests."
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spaulk wrote:IF you were not at the location for very long and If there were extenuating circumstances (bad boss, toxic co-workers, etc.) - I would suggest just leaving the job off of your resume - call the period not covered as "recharging time" or "pursuing other interests." This is a very risky move. If the hiring organization discovers you left something off, it gives the opportunity to question your honesty. If I was on a hiring committee, I personally would rather see you are looking for a better situation than trying to pull the wool over my eyes.
Brian C. Gray Head of Reference & Engineering Librarian Kelvin Smith Library Case Western Reserve University http://blog.case.edu/bcg8bcg8@case.edu
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bcgray wrote:spaulk wrote:IF you were not at the location for very long and If there were extenuating circumstances (bad boss, toxic co-workers, etc.) - I would suggest just leaving the job off of your resume - call the period not covered as "recharging time" or "pursuing other interests." This is a very risky move. If the hiring organization discovers you left something off, it gives the opportunity to question your honesty. If I was on a hiring committee, I personally would rather see you are looking for a better situation than trying to pull the wool over my eyes. I agree. I would not recommend leaving it off the resume. Being honest about the situation is definitely your best bet.
Check out the Talking Books Librarian blog at http://talkingbookslibrarian.blogspot.com
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TalkingBooksLibrarian: What are some things you could say in an interview that would be honest about the termination, but that wouldn't make you look bad?
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I think the other thing you need to think about is potential litigation from the place that fired you. I have seen situations where not only has the person been fired but, when they discussed it with potential employers, the reaction of the place that fired them was to try and sue for slander, claiming that the ex-employer was damaging the company by suggesting that the firing was not completely justified and totally the employee's fault. If you say anything about the people who worked there "well it was a toxic environment" or whatever the people there can sue you individually for slander and damage to their professional reputations. Unfortunately, we live in a society where people can and do sue for anything -- just yesterday it was announced that a former Dartmouth professor is suing her former students because they were "mean".
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