Nouman Khan

Will getting fired affect my job prospects? If you’ve been fired from a previous job, then this will undoubtedly come up in any interviews you attend. Your prospective new employer will want to know what happened to result in the termination of your contract. The best thing you can do is be honest and tell your interviewer, in your own words, what happened. If you give an explanation and, when your references are checked, it is discovered that you have been untruthful, then any job offer already made will be retracted, or you will be crossed off the short list if offers have not yet been sent out. Be objective One of the worst things you can do when asked this question is try to lay the blame on someone else. Explain what happened, calmly and honestly. Think about all the circumstances that were involved when the decision was made, and realise that it might have been down to the reality of the job not meeting your expectations, people in the office not getting along well and being unable to communicate effectively, or a whole host of other reasons. You are advised to think about this potential question before your interview, but there is no simple, stock answer that you can prepare. The best thing to do is to make sure you tell the truth as you see it, and don’t say to your interviewer that your previous employer made completely the wrong decision; this will just make you appear childish and reduce your chances of being offered the job. What have you learned from being fired The next question you are likely to be asked is what you have learned from the unpleasant experience. Again, this is something you can think about before your interview, and consider what you might have done differently if you were in a similar situation again. Be prepared to take some blame at this stage; for example, you could explain that your understanding of the instructions was not sufficient, rather than saying that the job wasn’t explained properly. You could also add here, that if it were to happen again you would ask questions and make sure you had a complete understanding of the work before making a start, thereby avoiding any future problems. If it was a personality clash in the office, discuss how you would attempt to understand the other person’s point of view by having a calm conversation, rather than allowing it to escalate into an argument. If you have critically evaluated your behavior and considered all the areas where you might be able to make changes in the future, then you have learned from the experience. This is the best way to minimize the damage that being fired can do, as it shows any prospective employers that you can take criticism and learn from experience. You may find that answering questions such as this in a clear, concise, objective fashion does far more to impress your interviewer than the long list of qualifications on your résumé.