Is “I Wasn’t a Good Fit” a Good Enough Way to Explain Why I Was Fired? | JobSearchTV.com
Is this a good way to dance off of the fact I was fired?
When You’ve Been Made Redundant, Fired, Laid Off, RIF’d
The question I received was, “Is telling the hiring manager that I wasn’t a good fit a good enough reason to basically get off the dime and avoid telling them I was fired?”
There’s a problem with that – – you’re going to be asked follow-up questions to make you explain why you weren’t a good fit. Was it a skills issue? Was it a personality problem? It’s like putting the red flag up and further the bull and they are going to charge and try to devour you.
I know I do that because it is not a pat answer. The pat answers are the safe one and, unfortunately, you were fired. The question comes down to, “Why were you fired?” Do you explain what happened without using these red flag type of answers? I think that is far more important than trying to “con people.” That is what you’re trying to do here – – can’t someone by ducking what really happened. Although some firms are not going to do reference checks beyond simply trying to talk about dates and wages except to verify your approximate dates of employment and the approximate wages that you earned, I know there are firms that do legitimate reference checking. They’re going to want to know the name and phone number of your previous manager, they’re going to go to LinkedIn to verify the actually were a manager should previous firm (it’s not good to be quite so easy is to have a friend that your former firm life for you), your references a peer, red flag number 2 goes off.
So I don’t think answering about not being a good fit is a good solution. To me that’s a problem answer. It’s more important how you explain things, after you answer or when you talk about being fired.
“My boss and I had a professional disagreement and for some reason that I can’t explain, I made a case for mine, I discussed it with her frequently, I advocated for it with her… I don’t believe I was out of bounds, but she felt threatened by it. Unfortunately, she took things a couple levels up and got me fired. I’m going to provide you with her as a reference and former colleagues as references who were stunned when I got fired for advocating for my viewpoint. And, you know, after I left, I was right.”
Another way of answering is to say, “You know, sometimes you join an organization and things just don’t work out. It feels good during the interview, you join and everything seems to be clicking and then they aren’t. I’m not sure how things went south, but they did. The work wasn’t what I expected it to be. My relationship with my boss start to become problematic. They weren’t happy and, you know, I wasn’t performing to my best because I really wasn’t happy either.” I like this kind of an answer because of the humbleness and sincerity to it.
So, I would do “the good fit answer.” I think people will smell that out as having more to it than what meets the eye. I think a more textured answer will work better.
[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v6fpobwaYs[/svp]
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Your Mike is sounding canned again
Your Mike is sounding canned again
Layoffs and firings mean little any more in an environment where loyalty is
dead. I never ever heard this as a contractor and had they asked I would
have simply stated that contractors have no job security nor expect it.
Again, any job seeker needs to stop being on their knees, if you got laid
off or fired it hardly matters any more. Economic volatility being what it
is made that a certainty. Now, if it is brought up, you’re free to ask
about the company’s public record especially any stains they have – such as
whether you are replacing someone who was RIFd… and then relentlessly dig
into why/how. It’s a two-way street, and I have bluntly asked what
percentage of their work force leaves on their own accord every year.
Places I would work for as a contractor that had 40% attrition (euphemism
or “phrasing!”! In archer-speak) would have a hard time convincing me to
convert. For management- seriously, being fired is the way you go out, it’s
expected
+Maurice Levie, although you are right that there is no loyalty, for job hunters, there is a power differential job hunters have been conditioned to believe that employers have power and they don’t. It is not enough to simply say, “Take back your power. They are disloyal SOB’s,” when job hunters have spent a lifetime conditioned to believe that they should shut up, do what they are told, regurgitate a bunch of answers or else . . . or else they won’t get good grades in school, or else they won’t get into college, or else they won’t get a good job . . .etc.. I am meeting them where they are and answering their questions and concerns and periodically teaching the attitude of them treating their career as though they are the CEO of their own company, not abdicating responsibility for their professional llives to Big Mommy or Big Daddy company. Keep them comments coming.
Layoffs and firings mean little any more in an environment where loyalty is dead. I never ever heard this as a contractor and had they asked I would have simply stated that contractors have no job security nor expect it.
Again, any job seeker needs to stop being on their knees, if you got laid off or fired it hardly matters any more. Economic volatility being what it is made that a certainty. Now, if it is brought up, you’re free to ask about the company’s public record especially any stains they have – such as whether you are replacing someone who was RIFd… and then relentlessly dig into why/how. It’s a two-way street, and I have bluntly asked what percentage of their work force leaves on their own accord every year. Places I would work for as a contractor that had 40% attrition (euphemism or “phrasing!”! In archer-speak) would have a hard time convincing me to convert. For management- seriously, being fired is the way you go out, it’s expected
Layoffs and firings mean little any more in an environment where loyalty is dead. I never ever heard this as a contractor and had they asked I would have simply stated that contractors have no job security nor expect it.
Again, any job seeker needs to stop being on their knees, if you got laid off or fired it hardly matters any more. Economic volatility being what it is made that a certainty. Now, if it is brought up, you’re free to ask about the company’s public record especially any stains they have – such as whether you are replacing someone who was RIFd… and then relentlessly dig into why/how. It’s a two-way street, and I have bluntly asked what percentage of their work force leaves on their own accord every year. Places I would work for as a contractor that had 40% attrition (euphemism or “phrasing!”! In archer-speak) would have a hard time convincing me to convert. For management- seriously, being fired is the way you go out, it’s expected
+Maurice Levie, although you are right that there is no loyalty, for job hunters, there is a power differential job hunters have been conditioned to believe that employers have power and they don’t. It is not enough to simply say, “Take back your power. They are disloyal SOB’s,” when job hunters have spent a lifetime conditioned to believe that they should shut up, do what they are told, regurgitate a bunch of answers or else . . . or else they won’t get good grades in school, or else they won’t get into college, or else they won’t get a good job . . .etc.. I am meeting them where they are and answering their questions and concerns and periodically teaching the attitude of them treating their career as though they are the CEO of their own company, not abdicating responsibility for their professional llives to Big Mommy or Big Daddy company. Keep them comments coming.