We’ve heard from lots of people over on our “How to explain being fired” article. Many folks were fired because of their own mistakes, and in those cases there is a clear strategy for talking about termination that can still appeal to potential employers. But there’s one group of people who really wind up awkward creek without a paddle in interviews, and it’s not who you might expect:
The people who waited too long to quit.
These employees stayed through bad managers who were sabotaging their performance, hostile work environments or callous coworkers that Human Resources ignored. These are the loyal workers that companies really want, but because they were terminated under bad circumstances beyond their control they were left without a good explanation that doesn’t badmouth their last employer (a major interview no no) and no one to give them a positive reference. Not only that, but they have to worry about what their last boss is telling potential employers who call to check work history.
So what’s a dedicated employee to do?
Know when to start looking for a new job.
If you’re dealing with a difficult situation or coworker that is affecting your ability to do your job (or making it appear as though you are not doing your job) you need to take action. Either start looking for a new job right away, or follow steps to improve things at work. Whatever you do, don’t quit your job before you have a new one (unless your safety is at risk or you are otherwise in a situation where unemployment is truly better than remaining at work).
What to do if you want to stay at your current job:
- Report the issue to Human Resources (or to the person who is senior level and above the issue)
- Wait
- If the situation doesn’t improve, report it a second time
- Wait
- If things still haven’t improved, begin looking for another job
Even if you really like some aspects of your job, if you reach #5, it’s time to start looking. Looking before you’re let go has some serious advantages:
Why you should find a job before you’re fired:
- You still have a paycheck coming in
- You don’t have to worry about potential employers asking your boss why you were fired
- You won’t have a termination on your work history that you’ll have to explain in interviews for years to come
- You still have access to people who can provide references (and NOW is the time to ask those nice coworkers and supervisors if you might be able to use them as a reference in the future and get their contact information – don’t wait until you’ve been let go and it’s hard to get ahold of them)
Being a loyal employee is admirable, but don’t stay in a bad situation at your own expense. Get out while the getting’s good, and move on to a healthier workplace.
*Photo Credit fuzzcat
About Amy White
You’re right about this. I was in that kind of situation and should have gone to my former company’s HR Department when the situation in my department seemed to be turning ugly (some of my co workers were already complaining on why there seems to be a bias in the way things are being run in our department). I actually already saw it coming (getting fired) and should have done something before it was too late.
I’m sorry to hear that happened to you Connie, thank you for sharing your experience. I hope you’ve found a new job that you love!
I was in a job I loved. I worked there for 16 years. I was treated fairly by everyone. It was a family owned company, I felt like I was part of that family, but then an incident occured and I took the fall for it.
So far at interviews, I’ve only been asked once what happened at that job. It was hard to explain and in the end I keep saying to myself it wasn’t my fault.
I enjoy working with the public. I don’t see myself working a desk job. I’ve applied for desk jobs, but it’s not what I want to do.
It’s been over three years since I’ve had a full time job. I would take something part time if I had to.
I don’t have anything negative against my former employer and I never will. It was a great place to work and even after all this time I still miss it.
Thanks for letting me vent.
No problem Sheila – everyone needs to vent now and again! You may want to check out these two posts for more info on dealing with talking about being terminated and what to do when a job you love lets you go: http://www.snagajob.com/resources/the-job-i-love-let-me-go-now-what/ & http://www.snagajob.com/resources/how-to-explain-being-fired/
Now I feel like my situation isn’t significant as everyone else. In my case, I just recently apply with a recruiter firm and they were partner with a large bank firm. The person that have interview me (Me being late to the interview and apologies to the HR and show them I called the HR headquarters about me being late) showed me how to do my work history for apply to the major banking firm. Anyway, after the woman was being impatience with me, couldn’t answer my question regarding my disability, I have to talk to the head of the HR with my issue. He was helpful in answering my question, paper work ect. Anyway, after going to the bank head quarters and done the paper work, the woman of the training facility told me that whoever showed me how to do the work history, it was completely wrong. So I have to spend two hour correcting my application. After that, I finished with my background check finger printing, ect. Two days later, the manager of the recruiting firm contacted me and told me that I was being let go because the bank hr felt that I couldn’t handle the work and I have to wait several years before reapplying with them. He started to ask me question of who have helped me with my application, what went wrong, ect. So I told him that what the other hr told me about my work history being completely wrong and given her the example of how it supposed to look like by her. He stated there was a miscommunication, trying to find out who have given me false written statement of how to write the application out, apologies to me because of what happen and wished me luck in my job search. That was the phone called I have gotten yesterday. You just didn’t know how I reacted, I just bust out crying. After calming down, eating ice cream and such, I explain to my mother and god mother what happen. They both have to sit me down and explain that since the bank is major, they didn’t want no mistakes, it wasn’t my fault and most likely they didn’t wanted me working for them and also told me that I should never told the Manager of the HR recruiting firm about my disability statues.
So now I’m looking to find another recruiting firm, applying to different volunteer services, Ameri/peace corm for my student loans and refocusing myself for better job field.