Asking for a friend: first time in X’s career (10+), X was fired, and X isn’t sure how to diplomatically and honestly communicate this in the job search process without over-sharing or it sounding REALLY bad. Not a performance issue at all and still has some great relationships there, but X made a pretty egregious admin error and that was that. No prior issues, well-liked, but the optics of the error were pretty bad in retrospect, so X respects & understands the decision made… any advice?
“I decided to take a break from the work world.”
“The culture/projects/etc no longer aligned with where I’m looking to grow my career.”
Or, they could choose to be honest about what happened. “I had a great run but unfortunately an administrative oversight on my part caused an issue with the client and we were left with no choice but to politely part ways. I’ve learned XYZ as a result of this process and am eager to get back out there and demonstrate my growth.”
I for one, vote for honesty. Lying about it shows a lack of integrity. And sure… maybe they’ll never figure it out, but why risk it? Personal brand is on the line.
Always honest. What happened, what was learned. Just like friend X follows the STAR method for interviewing (should), X should follow that method for being honest. Maybe it could be used as the “greatest failure” interview question answer.
I agree! Honesty is the best policy. However, X doesn’t have to go into every detail. Also, it does sound like there was more to just the oversight, possibly something behind the scenes? For example, if that person had been there for 10+ years, I would assume it was not only the oversight but the fact that maybe new leadership was in place, thus possibly waiting for X to make a mistake to have the excuse.  Many companies do not fire someone because of an error (even if it was a decent size) unless it happened frequently or was intentional (theft). If it was truly one instance, I would have a suspicion that something had shifted before then (leadership, culture, company growth, etc.) to make it combining factors. If that’s the case, one could state, “ To be honest, there were a couple of factors. I had spent 10+ years with the organization and felt like I was always creating value. There was a recent shift in leadership/ownership which caused high company growth and the pace admittedly was new to me. I made an oversight which caused an error and I owned up to it immediately and made sure to document a new process so it would never happen again. However, given the fast growth and new leadership, they felt that they needed someone with a specific skill in _____ to take over the position.”
Taking ownership is something rare these days and if somebody is honest about it but shows what they have done to make sure it does not happen again, THAT is what employers look for.
Need more details on the admin error.
Moving too quickly, assumed the right information was provided in an admin process and was not. Optics were pretty bad even if the intention was presumably innocent.
Was it just carelessness? Or a legitimate accidental error?
Moving too quickly, assumed the right information was provided in an admin process and was not. Optics were pretty bad even if the intention was presumably innocent.
I was honest and I didn’t get the job. Does that mean I had more integrity than the company?