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Hello. I am looking for some assistance in my job hunting and would like to ask how I can explain my termination from my previous place of employment without putting myself in a negative light to any potential employers.
A few months ago, I had lost my job at a popular clothing retail store for failing to keep up with the rest of the stock team. I fully admit that I am not the fastest person within the team but my supervisor did tell me that I had improved in my productiveness during my final few weeks, but that it "came too late" according to him. I am still free to apply to the store again, but I am not sure of a way to explain my termination to other employers in a way that would incriminate me in a bad light and make me seen as someone that cannot keep up with others on my team.
At this point, I am only just beginning my job search again, but I am not sure of what to write down when the inevitable question comes up on the job applications; "Reason for leaving". I would like to restart my job search soon, so a quick explanation as to how I can sum up my termination from my last job would be greatly appreciated.
Hello. I am looking for some assistance in my job hunting and would like to ask how I can explain my termination from my previous place of employment without putting myself in a negative light to any potential employers.
A few months ago, I had lost my job at a popular clothing retail store for failing to keep up with the rest of the stock team. I fully admit that I am not the fastest person within the team but my supervisor did tell me that I had improved in my productiveness during my final few weeks, but that it "came too late" according to him. I am still free to apply to the store again, but I am not sure of a way to explain my termination to other employers in a way that would incriminate me in a bad light and make me seen as someone that cannot keep up with others on my team.
At this point, I am only just beginning my job search again, but I am not sure of what to write down when the inevitable question comes up on the job applications; "Reason for leaving". I would like to restart my job search soon, so a quick explanation as to how I can sum up my termination from my last job would be greatly appreciated.
I'm not sure what the right thing to say is, but the wrong thing to say is the word "terminate". Believe it or not, in many cases it's completely unnecessary to disclose that you were terminated. And if that disclosure is likely to only harm you, why even bother?
These days it's almost unheard of for employers to acknowledge ever having "terminated" a former employee. They consider that information a part of an internal HR record that is not to be disclosed to just anyone asking about someone's work history. The former employer is much more likely to just confirm dates of employment, plus maybe title and salary.
If you were terminated they may also say you are "not eligible for rehire". In the vast majority of cases, new employers would assume a "not eligible for rehire" statement from a former employer means you were terminated, but since there are other reasons a person may be considered ineligible for rehire (like a sudden resignation, for example), the new employer is unlikely to be able to confirm their suspicion.
Besides, you state that you're "free to apply to the store again", which means the whole ineligible for rehire bit may not even apply to you. There may not be anything negative on your employment record with the store that could be confirmed by an outside party.
Unfortunately some employers will directly ask applicants the question, "Have you ever been terminated?" There's really not any wiggle room there. But most of the time they present the question as some sort of vague insinuation. In which case, you can vaguely insinuate that it's none of their business.
You can tell them your "reason for leaving" was you needed a job that was a better fit for you, which is technically true.
Then you get your new job offer and keep things moving. Easy day ...
I've caught people lying about why they left their last job, cause I call their previous employers. When they lie, I don't hire.
People who tell me the truth, I still call their previous employers and 99% of the time I hire them.(if they were fired) I'll find out soon if it's because of their previous work "environment" or if it was due to their own faults. If I can correct them, all is good, if not then I am also not a good fit for that person.
I'll admit, all my interviews are face to face which may not be common in other business'.
I'm not sure what the right thing to say is, but the wrong thing to say is the word "terminate". Believe it or not, in many cases it's completely unnecessary to disclose that you were terminated. And if that disclosure is likely to only harm you, why even bother?
These days it's almost unheard of for employers to acknowledge ever having "terminated" a former employee. They consider that information a part of an internal HR record that is not to be disclosed to just anyone asking about someone's work history. The former employer is much more likely to just confirm dates of employment, plus maybe title and salary.
If you were terminated they may also say you are "not eligible for rehire". In the vast majority of cases, new employers would assume a "not eligible for rehire" statement from a former employer means you were terminated, but since there are other reasons a person may be considered ineligible for rehire (like a sudden resignation, for example), the new employer is unlikely to be able to confirm their suspicion.
Besides, you state that you're "free to apply to the store again", which means the whole ineligible for rehire bit may not even apply to you. There may not be anything negative on your employment record with the store that could be confirmed by an outside party.
Unfortunately some employers will directly ask applicants the question, "Have you ever been terminated?" There's really not any wiggle room there. But most of the time they present the question as some sort of vague insinuation. In which case, you can vaguely insinuate that it's none of their business.
You can tell them your "reason for leaving" was you needed a job that was a better fit for you, which is technically true.
Then you get your new job offer and keep things moving. Easy day ...
Perhaps I am not the smartest at conveying the messages that I would like to put out there. I was thinking through my mind on whether "terminate" was the write word to use since it is rather aggressive and my departure from the store wasn't as bad as me having been fired for misconduct or theft or anything like that. Admittedly, I was rushing through my post as I wrote it without thinking about what to say.
Perhaps it is the best idea to state during the application process that my employment time with the store was ending. It was simply a matter of me not having lived up to the standards that the store was looking for at that time when I was hired. I still can't help but think that might still look bad on my record and it may give an impression to other employers that I may not be up for the tasks that they want me to do, but hopefully they'll have the insight to give people like me a test run before deciding to pass on me despite my years of experience.
I've caught people lying about why they left their last job, cause I call their previous employers. When they lie, I don't hire.
People who tell me the truth, I still call their previous employers and 99% of the time I hire them.(if they were fired) I'll find out soon if it's because of their previous work "environment" or if it was due to their own faults. If I can correct them, all is good, if not then I am also not a good fit for that person.
I'll admit, all my interviews are face to face which may not be common in other business'.
Yes. My intention isn't to lie to the interviewers as to why I was let go from my previous positions, but my concern is how I can word my situation in a way so that it does not put either me or my previous employments in a bad light. I will admit that there are several previous jobs that I've had that I have very little positive things to say about, but I am aware not to bring up the negative things and thus decrease my chances for being hired.
I've caught people lying about why they left their last job, cause I call their previous employers. When they lie, I don't hire.
People who tell me the truth, I still call their previous employers and 99% of the time I hire them.(if they were fired) I'll find out soon if it's because of their previous work "environment" or if it was due to their own faults. If I can correct them, all is good, if not then I am also not a good fit for that person.
I'll admit, all my interviews are face to face which may not be common in other business'.
I cannot imagine any employer, anywhere, discussing anything about a previous employee other than to verify dates of employment. There is absolutely no upside for them, and enormous potential downside... there is literally nothing but the risk of a lawsuit with no benefit to counterweigh it. Even the old "Is this person eligible for rehire?" has become too risky.
I've caught people lying about why they left their last job, cause I call their previous employers. When they lie, I don't hire.
People who tell me the truth, I still call their previous employers and 99% of the time I hire them.(if they were fired) I'll find out soon if it's because of their previous work "environment" or if it was due to their own faults. If I can correct them, all is good, if not then I am also not a good fit for that person.
I'll admit, all my interviews are face to face which may not be common in other business'.
99% of employers won't say why the person left the job. I know for a fact because I've lied about why I left and looked at background checks done on me. All the employers had policies only verifying dates and job titles.
Now you could get around this by asking for a personal reference from a job, but I've gotten around this by just telling the reference what to say. And IF they somehow get a hold of a manager who knows you got fired, they will usually not say you were fired. This has happened to me twice, and they tried to make me look good despite me not asking.
I cannot imagine any employer, anywhere, discussing anything about a previous employee other than to verify dates of employment. There is absolutely no upside for them, and enormous potential downside... there is literally nothing but the risk of a lawsuit with no benefit to counterweigh it. Even the old "Is this person eligible for rehire?" has become too risky.
I've had phone calls, written documents about employment, and they all ask why does this person not work there anymore. Most every person that has worked for me has had their potential employer call or send for information.
How is there no upside? I've had a couple that were over qualified and I couldn't pay enough to employ them. They were excellent employees.
Lawsuit? If all protocol is followed, no lawsuit. It's not slander if it's documented and signed.
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