Write a Resume After Getting Fired

How to Write a Resume After Getting Fired

• You Got Fired
  Being fired doesn't always have to mean you are an inadequate employee, although it usually does. There are some cases where a person is let go, but they didn't necessarily do anything wrong to warrant it. We are focusing on legitimate reasons for termination. We have several examples shown here so you know what some of those reasons are.
  1. Too much time off
  2. Being late too often
  3. Distracting other employees
  4. Poor job performance
  5. Theft
  6. Lying on your resume
  7. Substance abuse at work
  8. Insubordination
  9. Breaking a company policy
  10. Personal business at work
  11. Conflicts with other employees
  Now that you were terminated it is time to learn from your mistake, to pick yourself up, and to get back to work. Being fired creates a stressful situation, but you have to get over it and move on. When you write a resume after getting fired you don't need to put down that you were terminated. That will be addressed on the job application and at the interview.
• You Got Laid Off
  From the position of you gaining employment there shouldn't be any animosity toward you from an employer. At some point in their careers many people have been laid off.
  
  If this occurred through no fault of your own, then you have no reason to be ashamed. Don't worry too much about not getting rehired, you will. Generally, the reason layoffs happen is because businesses don't have enough work, but there are many other reasons that this can occur including:
  1. Downsizing
  2. Company relocation
  3. Mergers
  4. Business closure
  5. Temporary position
  Layoffs are an easy problem from which to recover as far as getting rehired is concerned. Since you have not done anything that would brand you a bad employee, you shouldn't have any reason not to explain what happened and why. Explain it either on your application, at your interview, or both, whichever choice is appropriate. Explain it, but don't dwell on it.
• Mitigation Strategies
  The severity of your transgression determines the action to take using this strategy. The remediation will take place on the job application or at the job interview not on your resume. There are methods you can use to make your termination less noticeable. Here are some strategies you can use:
  1. Use a functional resume format to focus more on your skills and education, and less on the timeframe of each job.
  2. Get references from other employees at your previous job to reduce the stigma of being a poor employee.
  3. If it was gross misconduct like stealing or insubordination then that is a more difficult situation to resolve. If you don't include the job and the company finds out about it they can let you go for being dishonest.
  4. Did you commit a less serious infraction like being late too often or taking too much time off? You could explain that you learned your lesson and you won't do it anymore.
  5. Did you work at the job for a long time? If you don't include it, there could be an employment gap which you would still need to explain.
  6. Are you thinking of not including the job because you didn't hold it for very long? If so when you list your education and employment histories on your resume you might use only the years for the dates without including the months. Depending upon your start and end dates, this tactic may help to cover up the gap.
     
     ***Please be warned that if you don't disclose the situation, the employer may terminate you when they discover the omission. Then you will have to deal with two firings. We are not recommending non-disclosure as an option. We merely put this alternative here as something you should not do, and to explain what the consequences would be in case you were considering it.