Having to cope with losing a job can be very difficult. Not only because financial and job security gets taken but due to future work prospects being affected.
This leads to prospective job interviews being tough to navigate as a hiring manager will inevitably mention it. How you handle a company-forced exit can determine whether you can move on or not.
Career coaches Marie G. McIntyre and Dorianne St Fleur have revealed the best ways to deal with job loss when questioned about it in a future job interview.
One way you can lose your job is through your company firing you. This is often the hardest way to move on from a job as it signals that you were performing below expected standards or committed an unreasonable act, putting off prospective hiring bosses.
According to McIntyre, you should try persuading your employer to let you resign from your position or convince them to let prospective employers know that the firing was a mutual parting instead.
In this case, you should request a reference letter outlining the reason for the resignation or mutual exit, as it can be helpful in a future application process.
Also, St Fleur suggests bringing up in a job interview that the exit from your previous job was by a mutual agreement. Mention that it occurred because the role was neither the right fit nor the right match for you.
Another way in which you can lose your job is through getting laid off by your organisation, with mass company layoffs often occurring across multiple industries. The main reasons companies carry out this procedure are from the need to cut costs and shut down departments.
Getting laid off is not as bad as being fired and can be easier to explain to prospective hiring managers. This is as multiple layoffs often happen at one time at an organisation.
In these instances, it is more about a company thinking about itself and less about the employee's work performance.
McIntyre states layoffs occur as organisations must part ways with a position due to a lack of need for it rather than for what you may provide as an individual.
Another point that can be referenced in future interviews is that you may have survived previous rounds of layoffs at your last workplace. If this is the case, mentioning it will suggest that you were not a worker the company immediately looked at when job cuts were required.
Also, mention that you possibly would have been kept on in your previous role if additional layoffs were not required.
This can make you appear as though you were a high-performing worker at your previous job. In addition, it will seem that you were dismissed as the company had no choice but to lay you off for reasons not to do with you.
St Fleur believes it is wise to say as little as possible when discussing your previous job exit, no matter how you departed. After briefly addressing the exit, you should focus on your future and speak about what you strive for in your next job.
In an interview, you could mention how your potential new employer will get the best out of your existing attributes and be a better fit for you than the company you were previously working at.
