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Your #Career : How To Make ‘I Just Got Fired’ Sound Better When You Interview…Interviewing when Fired is Strenuous, Because it Feels Like you Have to Justify yourself All the Time, But on the Plus Side, you’re Immediately Available, so That’s there’s That.

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Your answer should:  #1- Be true….#2- Help you advance in the interview process (or at least not stop you).  It’s very important to keep both of these things in mind. You should answer in a truthful way because it’s the right thing to do, but also because if your potential employer catches you lying before you even work for them it’s very unlikely you’d get the job. Yet, the goal of your answer is not to put you down, it’s the opposite. You want to leave a positive impression.

Interviewer2

Another thing to keep in mind, even if less important than the two above, is to be concise. You really don’t want to spend your interview time talking about this. There is still a lot of latitude and what you should say depends on the circumstances and the employer. Perhaps nobody will ask you why you left your previous employer (just kidding, everyone will ask!).

You probably don’t have to disclose that you were fired. Assuming you’re in the US, and employed at will, you left your company. Perhaps you were unhappy there for a number of reasons that have nothing to do with your old boss. Perhaps the job you are applying for is better suited to what you really wanted to do. And sure: those reasons were not really the ones why you left, that’s fine, but as long as these reasons are true and sincere, you are leaving your interviewer with an explanation to a legitimate concern they had.

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You also may want to say that you have been fired. You and your boss didn’t agree on how to do your work. You didn’t have the same view on things, you were no longer aligned, she wanted to try a new approach which involved replacing you, which is her prerogative, and it’s actually a humbling / learning experience, etc. (there’s surely a great way to phrase it).

Here are two wrong ways to answer this question.

  1. Appear confrontational or resentful towards your old company. Saying things like, “It was totally not my fault, so unfair, she keeps lying about me,” etc. sends all kinds of wrong signals.
  2. Come up with an answer that is so obviously untrue that it will leave your interviewer convinced that you’re hiding something ugly, “Yeah, they fired me, but the weirdest thing is they never even said why. Crazy right?”

Interviewing when fired is strenuous, because it feels like you have to justify yourself all the time, but on the plus side, you’re immediately available, so that’s there’s that.

This question originally appeared on Quora. Ask a question, get a great answer. Learn from experts and access insider knowledge

How do I explain being fired to a potential employer? originally appeared on Quora: the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.

Answer by Jérôme Cukier, software engineer, on Quora:

 

Forbes.com | July 25, 2016