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Job interviews usually include a close look at your resume and some in-depth conversation about your past work experience. So it’s very possible for unflattering circumstances—like an employment gap or termination—to come up.
Here’s how you can make sure those blips in your past don’t become interview-killers.
Honesty is the Best Policy
It’s tempting to bend the truth to make yourself look better. But that would be a mistake.
If you’re applying for a new job in the same city and industry as your old one, your interviewer could know your former boss. So a quick fact-check may be as simple as sending a text message. Even if there isn’t a personal connection there, the hiring manager or HR department may call your former employers. Getting caught in a lie looks much worse than telling the truth, even if the truth is that you were fired.
But this isn’t the time for brutal honesty. If you got fired because your former boss was an abusive monster and you stood up for yourself…this may not be the right time to tell that story. Bad-mouthing a former employer is never a good look, no matter how much they may deserve it.
Keep It Brief
No need to launch into a complex narrative explaining how the last three months of your employment led to termination. A simple, neutral explanation can often be enough to start.
Here are some examples:
- I had to miss too many days due to an illness.
- The company chose to downsize my department, and I was first to go as I had the lowest seniority.
- The company’s needs changed, so they decided to bring in someone with more specialized experience.
- I was out of work for two years because I had small children at home.
- The company and I had a different understanding of the expectations for the role.
- I’ve been actively searching for a job but haven’t found the right fit yet.
These short statements answer the question, but they also provide you with an opportunity to swing the conversation from the employment gap or termination to something more positive.
Shift to the Positive
After your short explanation, you can steer the conversation in a more positive direction.
When explaining an employment gap, perhaps you could share what you did during that time, especially if you upskilled by going back to school or did freelance work. You could even mention books or blogs that you read to stay up-to-date on the industry.
It may also help to mention that you’ve been trying to find the right fit, not just any old job. If you mention that you’ve been through several interviews but just haven’t found the ideal position, the narrative is that you’re being selective—not that no one will hire you.
If you were terminated, you can explain what you learned from the experience, and how you would do things differently in the future. Perhaps you could say, “The company and I had a different understanding of the expectations from the role. This was a learning experience for me—it taught me to be proactive and speak up if I’m unclear about my responsibilities.”
End the Conversation If You Need To
Employers have every right to ask questions about employment issues. It’s part of their vetting process, after all.
But you do not have to have a conversation that makes you uncomfortable. If the interviewer presses you for details you’re not prepared to share, you can say that you’d rather not discuss them. This is especially true if they’re digging into your personal life, like the nature of an illness or loss in your family.
This could be a sign that this employer doesn’t respect the line between work life and personal life. And if it happens, you can always thank the interviewer for their time and end the interview.