How to explain fired - How to explain getting fired - How to explain being fired

March 19th, 2008

Don,

I have 1 question…..I was fired and accused of not giving flextime in
lieu of overtime, which was false, but never given a chance to plead my
case and it seems hard to get passed that question of why I was
terminated or why I left… What would be your suggestion?

Fran

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Hi Fran,

The Complete Interview Answer Guide from www.jobinterviewtools.com will
show you how to answer questions like this.

If I was fired for the same reasons as you, I would not even attempt to
explain this to a potential employer - it just sets off too many red
alerts with them and it rarely matters how convincing your explanation
is, they won’t even give you the time of day because there are so many
other job seekers out there.

I never advocate lying in an interview, but if my survival is on the
line, I might stretch the truth to ease their concerns and tell them I
was laid off. Getting fired should not be some kind of scarlet letter
that you have to carry with you for the rest of your working life and
forever be banned from ever working again. More importantly, why should
the firing decisions of just one person limit your work opportunities?
But unfortunately it carries some weight.

If it were me, I would use any of the following good and believable
reasons for my departure from my past employer: my position was
eliminated as a result of downsizing, I was laid off along with several
others because the company was not doing well, they hired a new manager
who decided thin out his/her staff because of budget cuts.

There are endless combinations of reasons like this, but if you choose
this route, try to pick something that you won’t have a hard time
backing up and that is easy for you to say. And most importantly, keep
your answer very short to avoid suspicion and say it with conviction.
Worst case, but unlikely, they catch you in a lie - then just tell them
the real story and explain your circumstances. I think you have a
better chance of getting hired by stretching the truth and getting
caught than you do just telling them you were fired.

Just so you know, I never advocate lying in an interview unless it comes
to this. Unfortunately, you have few options. Another thing you can
try is to tell them you were fired, just change the reason - perhaps
make it personal. You could say you and your boss did not have a good
personal relationship and he fired you and there was nothing you could
do about it. This way, and if you tell it right, they will feel sorry
for you and more importantly believe you and probably even side with
you.

I hope this helps and good luck.

I don’t charge for this advice, but it is a free service for people who
buy my book, The Complete Interview Answer Guide from
www.jobinterviewtools.com and I continue to coach them through the
entire interview process.

Best regards,

Don

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Job interviews make me nervous

March 17th, 2008

Don,

I have an interview on Thursday. I am applying for a pediatric clinical
nurse educator position. I am a staff RN who is currently in an MSN
program and have had 34 years experience. There are 3 of us being
interviewed for the position by 12 people. (charge nurses of different
ped depts., etc) I have two books on what questions might be asked but I
get “vapor locked” when it comes to me answering questions. I know I
can do the job but the interview is what is worrying me. Thanks for
your input. Bonnie .

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Hi Bonnie,

You’re not alone. Nearly everyone gets nervous during interviews. Once
you have a better idea of what type of answer is expected of you, your
fears will subside and a natural sounding answer will just glide out.
Practice answering the questions out loud in The Complete Interview
Guide and focus on creating your own answers that match you, your skills
and experience. Be sure to keep your answers short, tightly focused,
and to the point.

Don’t make a book of your answers and avoid getting into too much detail
with your answers - if your interviewer wants to hear more, then they’ll
ask. This is where many people start talking in circles and feeling the
need to explain every part of their answer and in the end, you don’t
even remember the original question. Make sure you avoid this pitfall.
Stay focused and to the point and you’ll do great.

I hope this helps and please let me know if there is anything else I can
do to help.

Good luck on your interview.

Best regards,

Don

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Second Interview Tips - Second Interview Questions

March 14th, 2008

Don,

Thanks for the advice. The dinner interview went great and I was able
to secure a second interview. The second interview is with 4 people, 30
mins each, back to back along with having lunch in their cafeteria and
touring one of their plants with all the other 2nd interview candidates.

I have already asked for, and received, the names and titles of those
interviewing, do you have any other advice on how to handle this last
round?

Thanks again for being so helpful.

Ben

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Hi Ben,

Congratulations on making it this far - you are doing well.

They may even have a third round of interviews with some VPs - it just
depends.

They definitely see something they like. Make sure you let them know you
have a plan for your new job and that you have been doing your homework.
Let them know you are serious about this job. At this point, they are
starting to believe you have something to offer. Let them know you are
a team player, a leader, a teacher, and back it up with real examples
from your past. You may not realize it, but in one way or another, you
have been all three of these, but if it’s not obvious to you, dig deep
and you will something.

Remember, they also trust the judgment of the people you have already
interviewed with, but just want to see for themselves what you are made
of. Plus, they may want to dig deeper into what your own plans are for
the job. How are you going to do it? How are you going to overcome any
hurdles. How do you know when you have been successful? Polish up on
questions like that and you’ll be set.

Also, make sure the answers you have given previously are consistent
with your answers for the second interview so you don’t create any
contradictions.

Give yourself that extra edge and stand out by giving a firm handshake
to everyone you meet and look him/her in the eye. Smile with a big grin
and show your teeth. Showing your teeth is the ultimate smile and is the
best and most exciting way to introduce yourself. Plus, your image will
last longer in their minds.

I wish you all the best and hope you get the job. Please let me know if
you have any further questions.

Best regards,

Don

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Why are you leaving

March 13th, 2008

Don,

I purchased your guide because I want to leave my current job despite
the considerable success that I have had in it. Same industry for 25
years with stellar track record. I have a boss that is unbearable and
may wish to resign prior to having another job. What would my answers
be when asked the question, “why do you want to leave your current job”
and “why did you leave your last job?”

Thank you!

Suzanne

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Hi Suzanne,

Glad to hear everything is okay. As far as your questions go, I like to
take the high road and would never tell anyone I’m leaving my job
because I dislike my boss.

You can find more answers to these questions in the guide, but here is
the approach I like to take:

I usually only have two reasons for ever leaving a job: either I was
laid off due to economic reasons or the job failed to challenge me
anymore. You can also say that corporate restructuring put you and
your job out in left field and you didn’t feel apart of the company
anymore.

Why are you leaving? I do tell them, though I enjoy my current job, the
company and my co-workers, I feel that it is in my best interest to take
my career to the next level and move into a more challenging position
or role. What ever you say, tell them it is because you want more
challenges and responsibility, something that your current job no
longer offers. You can tell them you have outgrown your current
position….

I hope this helps and let me know if there is anything else I can do to
help.

Sincerely,

Don

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Thank you. While all of that is so (go to the next level but I don’t
want my boss’ job) , my boss seems to want me out, to the extent that he

is making it difficult for me to stay. This whole thing is new to me
because I have never been on the “hot seat” before and it is affecting
my performance. Basically, things were great until I became injured on
the job (at a sales meeting during an activity) and the company had me
file a worker’s comp claim a year after the fact. (broken leg, and
reactivating a back injury.) Yet despite the rehab, I still had very
high sales numbers with stellar year over year growth. It is as if they
are trying to railroad me out, but I want to be positive as I interview
elsewhere. But I may be forced to resign.

Thanks,

Suzanne

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Suzanne,

This is easy for me to say, but have you considered confronting your
boss or better yet, going over his head?

Good sales people are hard to come by, and if you are a profitable asset
to the company, I can’t see why they would want to get rid of you, other
than spite or personal dislike. And if your manager is allowing his
personal feelings towards you to get in the way of what’s best for the
company, then in my opinion, he’s a very poor manager.

No matter how bad things look, going over your managers head is usually
a bad idea unless you have first tried to resolve things with your boss.

Is there something for them to gain by getting you out of the way? Will
they get your customers?

If it were me, I would prefer to stick it out and be the better person
and try to resolve any conflicts with my manager. Maybe even try to
make it difficult for my manager. What have you got to lose? What ever
you do, think it out clearly and talk it over with someone else to make
sure it’s a good sound plan.

Don

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Why do you want to leave your current job

March 13th, 2008

This post cover the following topics and questions:

Why do you want to leave your job?
Why you are going to stick around at your new job.
Third interview advice.

Don,

Your information does help. Let me tell you a little bit about my situation. I met with the controller for the 1st & 2nd interview. Now for this 3rd interview I am to interview with the President and VP. Should I prepare different? I am so nervous about this one. I am going for a Staff Accountant position for a small to medium sized company. The hardest question that I have to answer is why do I want to leave. Well right now I currently work in a large corporation and I am not happy with my current job. I was mislead about what the positions responsibilities were meaning there was more clerical work than accounting. I just don’t know how to answer that question and I know they will ask that.

Also, how do I let them know that I am going to stick with them and not leave.

I really need to seal the deal and my 3rd interview is tomorrow morning.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Marie

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Hi Marie,

Congratulations on making it to the 3rd interview.  I’m sure they are strongly considering you for the job, having made it this far in the interview process.  Actually, the questions in the guide will prepare you well for the third interview.  I don’t know anything about the position or company for which you are interviewing, but they will probably focus on behavioral questions at this point.  All the questions about why you are looking for work, tell me about yourself, why did you leave your last job, etc., should have been answered in the first interview.

They already feel you are qualified for the job or you would not have made it to this point.  Now they want to know how well you will be able to do the job. What is your work ethic?  How well do you work with others?  Are you a leader or follower?  Can you work under pressure?  Describe a difficult problem and how you dealt with it.  I can’t say for sure because every interview is different, but these are the types of questions I would prepare for.  Don’t just give a yes or no answer to these, you need to answer with real life examples from your past experience. Just look in the guide and you will find a variety of answers to these type of questions.  Once you get a gist of how to answer the question from my examples, you should be able to easily come up with your own answer.

The third interview is also a time for you to close.  I usually don’t out-right ask for the job, but I do edge closer.  I will ask questions like:  When do you expect to have a final decision?  Or  When can I expect to hear from you?  How may others are you considering to offer the position to?  In closing, tell them you like everything they have told you about the company, the job, the opportunities and how much you would like to work there and that you feel you will be a valuable asset to the team or company.  I don’t know if training is involved to get you up to speed, but I usually like to tell them that  with all my previous experience and training that I feel I will be almost immediately productive stepping into this new position.  Depending on the job, new employees are usually not immediately productive because they require on the job training which slows down the other people who need to train you, thus the  company is not as productive during your first 1-3 months.  That’s why I like to tell them I am ready to go out of the chute and will be productive and profitable, but whether you can say that depends on your situation.

All in all, you need to stand out in the third interview as someone who can do the job, requires the least training, and will work well with everyone else.  With lots of emphasis on the latter because if they don’t think you get along with your new co-workers, you won’t get the job.

I hope this helps you.  Please let me know if you have any other questions I can help you with.

Sincerely,

Don

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Interview NO Experience

March 13th, 2008

Don,

On most occasions an employer is not going to find all of the desired qualities in a candidate. Having said that, on a couple of my interviews I have been asked about P & L (profit and loss) responsibility or budget responsibility. I have had little or no total responsibility. This was handled on a more senior level, how can I answer this question to satisfy the interviewer. I am competent and would be able to quickly learn this and generally have all of the other requirements they are looking for. I should mention that my discipline is Distribution/Operations. Your insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Kirk

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Hi Kirk,

I’m assuming the new role you are seeking will have a direct responsibility for P&L.  Just because you have not been directly responsible for P&L in the past does not mean you don’t know how to manage it. This is more of a mindset than anything. 

Tell them, though you were not directly responsible for P & L, that you understand it on a fundamental level and that you are looking forward to coming up to speed in this area and  being in a position where you will have a more active role with it.  Tell them things you have done to self-train in their area of p&l, maybe by reading books, magazines, etc.  Employers love self-training and nothing says “go-getter” like self-training does.

Rarely, does any one candidate fit the job bill perfectly and an employer needs to make a decision on who they believe is the most capable, can hit the ground running and who is mostly likely to come up to speed the quickest. It also depends on what skills the employer feels are the most important to the job.   This is where your desire and ability to learn new things quickly comes into play. Show them by example, from past experience how you were able to take on new job responsibilities and challenges and master them.  Once you can convince them, by example,  that you are capable of quickly learning new things, you will minimize their concerns and it will no longer be an issue for them.  Basically, you just need to address the p&l objection and show them it should not be a concern for them.

I hope this helps.  Let me know if you have any more questions.

Don

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Best Buy Interview Questions

March 13th, 2008

Hello Don,

I recently picked up your Interview Answer Guide. Thank you for the information. I will be interviewing with Best Buy on Friday for a Space Analyst position. It is an inventory/merchandising position. Do you have any recommendations to specific questions that you think will be asked in an interview like this?

Thanks,

Cyle

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Hi Cyle,

Since this is Best Buy and a retail store, be prepared for questions relating to: working past your scheduled time, working weekends, coming in early, multi-tasking (you may have to lend a hand to another department who is short staffed).

Team work questions, how good are you at working with others to get a job done. I think of Best Buy as one big team.

Compromising (if you are working with others to get something done, how will you handle it if others you are working with want to do it a different way and you know their way is not as good as yours, what will you do? Will you go to their boss, what if no bosses are available and you have tight deadline?

How will you handle it if the store is swamped and the camera department needs help, and your boss told you to help out the camera dept., but you don’t know anything about cameras? Are you the kind of person who will step up and step in to lend a hand or look at your boss with a long droopy face and whine? The correct answer is a resounding YES sir/mam because this is an opportunity to learn and you have nothing to lose by helping.

Let them know you can work independently, follow directions, require little supervision and can think for yourself, but also prefer working in a team environment because it’s more productive that way.

I’m not sure specifically of the job requirements for a Space Analyst position, but since this is retail, anything can happen and I believe they would prefer employees who can wear many hats and are ready and willing to help any of your co-workers out.

Keep in mind that Best Buy is very customer centric. Without happy customers there are no FAT profits. I like shopping there because they usually do what ever it takes to make me happy and that’s what keep me coming back.

I hope this helps and wish you all the best.

Best regards,

Don

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Hey Don,

I got the job!

Just one last question………what is the best response to the interview question, “Tell me about a time when you missed a deadline. Why did you miss the deadline and what did you do to resolve it?”

If you need a testimonial, please let me know. Thanks for your help!

Cyle

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Cyle,

Congratulations!  That’s outstanding!

To answer your question:

1. Describe a project you worked on and what the expected outcome was.  Then explain what really happened and that you learned from that experience.  This takes what is expected to be a negative answer and turns it around into a positive one.

2. “Early on in my career, I tried to promise the world and thought I could get anything done in a short time.  As a result of my inexperience, I over-promised and missed a deadline.  But I have since learned to prepare and plan for unforeseen events and now I deliver what I promise on time.”

Use these positive faults in to help explain the reason your project did not work out:

• “I have a tendency to take on a greater workload than I can always handle, but I’m working on this problem by delegating more of my task load.”• “With closing deadlines, I can be impatient, so now I’m identifying holdups that could cause a missed deadline.”Everybody misses deadlines, but you want to tell them you have learned from your experiences and are now better prepared to identify the things that cause people to miss deadlines and are able to make more accurate predictions.

I hope this helps answer your question.

Best regards,

Don

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No work experience

March 13th, 2008

HELLO DON,

HOW ARE YOU? THIS IS LAYLA I JUST WANT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I HAVE GOT THE PACKET…I NEEDED YOU HELP WITH THIS ONE QUESTION …IT’S SAYS TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF? HOW DO I ANSWER THIS SHOULD I START TALKING ABOUT MY SCHOOL CAUSE I HAVE NOT WORKED BEFORE?

THANKS

LAYLA

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Layla,

Since you have little to no work experience be brief when answering this question and don’t make an essay out of your answer.  Talk about your schooling as it relates to the position.  Tell them things you have done outside of your classes that are related to the position.  Maybe even a part time job that is somehow related plus things you have written about that are related.   Also briefly talk about your personal interest in this position and how you feel passionate about your career and future line of work.  As a general rule, you should not discuss your personal life, hobbies, family, etc.  because that’s not what they are looking for.  They want to know what brought you here and why you chose this line of work and where you see yourself going in the next 3-5 years.

I hope this helps.  Please let me know if you need anything else.

Don

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Panel Interview - Questions

March 13th, 2008

Panel Interview Questions

Good Morning

I have just recently purchased your book and found it quite helpful. I
do have 1 question though.

I have filled out a application, got a call for a phone interview, had
the phone interview that lasted 30 minutes. I was asked a few of the
questions that you outlined in your book. I got a 2 ND call for a
personal interview with the office manager (future boss). Went to the
interview and it lasted 3 hours. I was asked a lot of questions similar
that you outlined in your book. Now I was called back for a third
interview, I was told that this interview was going to be with a panel
of 4 corp. exes. My question to you is what should I expect in this
interview, I have been asked almost every question in the book. I might
add that this job that I am applying for is a new position for the
company.

Any help is greatly appreciated and thanks for your time

Jeff

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——

Hi Jeff,

It sounds like you are progressing quite nicely through the process.
Congratulations on making it to the third interview. They definitely
see something they like. Just play it cool and you’ll probably get the
job.

I’m surprised they are doing a panel this late in the game, but everyone
is different. If it’s 4 exec, then it will probably be completely
different than your previous interviews. They already know you can do
the job and they like you, otherwise you would not have made it this
far. Execs don’t waste their time on just anybody. Execs will
interview from a different angle and will want to know how you think you
will fit it. Are you going to be a team player? Are you going to be
productive? How are you going to benefit the company?

Remember, they also trust the judgment of the people you have already
interviewed with, but just want to see for themselves what you are made
of. Plus, since it’s a new position, they may want to dig deeper into
what your own plans are for the new job. How are you going to do it?
How are you going to overcome any hurdles. How do you know when you
have been successful? Polish up on questions like that and you’ll be
set.

I wish you all the best and hope you get the job. Please let me know if
you have any further questions.

Don

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Hi Don,

I just wanted to say thanks, I bought your book and followed it
exactly. It got me to my third interview. I had some questions about the
third interview and emailed you for some answers, you were right on the
money!
Thanks to your help and book, I just landed a 6 figure dream job!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Jeff Sechrest

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Lunch Interview - Lunch interview etiquette

March 13th, 2008

Don,

I hope you can help me, I interviewed last week and it seemed to go very well. I am well suited for this position. He (the company president) that he would give me a call in a couple of days, asked the best way to reach me and I shook his hand.

He has now sent me an email- follow up to my thank you email- saying he would like to meet with me again-lunch Tuesday?

I am not sure this is appropriate, and how I should respond. I have met his wife, she is the one who suggested I contact him for the job, but how professional is this and what would be the appropriate response? Your interview questions, and responses were very helpful and I believe made a positive difference in how my interview went. I appreciate any helpful suggestions in this matter.

Sincerely,

Stacey

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Stacey,

You are doing fantastic and congratulations on making it this far.  There is nothing wrong and this is totally appropriate for the president to ask you out to lunch.  My advice:  accept the invitation and go to lunch.  Company presidents like to go out for lunch – a lot.  Meeting him in a restaurant will be a different setting and put both of you in a more relaxed mood, thus giving him the chance to see a different side of you and vice versa.  This will give him the chance to observe you in more of a social setting.  I’m assuming this is a small company – and because of that, small business owners are very selective about who they hire because they don’t have time to waste on the wrong people.

Just relax and show him who you are.  Side note:  I learned this the hard way, but eat lite.  Eat less and talk more.  As a rule, soup and half a sandwich or less is good with water to drink.   Too much food and you’ll always be chewing and you won’t be able to answer his questions.

Right before any small company owner was ready to hire me, they always asked me out to lunch.  It’s an easy way to land the job and it sounds like you are almost there.

I hope this helps and let me know if you have any further questions.

I wish you all the best and hope you get the job.

Sincerely,

Don

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