It’s a position none of us ever want to be in, but the simple fact is, it happens: you’ve been fired. Now you’re wondering whether you have to put it on your resumé for all future employers to see.
If you are fired from a job, you do not need to explicitly state it on your resumé. Whether you were fired, quit, or laid off, your resumé does not have to hold that information. Simply state the start and end date of each job. But make sure you are prepared to discuss your leaving at an interview.
Being fired can feel like the end of the world, and sometimes it can really knock our confidence. There’s no need to fret, though. We’ve compiled some guidance here on how to navigate the application process for new jobs after you’ve been fired.
Do you have to put that you were fired on a job application?
If you have been fired, don’t stress about your initial job application because there’s no reason for you to state being fired on your resumé. It is not a formal requirement for you to put being fired on a resumé.
Firstly, all you need to put on a resumé regarding the circumstances of your leaving is when it happened. Put the date you started up and the date you left. Whether you were fired, laid off, quit, or the company went bust, your resumé will look the same.
You should focus on the detail of your role in that position. Explain what you did day to day and what your overall achievements were. Even if you were fired, you should treat your resumé description like any other job. Talk about how the skills you gained make you suitable for the new role you’re applying for.
Skills and experience are what employers are interested in more than anything. So focus on that.
Should I include a job I was fired from on my resume?
If you’ve been fired, you should, in most cases, still list that job on your resumé. But, say you were only at that company for a week or two before being let go. If you didn’t learn many new skills that you can apply to a new job, then it might not be worth including on your resumé.
But just because you were fired from a job, doesn’t mean that you didn’t gain anything valuable there. If you were at the company for a long time before being fired, then you should definitely list that job. Take some time to write down the best skills and achievements from your work to highlight in your resumé. As a guide for including jobs, you should put it on your resumé if you were there for five months or more. This gives you enough time to start getting good at your job, giving you more skills to take with you to the next one.
The skills that you have learnt in your previous position are more important to an employer initially. Your reason for seeking a new job and leaving your past one is often inquired about by a new employer. But this is closer to the interview stage which means you need to focus on your skills and achievements on your resumé.
If you are applying through a recruitment company such as Canberra Labour Hire, you can talk to the recruiters about the previous work. They can help highlight the best skills from any job and find an employer to hire skilled general labour workers.
Does being fired affect future employment?
Being fired, for the most part, shouldn’t affect your future employment or applications as you don’t need to mention it on your resumé. You don’t need to state any circumstances as to why you left a job on your resumé, so they only thing standing in the way of your future opportunities is your attitude.
But employers might still ask why you left one job without having another one lined up. This is because you need to include the end date of your last job on the resumé, so employers will see that you’ve already left. Questions about past jobs are common in interviews because the interviewer needs to get an idea of who you are as an employee. This can lead to questions about the ending of your last position, but you shouldn’t panic. Lots of employers are very understanding of circumstances and know that sometimes people have to be let go for reasons that aren’t their fault. Plus, with your application, for all the employers know, you were possibly feeling as if your career wasn’t going anywhere, and you needed a change. There are so many reasons as to why you might have ended or been let go from a job. Employers do their best to keep an open mind.
It’s highly recommended that you plan how you are going to address your being fired in an interview with a new employer. You shouldn’t lie about being fired, especially since lots of employers ask for a reference to contact from your last job.
Does getting fired look bad on a resumé?
Proper resumé etiquette involves withholding the reason for leaving your past job from the resumé. So, stating that you were fired on your resumé can make it look bad because employers know that it isn’t necessary. In one sense, your honesty can be appealing to an employer, but if it isn’t necessary, employers aren’t looking for you to include it.
It might sound a bit silly, but it’s the truth. Employers know that people get fired from jobs and that it isn’t always the employee’s fault. If they look at your resumé and see you’ve stated that you were fired, it will look bad. Only because you don’t need to explicitly state this information and it isn’t necessary detail on your resumé.
Different hiring managers will have different reactions to your being fired. But they will have similar reactions to poor resumé etiquette. By making sure that you follow the proper formatting and resumé information, your resumé isn’t likely to look bad at all. Regardless of if you were fired or not. The better your resumé etiquette, the greater you look as an employee. Highlight your skills and reasons for what makes you a good worker, rather than focusing on being fired.
When should you not put a job on your resume?
You don’t need to list every job you’ve ever had on your resumé. You should be tailoring your resumé to every individual job you’re applying for. Think about the role you’re applying for and the career trajectory that you’re currently on. If you’re some years into your career and are applying for highly specialized positions, you can remove the time you babysat over the school holidays.
If there’s a relevant position where you gained years of experience, but from which you were ultimately fired, you should still include it. As we’ve mentioned, the skills from that position are much more important to employers than being let go.
We have many jobs in our lives that give us great experience. But employers are only going to be interested in the experience relevant to their company. Being fired shouldn’t be the determining factor for not including a job on your resumé. If you gained lots of good knowledge and skills from that position, you should be highlighting those aspects.
While you’re making changes to your resumé, have you ever wondered if you should be using the same resumé for multiple jobs? Maybe you’re considering if you should work or start a business. Looking for labour jobs in Canberra? Canberra Labour Hire is here to help connect quality labour workers with employers.
