Turn job negative into a positive

365

Dear Joan:
I am re-doing my resume. I have one delicate area that needs your advice. I was fired from a teaching job long ago. I have since gone on to establish myself as a hard-working, successful salesman. As I am about to step out and seek another job, I get an uncomfortable feeling tackling this issue head-on. My problem is putting this experience in the best possible light in my resume (and in my mind). I really don't care to "blink" during the interview.

The official reason for my termination was "economic reasons and performance". For some silly reason, I never challenged this, but I was deeply hurt by it. Given a more professional environment, I could have become a fairly capable teacher. I organized a number of units I'm fairly proud of to this day. I had a fair amount of success in the extra-curricular school activities I supervised. But actually, I am probably a better salesman than a teacher.

On my resume thus far I have listed only "economic reasons" as the reason for my dismissal. However, should anyone really care to further investigate, I'd be in serious trouble. I believe I have been checked on more than one occasion. Any help you can volunteer in dealing with this unfortunate part of my past would be dearly appreciated.

Answer:
Let's exorcise that demon.

You were obviously deeply hurt by this event in your life and you are probably ashamed that it occurred and still feel embarrassed. You are probably afraid employers will see you as a failure.

You may be surprised to learn that potential employers don't see it that way at all for several reasons:

1.      It happened a long time ago.

2.      It occurred in an entirely different field than you are in now.

3.      Your performance has been good in your new field. If you are staying in sales, your recent performance is all they care about.

4.      You will come across as a conscientious person in the interview (you must be or this wouldn't bother you so much).

5.      Sales people change jobs and get fired more frequently than most other professions because of the nature of the work.

Stop putting anything on your resume that indicates why you left former positions. A resume is not the place for that information. Instead, if it is asked for on an application or in an interview, say that it was either "economic reasons" (which is perfectly acceptable, since the school used that term), or say, "not the best match for my skills".

I doubt that any employer will be very concerned about the fact that you were fired but if you are asked about it, why not discuss it openly? You have nothing to hide. Did you know that in a recent survey of CEOs of companies across America, almost 60% have been fired at one time or another? You're in good company.

If you are a good sales person, an employer will probably guess that the skills that make you successful probably weren't a good match for a teaching position. Use this to your advantage. For instance, you could say, "I have been very successful as a sales person because I love to meet new people, help them solve their problems and develop a strong client relationship. Teaching was a little too confining for me." Another possibility is, "In teaching I never felt motivated by the reward system. Whereas in sales, the sky is the limit and I like the instant reinforcement it gives me."

The more you try to hide this, the more nervous and paranoid you could appear. If you discuss it openly, you may start to feel better about it yourself. For instance, if you were talking to someone about their past employment and they said, "I was fired from a teaching job a long time ago. At the time I was deeply hurt and it bothered me for a long time. Now I know it was the best thing that ever happened to me. If I hadn't left the profession, I may have never known that it was the wrong job for me. I probably wouldn't have had a successful career like I am enjoying now."

You get the idea. All you need to do is discuss the situation by finding a strong skill that you have in sales and use it to point out why education was not for you. The employer won't be thinking, "Gee is this guy a failure." He'll be saying, "This guy has the right attitude and motivation to be in sales."