Interview Tips: How To Explain Being Fired or Why You Quit Your Job

By Tabitha Makumi,
Picture this…You get fired from your job for one reason or the other or you decide to throw in the towel and quit. Fast forward to a few weeks or months later, and you are now looking for a new job. You fill and send out numerous job applications and even though you’ve indicated that you ‘quit’ your previous job or you were ‘fired’, you still get invited for an interview.

“So Mr Omondi, can you tell us why you walked out on your previous job” Or “Why did your employer decide to let you go?” poses the interviewer

“The fact that you got invited for an interview despite having indicated that you got fired or you quit your job indicates that there is something on your CV which beats all the merits and attracted the recruiter,” explains Dennis Bugara a HR and Operations Manager at Flexi Personnel.

During an interview, while one may feel the need to explain in detail why they got fired, Mr Bugara advises job seekers to carefully plan and prepare simple and positive answers which wouldn’t jeopardize their chances of getting the job.

“For example if you were fired for one reason or the other you can say that following ‘a mutual consent’ between me and my former employer, for this and that reason, we saw it best for me to leave the company,” adds Mr Bugara.

He also adds that one has to be brief in discussing the situation which led to the firing, “Talk about what you learnt and what you are willing to change and then move on to the positive of what you accomplished and how you can contribute to the new company.”

Still on getting fired, Margaret Njeri a Human Resource Officer with Virtual HR insists on the need for job seekers to be honest about why they were fired. “Tell the truth because if you try to hide about what happened, if they do a reference check on you and things don’t seem to add up, then you would be in trouble.”

She however adds that one should avoid using the term ‘fired’ as it has some negative connotation surrounding it. “Terms such as ‘I was let go’ or the ‘job wasn’t the best fit’ sound better than the dreaded ‘fired’,” she says.

So, what if you were not fired but you are the one who made the conclusive decision to quit?

“First of all do not use the work “quit” when you are in an interview,” explains Mr Bugara who says that a more preferable word is saying you ‘walked out’ for this and that reason.

“You also don’t want to make a negative impression when you answering this question and you to remember to focus on what you are moving towards,” advises Mr Boraga who adds that “You can say, ‘I am interested in a new challenge and an opportunity to use my skills and experience in a different capacity than I have in the past OR you are now looking for a new career projection which the new company would be able to offer.”

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