Departure Etiquette: Getting Fired with Decorum

No one wants to lost their job, but if this happens to you it is imperative that you handle the news graciously.  Word travels fast in business and your next job could depend on it.

5 Tips for Getting Fired with Decorum

• Don’t fight it. At least don’t get on the defensive and start taking jabs at the person delivering the bad news or engage in a shouting match over the fact that you have just wasted the best 6 years of your life. Begging, pleading or making excuses will not help the situation at this point.
• Take responsibility. If you are being let go for a specific reason, acknowledge the misstep and how you have since learned from your mistake. Refrain from placing blame on others or making excuses. Learn from the experience and turn it into a positive the next time around.
• Leave the building with your head held high. In the perfect world, saying goodbye to your peers as you leave and thanking your boss for the opportunity to have gained valuable experience would be an extremely gracious gesture. If possible, when walking out of the building, with or without a company escort, don’t slump, slouch or look down at the floor. You have nothing to hide and you have done nothing wrong – it simply did not work out. The truth be known, you were probably already looking for another job.
• Do not engage in trash talk. Think very carefully before divulging colleagues or clients idiosyncrasies or confidences. The business world grows very small when you make a name for yourself that is divisive and unflattering. No one wants to hire a person (or do business with one) that is an unpredictable gossip.
• Don’t let the door hit you in the … Or, don’t let any grass grow under your feet. Whatever the cliché, get moving on updating your resume and get out there to network and make new contacts and connections. Everyone should get fired at least once in their life. It’s one of the best learning tools you will encounter if handled properly and used to your advantage.

Explaining your termination should be short and to the point. Rather than saying “I hated my boss and he hated me”, a better option would be “While I was extremely successful with my previous company for the first 2 years, I was promoted and transferred to another department where my new boss and I could not seem to ever see eye to eye.  Admittedly, it was in everyone’s best interest to find another career path.”