Learn from your mistakes: 3 steps to take if you get fired
Carl Walsh has a theory: At one point in our lives, each one of us needs to be fired.
“It can be one of the most liberating things ever to happen to you,” says Walsh, a career consultant in Dover, Delaware. “It forces you to take a hard look at everything in your life, not just your job, but everything.”
And make no mistake, Walsh isn’t talking about being laid off. “I mean, that’s awful for people but most times, you’re just a victim of the budget,” he says. “I’m talking about getting canned, given the pink slip, tossed out on the street because of the way you work or act or relate to others.”
If it does happen, Walsh suggests you can turn your firing into a positive — OK, not overnight but certainly over time — by following these three steps:
1. Figure out why you were fired: If it was because of your lack of productivity on the job, was it because the job no longer interested you? Was it because you didn’t have the resources you needed to succeed? Was it because you just aren’t suited for that type of work? “Answering difficult questions is a necessity before deciding to move on to what’s next,” Walsh says. “The last thing you want to do is to put yourself into the same exact situation, which would set you up for the same exact result.”
2. Consider other factors that led to your firing: Are you unhappy at home? Do you feel like you would rather be in a different location? Are you having personal issues that affect your job? Walsh says that any of these factors should be addressed before moving on to a new job. “I have had clients who are incredibly talented but are in a miserable marriage or hate living in a climate that’s cold eight months of the year so no matter what they do at work, they are
never fully focused on their tasks related to the job,” he says. “These are the people who should consider a lifestyle change. Focus on the things that make you happy and try to build a life using those things as a foundation.”
3. Make a commitment to greatness: Walsh suggests that employees who are given new opportunities approach them with a new sense of determination. “There is something positive and refreshing about taking a new job. It may be filled with new people and new products and new opportunities, and you never know what can happen,” Walsh says. “The worst is behind you. If things don’t work out, what are they going to do? Fire you? Big deal. You certainly don’t want to make a habit of getting fired but if it happens again, you now
know that you’ll come out stronger on the other side.”