Have you ever been terminated? How did you recover?

[Anonymous]

This is NOT something I’m personally worried about but I do wonder, what happens to a person when they are fired (terminated) for cause? I have been laid off before and I had no trouble finding a new job and nobody I interviewed with seemed concerned about it. Either way, as a recession graduate I have it ingrained in me that people have to beg and grovel for jobs and employers are always looking for reasons NOT to hire you. I just imagine that one false move, lapse in judgment, could irreparably ruin your life.

Have you, or someone you know, ever been terminated for cause, performance or conduct (you don’t have to say why)? How long did it take you or the person you know to find their next job? Did they have to change careers?

[Anonymous]

Yes, but not for cause and no one cared. The world - and your career - does not end.

[Anonymous]

My DH was a bad fit at a company. He actually was worried he’d made a bad choice after accepting the job but before starting, based on communications. They accused him of undermining leadership, lying etc. He was fired after about 9 months and was really stressed about what to say. It helped that there was a non-disclosure agreement so in theory the company couldn’t say much about him. The places he interviewed, it turns out, must have seen that as a blip. They generally didn’t ask him why he left, but did ask him why he left his prior job where he’d been for five years. He had two competing job offers within a few weeks of stating to look for a new job and has been with one of those companies a few years now.

[Anonymous]

Been let go three times.

In those three cases I never worked in that industry again. I got blackballed.

There is always something new to jump on bandwagon

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH was a bad fit at a company. He actually was worried he’d made a bad choice after accepting the job but before starting, based on communications. They accused him of undermining leadership, lying etc. He was fired after about 9 months and was really stressed about what to say. It helped that there was a non-disclosure agreement so in theory the company couldn’t say much about him. The places he interviewed, it turns out, must have seen that as a blip. They generally didn’t ask him why he left, but did ask him why he left his prior job where he’d been for five years. He had two competing job offers within a few weeks of stating to look for a new job and has been with one of those companies a few years now.

Similar story here. My wife worked at a horrible tiny company for a very mean boss. It was incredibly stressful. She resigned but she would have been let go at some stage soon if she hadn’t.

It turned out to be a temporary blip in what was otherwise a very successful career. Looking back, she should have left much earlier.

Sometimes you end up in a bad place or a bad fit and the tendency is always to try to make it work, but it rarely does. Get out asap.

[Anonymous]

I fired 2 employees (different occasions) for sexual harassment. Both were 12-15 years ago and neither seems to have worked for another company since although they did both apply at different points because there were reference checks. They both have their own LLC and have been consulting per LinkedIn and people that have kept in touch with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is NOT something I’m personally worried about but I do wonder, what happens to a person when they are fired (terminated) for cause? I have been laid off before and I had no trouble finding a new job and nobody I interviewed with seemed concerned about it. Either way, as a recession graduate I have it ingrained in me that people have to beg and grovel for jobs and employers are always looking for reasons NOT to hire you. I just imagine that one false move, lapse in judgment, could irreparably ruin your life.

Have you, or someone you know, ever been terminated for cause, performance or conduct (you don’t have to say why)? How long did it take you or the person you know to find their next job? Did they have to change careers?

I know someone in this situation now. They did something very stupid/lapse in judgment. The company moved swiftly and the person was fired for cause. Not sure what he’s going to do because the stupid decision impacted the core of their job. They knew better and finding work again in that field will likely not happen again. The person will forever be viewed as a risk.

[Anonymous]

I joined a small company in 2021 for a nice pay bump and relocated - 3 hours drive away. After the initial 2 projects the owner of the company puts the entire team on sale, so my future projects were halted. They changed my boss (CTO who is nice) to a bully in operations.
The new boss is screaming at me everyday and started mandating 14 hour workday after 4 month. I couldn’t sleep, caught covid 4 times in a row, and when I returned to the office after a short term disability leave, the owner fired me for looking unhappy (his original words).

I found a higher paid job within 6 weeks, remote friendly and only mandates 9-5.

[Anonymous]

Get a minimum wage job. Nobody cares that you were let go. You will always get a new job and they will work you to death.
If you are talking about better paid job, then why not have enough money saved/invested so if it does happen, you just walk away like it's no big deal. Getting a new one would be optional.

[Anonymous]

I guess this has happened to me a fair number of times.

First time was from BigLaw - they gave me three months to find something else. I found something else that I liked a lot better. It could have been characterized as a layoff but it really wasn't - I just was really checked out from the job, and it showed.

I had a few bad fit jobs after that where I found new jobs before I got let go, but I'm pretty sure I would have been let go if I hadn't moved on myself.

Most recently, I took a fancy sounding job at a nonprofit - where it just was a terrible fit. They gave me a good title but the work was NOT at that level - also, I had serious issues with the mission, it turned out.

And I just did not get along with the person I was working with most closely. I wouldn't say I was "fired" because it was a lot friendlier than that - but I hung out my own shingle after that and was self-employed for a few (very happy) years. Then got recruited into my current job - they were one of my consulting clients - which I've been at for almost a year. Gotten one promotion so far - and so far so good. It's me, so I am always sort of looking out for what might be next - but I'm pretty happy here right now, anyway!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I fired 2 employees (different occasions) for sexual harassment. Both were 12-15 years ago and neither seems to have worked for another company since although they did both apply at different points because there were reference checks. They both have their own LLC and have been consulting per LinkedIn and people that have kept in touch with them.

Yeah I know a few people who were let go from our firm because of performance, and they all seem to be happily employed elsewhere. The one guy who was fired immediately for sexual harassment at a corporate event about 20 years ago appears to have never had a regular career-track job again.

[Anonymous]

Early in my career, I was laid off twice before I was 30. I landed a new job quickly, in another I took time off as I’d recently had a baby. Life goes on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I fired 2 employees (different occasions) for sexual harassment. Both were 12-15 years ago and neither seems to have worked for another company since although they did both apply at different points because there were reference checks. They both have their own LLC and have been consulting per LinkedIn and people that have kept in touch with them.

Why not let them quit. We call them my old job “involuntary leavers”.

HR verbally tells you and says you can quit on the spot voluntarily right this minute. You will get no reference good or bad but we will confirm title and dates of employment. Or don’t quit, we fire for cause, no unemployment and black mark resume. Plus we open full investigation.

[Anonymous]

My company tried to terminate me because the new boss was a sociopath who saw us (his team) as a threat to his doing nothing all day or maybe as a threat to his job. The sociopath got my old boss fired and pushed out my coworker. He even gave a bottle of wine to an alcoholic coworker to try to get him to crack.

Since the boss was supposed to be getting new business and wasn't doing that, I was already job searching. I knew our contract would only last so long, and there was no new contract coming in.

Nothing bad happened to the sociopath. He got a job at a well-known nonprofit and probably continued with his destructive habits while somehow getting upper management to think he's the best.

I landed a new job for an amazing boss and the topic of previous job never came up because they didn't check the reference of my most recent job.

In my new job, I knocked it out of the park and won three awards and made them a ton of money. I still keep in touch with the amazing boss to this day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I fired 2 employees (different occasions) for sexual harassment. Both were 12-15 years ago and neither seems to have worked for another company since although they did both apply at different points because there were reference checks. They both have their own LLC and have been consulting per LinkedIn and people that have kept in touch with them.

Why not let them quit. We call them my old job “involuntary leavers”.

HR verbally tells you and says you can quit on the spot voluntarily right this minute. You will get no reference good or bad but we will confirm title and dates of employment. Or don’t quit, we fire for cause, no unemployment and black mark resume. Plus we open full investigation.

Because they sexually harassed women. That’s not an opportunity to offer to allow someone to resign.

And there was no reason to dance around with references. When they applied for new jobs I was very clear why the person was fired. If the new company wanted to take a chance the behavior wouldn’t happen again, that’s on them.