Your Career Story is Your Story to Tell

Your Career Story Is Yours to Tell

One of the most common fears I hear from job seekers is that being fired will permanently damage their career. As though somewhere there is a file that follows them from employer to employer, documenting every mistake and every setback.

There isn't.

What exists instead is a story.

Recently, someone asked whether being fired a second time in five years would ruin their chances of working another corporate job. Here's how I answered.

Always choose being let go, and there had better be a nice severance attached. With the exception of maybe some very high profile jobs, if an employer tries to push you to resign they are trying to save themselves that severance check....in other words, they aren't living up to their legal responsibilities.

Well welcome to the corporate world my friends, where insecure managers will try to manipulate you in taking a bad option so they can save the company a couple thousand dollars. A rounding error in most cases. This whole narrative about how it will mess up your future prospects, really just plays into this. There is no centralized database of your employment record. There is no file that goes from employer to employer. Don't let them take advantage of you. Your career story is your to tell however you want to tell it.

We all think we want to have some unblemished career that's been nothing but stability. But do we really think that's that's the best to grow? You won't learn from stability, you learn from failure, from having to adapt and try again. Anybody worth anything in the corporate world has been let go multiple times, and that has taught them how to think strategically, and if we are lucky, with empathy.

I find it staggering that some employers go to such lengths to get their employees to leave without paying severance. It's not hard to just write a check, and yea, it might mess up the labour budget a little, but compared to the effort of making someone's life miserable, and the effect that has on the team and their reputation, it's nothing. Reputations are really just based on attitude. Jobs don't work out sometimes. Sometimes there isn't a fit, and you know that's ok. We move on. For the employer it's a bit of money and best wishes, for you, it's a chance to say, "I tried my best, it didn't work out, I learned a valuable lesson and now I want to show the world what I am capable of."

In your next job interview, ask your prospective manager if they have ever been let go from a job and why. I think it will give a really good idea of their leadership style, their integrity, and whether or not you want to work for them. I know, it's a risky move, but we need to take ownership of our stories and our careers. This is one of the ways we can do that. Imagine working for someone who you know has been through what you've been through and come out stronger. What an amazing mentor that person could be.