Ouch!

Getting fired used to have a real stigma attached to it, but nowadays it is much more commonplace.

“Fired” can either mean being fired by your employer – OR firing yourself (as I did long ago when I got out of the executive recruiting business – I was “Q3/Q4.”)

Still, it is NOT FUN – and, as the fourth career crisis, poses some pretty difficult problems.

First, there is a lot of pressure on you to remedy the situation mainly because it is financially difficult being out of work – even though you might have received a nice severance package.  Those run out eventually – so there is an urgency to find something quickly.

Second, recruiters and employers tend to place higher evaluation standards on an individual who has been fired.  “There must be some negative reason . . . . ,” so they say.  This means that when you are interviewed for a position, the ones who are evaluating you make certain that you will be “good at” everything on the list.

Does that sound familiar??  Is it smart recruiting?  Requiring candidates to be “good at” everything on the list is NOT a good recruiting plan.  You do NOT want to hire a person who would be close to being on top of a “Doom Loop.”

What does that mean to you?

It means that you have to be very very careful if you get offered a position.  If you do a “Doom Loop” analysis and find that you’re “good at” all of the tasks/responsibilities in the position requirements, you should see some flashing red flags.  You may NOT want to take that job.

So you find yourself trying to establish a finely tuned balance between the pressures of finding a job and getting back to work against taking some job for which you are overqualified and would put you on top of a “Doom Loop.”