Answering the "have you been fired" question

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On a job application, when you've been fired, say, 11 or 12 times.

How would you answer it?

"No."

You would lie outright?

I always have. It is a ridiculous question and should cease being asked. I also feel the same way about "Where do you see yourself in X years?" It is just a game, you see. The employer reads books on how to interview potential employees full of pointless questions and unfounded claims wrapped in feel-good buzz words and outright lies. The potential employees read the same books, and the book writers and publishers laugh in their golden towers on their thrones of money.

Okay, that last bit may have been a bit melodramatic, but you get the point, I trust.

I would say "No, but I have been asked to leave."
"Yes but the boss was a jackass anyway." is what I would like to say but I wouldnt.

Seriously, I would say that I have never been fired, though a couple of jobs I had didnt work out and I agreed with the boss that it wasnt going to be a good fit for me. That is what you can say. Noone puts the bosses that fired them as a reference so they wont check up.

Fortunately, I've not been "fired" very often, so I don't really dwell on it often. I do take offense at the average employer asking that question because it really is digging for dirt, and it's not very relevant if your more recent experience has no incidents of being fired. So what if I got fired 10-15 years ago?

A job with a security clearance or other similar issue I'd understand, but then I know they will check my statements for accruacy.

That's drawing a good distinction.

The only cases, it's a inappropriate question, use the lie of deflection. And keep it simple.

"No."

Most places don't even check, they just ask you the question for the same reason they do a lot of things: because it's the social norm to do so.

I personally have always said no and have never been questioned on it after the fact, so I think you should be okay (barring special circumstance mentioned above).

11 or 12 times? Now I'm curious.

Tell them you were laid off.

Hmm, I guess this depends where you live. I live in Winnipeg and I've noticed that sometimes employers will phone the company directly even though I listed someone's direct phone number. The way I know this is I'm friends with the HR director at my old work and she told me she was getting calls for references even though I didn't list her.

Strange how that works and kind of creepy.

Also, job interviewers are smarter than you think. If you give them a really vague reply when they ask why you left, they'll assume the worst. If you're going to lie, commit to it and say something convincing. My suggestion would be to give a reason that isn't going to affect your desire to work at the place you're applying (if the job was outdoors and you're applying for an office job, say you were tired of working outdoors, etc). Then again, I don't have a very good job so my advice might not be so reliable, haha...

And keep it simple. It's usually just a question on the form.

"No."