by David B Hitchcock

Created on: May 12, 2009

Fired: Turning the negative into a positive

It's the day that everyone dreads. You go do work like a normal day, and come home early with that pink slip. When it happens, you're in shock. It's likely that your thoughts are just spinning in circles, and likely around the fact that you were fired. Perk up, it's not the end of the world - far from it!

Were you laid off or fired?

There is a difference between being laid off and being fired. You are laid off when the company is happy with you, but something happens that they can't continue to employ you. Generally this includes things like an office shutting down, a project being cancelled, or sales being very low. When you are fired, it's generally for something you did or didn't do that the company wasn't happy with. Whatever the reasons, your boss will generally will not give you a good recommendation which makes it awkward when applying for a new job.

At least you weren't dealing drugs!

Look on the bright side - people are fired all kinds of reasons. In all likelihood you were not stealing computers from the company, or picking fights in the lunch room. Chances are you weren't playing practical jokes on your co-workers all the time, running a brothel out of the supply room, or dealing drugs out of the meeting room. When you look at it from that point of view, it can help put things in perspective. If someone gives you a hard time about being fired, point these other reasons for getting fired out to that person and say "By comparison, I was fired over a really small thing."

Now you're out of the rut

No matter what you were fired for, it's not the end of the world. In fact, it can be just the opposite if you think about it. Often people get into a rut at work where they are doing the same thing day in and day out. It gets boring to the point where you have to do something else to hold your interest. That something else can easily be what gets you fired - surfing the Internet too much, or running your own business out of your office at work for example. Getting fired is one easy way to get out of that rut! You are forced to take a look at your professional life, and you have a great chance to get things in order and make a new start.

Good time to start fresh

Are you truly bored with your old job? If this is the case, now is the chance to go into a new line of work. You can do some volunteering in the field you want to move into to get the experience first, and then use that experience to get a paying job.

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