What To Do If Fired From Your 1st Job

Ken Sundheim, CEO of KAS Placement

Most of the time, when younger job applicants are fired from their first job, they feel that the firing was solely based on their inadequacy as business professionals. However, this is simply not the case in most circumstances.  This negative thinking can send many younger professionals into a job search funk that is simply not necessary and can last for much longer than the situation warrants.

Instead, the majority of recent college graduates who were just fired from their job have to consider the following 3 pieces of advice:

1. It is Not the End of the World, It is Not the End of Your Career…as a matter of fact, you probably got a bad job out of the way early.  It happens to just about everyone and the earlier the better.  That is, if you’ve learned something from being fired.

2. Chances Are That You Had Little To Do With It – there are a million and one reasons as to why employees of all levels get fired, however there is a glowing exception with first time job seekers / recent college graduates.

This exception is that you have no training and if they could not provide it on the job. Chances are that there are reasons for this lack of training which are out of your control and these may range from budget to simply having a bad manager who really doesn’t care.

Now, if performance was obviously lacking then it was obviously lacking, simply fix what you think you can and realize that getting fired as an entry level job seeker is not always a black and white situation.

3. You Must Move On – careers are marathons, they are not sprints.  You are bound to have highs and you are bound to have times that you feel off your game, but it’s how you handle yourself during the latter that determines your longevity in the business world.