How to Handle Aftermath of Being Fired

It happens to even the best of us, being fired can destroy your confidence, self-esteem, and put you into a panic with financial insecurities from losing income. Losing a job is a difficult situation, but when we feel rejection and failure it can make it far worse.

Analyze Why It May Have Happened...It's Not Always Your Fault!

The reasons your employer may have given you do not always mean that was the specific reason they terminated you. Sometimes, you can get fired before you even get used to the job and have learned all you need to. Most states are At-Will employment states, meaning they can terminate you for any reasons unless there is discrimination involved. Did your employer have different expectations of you when they put you in an overwhelming work environment? Was the interview accurate of the job description? Many times, we start a job without really understanding what the expectations are and that can make it difficult to adjust to something new. An employer may also believe that you just were not the right fit for the position. Not every job is for everyone.

Determine If It Just Wasn't The Right Fit

I have had jobs I absolutely hated, and it was impossible to have good job performance because of it. Some of us cannot deal with fast paced jobs, while others love it. I personally, feel that fast paced environment are far too stressful and with pressure my anxiety will catch up with me and cause me to do worse while slower paced works better because I can take my time in making sure I make the correct decisions and have quality work. In my experience, working at a hospital in a faced paced ER with no medical experience was far too much for me and led to my termination before I even started. I was disappointed with myself, thought I was incapable of doing anything right. It killed my self confidence and it made it hard to have motivation to apply for other jobs fearing it would happen again. Don't let your emotions allow you to think irrationally.

Manage Your Emotions In a Rational Way

Just because you were fired does not mean that you are incompetent or that you did a horrible job. Every manager and company is different. While one company may throw employees to the wolves and create a survival of the fittest challenge and vet employees by elimination, another company would give advice and constructive criticism and help you improve. A good manager would give you time to improve rather then firing you without much of a warning. Recognize that management may have been poor and it is not your failing, but possibly the lack of good management and training. If you did your best, you did nothing wrong and sometimes it takes a few falls to get to the top. You can still be successful!

Releasing Our Fears of Failure

None of us are perfect, we all make mistakes even if it does lead to us falling down and feeling insecure. Even some of the most successful people have been fired. For instance, Steve Jobs was fired from apple in his 30's, because of how he wanted to do things and he had these great ideas just to be shot down...only to come back as one of the most innovative inventors and eventually became the co-founder of apple leading to it's large success to this day. We have to let go of the humiliation we feel when we get fired. It can create a burden on us mentally and physically. You may fear that when you do get another job you will make a mistake and get fired again without having control over it. You can always improve yourself, and starting off new is not easy but you would want a good company that will treasure you and give you opportunities to succeed. We cannot allow fear get in the way of opportunities we would excel at just because one company didn't allow us to strive.

Find Ways To Release Your Anger And Let Go

You may feel anger towards your manager and the company. If you were wrongfully terminated, the only way you can win in these cases is based off discrimination. However, that does not mean you were not wrongfully terminated by any means. Come to terms with the fact that it was unfair how you were treated, but there is a silver lining in every negative event. Maybe this happened so something way better would come along, and it will! Do not give up hope and keep having faith in yourself. Try applying for jobs, exercise, or journal about your anger. Always keep rational thinking in order to stay above depressing yourself. You are not a failure, you can succeed and you will! Learn to let go of the hurt, and understand that everything happens for a reason and that company was just not the right one for you.