Bob writes:
Just read your advice on getting fired. My situation is extreme. I’ve been fired more than six times and have not held a job for more than six months. I haven’t held a job in my career field since October of 2007. I have no good references and only a bad employment record. What’s my first step in starting over?
The Career Doctor responds:
I think your first step should be to decide if you are in the right career field. Fired six times? Either you are in the wrong career or you have an extreme case of bad luck. And remember, you could love a certain career, but if you do not have the basic competencies, it should not be the career path you follow.
Your key task to rebuilding. If you decide to stay in the same career field, you should focus on building up your confidence, skills, and references. Consider temping or freelancing. Since it’s been a couple of year, you may need to brush up on your skills by getting more education.
If you decide it’s time to make a drastic change, I think your best course is to spend the time and energy conducting a detailed self-assessment of yourself. Examine your likes and dislikes, what you enjoy doing and what you hate doing, what excites you and what turns you off. Examine your strengths and weaknesses. Take some online career assessment tests. Research careers. Consider working with a career professional to map out some possible new careers.
Finally, no matter what you do, make sure you really examine why you have gotten fired six times. If you are unsure, consider asking one or more of your former bosses to give you the straight information about why you were let go.
Use some of the many resources found in the Career Resources Toolkit found on Quintessential Careers.
