How to Interview After Being Laid Off

Being laid off is hard both emotionally and financially. While your friends and family might not ask you to retell the story over and over again, future employers will ask you about the events leading up to being relieved of your previous job responsibilities. Here are a few tips to help get you that next job as well as ways to cope emotionally. 

Don’t Be Embarrassed to Bring It Up 

Masking your layoff on your resume or blurring the details will do much more harm than good. Employers will pick up on your dishonesty, and they will probably attribute it to a lack of confidence or worse – dishonesty. Be up front. Letting your interviewer know that you have nothing to hide will create a foundation of respect and understanding between you and your interviewer. In fact, not only should you not avoid the topic, you should be the one to bring it up. Discussing the layoff early in the interview can renew your confidence, allowing both you and the employer to move on. It also allows you to be in control of the situation.

Control the Narrative  

This one is based on circumstances, but if you’ve been laid off as a result of a restructuring, chances are, others have lost their jobs as well. If you can come up with a solid reason - such as 100 other employees or 20% of your division was laid off, it will take attention off of you in particular and put it on the company laying you off. Keep your story clear, factual, and simple. Rambling shows insecurity and may cause an employer to think you are being dishonest. Plus, interviews are often short, around 15-20 minutes, and you don’t want to waste too much of your already limited time to make an impression by dwelling on the negatives.

Use Your Time Off Productively 

Naturally, although you want to appear resilient, being laid off can have an impact on your confidence as a human being and as a professional. Explaining how you used your time off wisely is a huge bonus. Take an online class. Do volunteer work. Develop a new skill. If you’ve been out of the workforce for some time, make sure to emphasize what you’ve done to benefit yourself during that time. Also, create routines for yourself. Get up early. Exercise. Read. Don’t become a victim to the endless time; instead structure it for your well-being.   

Finally, the best way to offset your unfortunate lay-off is to be prepared with the right skills, attitude, and answers as you transition yourself forward.