Career Change
  

Top Tips

	Don't be defensive!
	Emphasize the benefits of what you learned at your job before you were laid off.
	Emphasize any good performance reviews you received.
	If possible, mention that you have taken the initiative during your time off to deepen your skills through courses of certifications or to conduct research into your longer-term career goals.

Put the reasons for your unemployment in context. If you were terminated or lost your job because of mass layoffs, make that clear in your conversation with an interviewer (good people get laid off). Even better, references from your prior place of employment help mitigate any concerns by demonstrating that your loss of employment was not performance based. In the event that you did not get terminated but you simply grew tired and wanted a break, make that clear. That is fine—people sometimes work too hard and need time out. But in that situation, it is important that you have strong references from your prior employer and that you can draw on those references during the inter-view process.

Avoid overt negativity. Be careful how you frame your comments about your prior employer. When I meet a candidate who speaks negatively about his or her current or former employer, I wonder if they will do this to me and our firm. Such behavior calls people's judgment into question. Be diplomatic in what you say.

How to Address Gaps in Your Work Record

After you have thought about creative ways to use your Time Off, you must also consider how you will address gaps in your work record when speaking to an interviewer. One useful tip: Don't sound defensive dur­ing the interview about your period of unemployment. It is best that you present that period not as a setback, but as a wonderful opportu­nity or pause in your career—a time you developed your skills or your ideas more. This section describes ways to respond to questions about periods of unemployment.

Specific Responses if You Were Made Redundant

Keep several issues in mind when responding to questions about why you were laid off. The greatest concern your potential new employer will have is whether your termination reflected poor performance on your part. If you were a lazy or irresponsible worker, your new employer will be more hesitant to hire you. So, if you were not laid off because of per­formance issues, you should make that clear.

That is, if you were laid off for economic reasons—your company needed to downsize or stream-line, for instance, and your job was cut as a result—that information can help ease the concerns of the interviewer. Therefore, if an interviewer asks about if or why you were laid off, an early aim in your discussion should be to convey that your termination was economically related, not performance based. If you have strong references or a good performance evaluation to share, you should let the interviewer know this.

If, however, you were laid off for performance-based reasons and the interviewer is aware of this, you will have to clearly articulate any infor­mation about extenuating circumstances to help address the inter-viewer's concern about whether you will perform well. For instance, if your spouse was gravely ill and you missed many days of work to tend to his or her needs, then explain this situation to the interviewer.

In both of these cases, how you present your circumstances are important. Consider Bob, who was laid off when his company decided that it needed to downsize and cut an entire department, given the financial instability of the overall company. Bob secured an interview and was asked by the interviewer, "I note that you have been out of the workforce for five months. Were you laid off?" Bob answered "Yes," in a nondefensive, confident tone, then explained:

My company, as you might know, began to experience a tremendous fall in revenues with the onset of the recent recession. Our executives made the difficult decision to terminate all employees in my division as part of a process of streamlining the company's product offerings. It was disappointing for all of us, but I used the opportunity to think about where I wanted to go in my career and to tool up in some useful ways by taking courses in finance at the local college. After a couple of months, I began to research companies and positions, and that's how I discovered the great opportunity your firm is offering.

If you are based in the UK,  www.armchairadvice.co.uk provides free advice, information, support and resources for those concerned about or experiencing redundancy. It has information on redundancy rights, access to Employment Law solicitors, job seeking advice and emotional support through a discussion forum.