Due to online search powers, digital footprints and more, it’s more difficult now than ever for candidates to hide why they left their last job.

The best way to approach to the situation is to be honest. If you were fired, make sure you let the recruiter know, but also show that you viewed the situation as a learning experience. Otherwise, you might be out of luck and turned down for jobs.

How To Explain Why You Were Fired & Land Your Dream Job

If you’re wondering about the best way to frame this to a recruiter, here are some tips to help you explain why you were fired and land your dream medical sales job.

Examine What Went Wrong

The first thing you should do after being let go is examine what went wrong. Maybe you had a conflict with another employee or failed to hit your sales goals.

No matter how you feel about your previous employer, it’s important to remember that you aren’t entirely blameless. Most likely, there was something you could have done to stay at the company.

Rather than take this time to find ways to get back at the company, let go of your anger or frustration and use it as a learning opportunity. Ask yourself the following questions: What can you do to be better at your job? How can you improve so that you don’t have to go through this again?

By coming up with an improvement plan, you can not only ensure that this doesn’t happen again but also show your potential future employers that you used the opportunity to better yourself.

Emphasize Your Strengths

On top of determining why you were fired and how you can improve, now is also the time to see if you can find a job that’s a better fit for your skills.

After all, there could be several reasons your last position didn’t work out, and it might be due to the fact that you weren’t given a chance to utilize your strengths. You might have been struggling at your previous position without even realizing it until it was too late.

For example, maybe you’re a great communicator or you’re super organized. By determining where your strengths lie and also making a note of your weaknesses, you’re able to find a job that plays to those things that you naturally do well. In addition, you can also spend some time determining how to improve on the areas where you’re lacking.

Be Honest

You might be tempted to lie about why you lost your previous job, but it’s important to know there are ways for the recruiter to find out the truth.

They may look into your background or contact your previous employer. Instead, be completely honest. Tell them that you were fired and explain why. Don’t make it seem like the employer was entirely to blame, and let them know that you looked into what went wrong and found out why you were let go so abruptly.

At this point, you need to explain to them how you plan on improving yourself or how you’ve already made some of those improvements. By placing your firing in the context of self-growth, you’re letting your potential employers know that you’re capable of discovering and conquering your weaknesses.

This is also the point where you tell them why you applied for the job that you did. Explain how you determined your strengths and found a job that spoke to them instead of playing on your weaknesses. Every good employer wants to hear this because it shows that you put some thought into the application process.

Be Prepared for Questions

Once you explain what you learned from being fired and how you managed to improve yourself, it’s time to put the ball in your interviewer’s court. They’ll no doubt have a number of questions regarding how you determined your weaknesses, exactly what went wrong at your previous job, and more.

Answer those questions as thoroughly as possible. By being open to questioning, you’re showing them that you aren’t on the defensive, despite being previously fired. Instead, you’re open to constructive criticism and questioning and are willing to improve and accept feedback. These are things that every employer in the medical sales field is looking for.