What To Ask Candidates Who Have Been Fired

Interviewing candidates for an open job at your company can be a lengthy process, especially if you are not pleased with the group of people who have applied for the job. Another thing that can throw a wrench into your process is when a candidate who applies for the job has been fired from a previous one. This can be a sensitive subject for both your company and the candidate, which is why you need to ask the right questions during the job interview. We will discuss all of those questions in this post.

Never Make Assumptions

One of the most important things you must take into account when interviewing a job candidate who has been fired is that you should never make an assumption about the candidate. You cannot assume that just because the employee has been fired that they are a bad employee. This might be very far from the truth. You need to ask the candidate the right questions to get to the heart of the story and fully understand why the employee was fired before you come to any conclusions.

“Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?”

The first question you need to ask the candidate is “why did you leave your last job?” This is important because you will be able to gauge the honesty of the candidate, especially if you already know ahead of time that they were fired from their previous job. If they tell you something other than they were fired, and you know the answer to this question, then this candidate should be disqualified immediately from candidacy for the position. If the candidate answers truthfully and tells you that they were fired, and explains the situations behind it, continue with the interview with the following questions.

“What Caused You to Lose Your Job?”

The next question you must absolutely ask the candidate is “what caused you to lose your job?” The answer to this question will help you gauge whether or not the candidate is the right fit for your company. They might have been fired because they stole from the company, did not get along with co-workers, clashed with supervisors, or simply were not the right person for the position. Depending on how the candidate answers this question, you should be able to tell if they will fit into your company’s culture.

“What Have You Learned from Being Fired?”

Another important question to ask a candidate who has been fired is “what have you learned from this situation?” It is always a good idea to find out what the job candidate has learned from such a situation so you can determine if they have matured in their career and are ready to take the next step. If they haven’t learned anything from the experience, they might not be ready to learn anything for you

Speak with an experienced Fife recruiter at Smart Talent today to determine which questions are best to ask a candidate who has been fired from a previous job.