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Please not again: Anyone who has to vacate their table several times can easily lose confidence
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Stefanie, 24 years old, asks: "After my master's degree in business administration, I was fired for the second time in a row during the probationary period. My last employer had to lay off employees for operational reasons and I was caught as the new one. In the previous job I had problems with mine Boss and the tasks were different than agreed in the interview. Why is it that I always choose the wrong job? Will I ever find an employer again with this résumé? "
A termination during the probationary period is not the end of a career
Dear Stefanie,
Receiving a dismissal twice in such a short time gnaws at one's self-confidence and raises doubts.
It takes strength to look for jobs again, to convince in conversations, to receive rejections and to get used to the job all over again.
It is clear to everyone out there that this is not the ideal start to a fulfilling professional life.
This is exactly where my advice comes in: do not cover up what has happened, but deal openly with new employers.
Make the experience your personal application story.
Because what sounds far too dangerous to you at this point will not only strengthen you as a person and increase your chances as an applicant, but also lead to a job with a future.
But one after the other.
Bad luck - it can happen to anyone
The fact that you started with an employer who had to lay off people during the Corona crisis and that it hit you has nothing to do with your qualifications or wrongdoing.
Fixed-term employees are often hit first in such situations.
As hard as it sounds, it is the fastest and cheapest way for companies to quickly reduce personnel costs without high severance payments.
I am deliberately expressing it so drastically because your message to a new employer should simply be "Bad luck!"
ring.
There is no reason to be ashamed or question yourself in the event of an operational dismissal.
However, from now on you should look specifically for jobs with employers in industries with a future.
In job interviews, relentlessly ask all the questions that you can use to assess the future viability of a company for yourself.
It didn't fit - the sooner the better
You write that you did not get along with your boss and that your job turned out to be different from what was discussed.
I often experience, especially with career starters, that they pay too little attention to interpersonal relationships in job interviews and do not speak enough about the tasks and mutual expectations.
If you think back to your conversations there - did you find your boss sympathetic and did you know exactly what tasks you would expect?
Many applicants tell me in coaching after losing a job that they did not have a good gut feeling in the interviews and are not surprised that it did not fit there.
Yes, the HR department also did a bad job with a dismissal during the probationary period, but the realization is simple: It didn't fit.
Both sides can tell their own noses that they made a bad selection decision.
For you as an applicant, however, this termination has nothing to do with your qualifications and person.
It was not a good fit for this job at this employer.
The sooner it became obvious, the better.
Put your next employer to the test
Your primary goal now is to consciously pay attention to everything that is important to you in your job in the third attempt in order to be motivated and happy in the long term.
Put a potential employer and your interlocutors to the test, take a closer look and maybe it makes sense to arrange a trial working day in the team.
Use your experiences over the last few months and speak openly about what you have experienced.
Without justification and dragging your ex-employer through the mud, but from an attitude that is at peace with yourself and motivated to look to the future again.
Make it clear that it is all the more important to you now that both sides examine each other honestly.
You will notice that it is precisely this attitude that gives you as an applicant that strength that makes you attractive to employers and that your bumpy start into professional life is suddenly a thing of the past.
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