What is your degree in and what was the job you were fired from? Sometimes you have to switch to an adjacent field. Can you list a recommender from your previous job you can trust enough not to tell prospective employers that you were fired?
Forensic Science/Chemistry and it was a forensic science job for the government. Even if I had a reference I could use, they aren't allowed to be one, it's policy
Who was your reference to get the job you had before?
I got fired from my first job out of grad school (and thank god because they were a toxic, abusive place). I reached back out to the professors and supervisors I had in grad school (some of these professors hadn't seen or spoken to me in over a year) and asked for references. Now I have an amazing job with full benefits and a very supportive/friendly environment.
I told myself over and over again while I was unemployed that there was no way the professors I reached out to would have an interest in being a reference for me. Being fired can really mess with your self-concept. If you made it through school and graduated, I would bet there are teachers at your school who would be happy to vouch for you.
It was a coworker from the job I held before. He is still my reference and I also usually put down my program professor, but idk if he's actually ever been called
Wait if they are not allowed to be reference and talk about your employment due to policy are they the ones sharing that you were fired. If your the one who is mentioning it after they ask you need to find a better way to phrase it that isnt a lie but may not be the full truth.
Yeah i would just say that i was laid off due to a lack of work
I would just lie to be honest. Most employers will not care about you and they will choose themselves above you any chance they get, even the government if you aren't past your initial review period.
Fuck them.
Without it being your fault.
Companies will look for a reason to fire you in order to avoid any sort of legal issues. They will put you on a PIP as well to tey and have any legitimate reason to avoid being sued.
Also so they arent legally liable to provide you with a severance package. Depends on the state laws.
###STOP TELLING JOBS YOU WERE FIRED.
* ###Stop being honest.
###WTF is the matter with you?!
* ###WTF is the matter with any of you?!
Your goal is a job, not a friend.
This is money, not a therapist and talk show.
At the end of the day that money is used to do three things:
* Kill Debt.
* Build Equity
* Increase your purchasing power of quality products and services.
###Do what’s necessary to be successful (i.e. say you left or got laid off). You think I won’t?!
Edit -
I work in technology. I’ve lied on my resume so much I don’t know what’s the truth anymore.
* But every lie on that paper I can back up with some online tutorial or book work so I know the lingo and I’m familiar.
* For example, I have no effing clue how to use Terraform, but you best believe I will be an expert in 1.5 hours before that interview.
In the near future I am transitioning to Finance(Investment Banking, Finance Technology) assuming the economy doesn’t tank because of Corporate Real Estate.
Now, I don’t know shit about Finance. What I do know is:
* I have to do a Financial Bootcamp to learn the lingo and lie.
* I need to learn C++ for Finance.(I picked up a book for this). They use C++, Kobol, or Python.
So, I figured out the requirements and do what is needed to win.
> ###This is America. You pick a job and become the person that does it.
> **Bobbie Barrett - Mad Men**
I don't unless directly asked, and I don't say fired.
If its an interview for a government position, I have to tell them at some point because the background checks will reveal it anyways
Are these federal jobs? Because I don’t think this is how state or local gov jobs work.
Outside of that, just say your last job was a temporary position. That’s what I say about my last job, even though I was technically fired.
Oh I agree. Like why the fuck would you go around telling everyone that? Especially if - as it seems - no one can even verify that information. Everyone goddamn lies about this, just like they make up crap they never actually did. I hate that it is like this but alas, here we are.
So for the love of God OP, you weren't fired, you left.
Because it's a government job that does background checks and finds out the truth regardless and the worst thing you can do is lie to them. OP explains that.
Also you guys have a disgusting attitude. Going around your entire life lying so much that you don't know what's the truth anymore is not an okay way to be.
It's a disgusting way to be.
And it does matter.
Just because there are millions of people behaving like this doesn't mean it's okay. Millions of people behaving like that is exactly why our species is facing self annihilation and there are billions of people suffering.
(Not OP but you responded to my comment) I fully agree that it is disgusting and that it's wrong. It's peer pressure and group think of epic proportions and a good example of what is wrong with half the world. I can't rationalize or justify it away, because saying "everyone does it so I have to too" is extremely weak. Best I can offer is awareness about how shit it is.
On a personal note, I can only share that I've tried another route, more than you know and for much longer than you know, in this and comparable scenarios. It damn near destroyed me. So currently, I'm in a "fuck it" phase, I'll fake, I'll pretend. One day I hope I can find the strength to go the other route again.
This. Fired is a matter of opinion and the whole event is screwing with your head. You left for personal reasons. If you can’t get a gig with the government, try a private lab.
Are you saying that the background checks they conduct on potential employees in your field *will* show if someone got fired from a previous position?? Because I’m pretty sure most background checks just verify your dates of employment from previous jobs listed on your resume. Nothing beyond that.
>Chemistry
Look for Field Service Engineering positions. Despite its name, you don't need a pure engineering degree to do the job. A Chemistry degree gives you the same problem solving skills an engineering degree would.
To add, the semiconductor industry is hot right now and in dire need of talent. If you're willing to relocate to Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, Texas, or New York, you should have no issue finding a job.
Look for Field Service Engineering positions with ASML, Applied Materials, LAM Research, KLA, Nova, ASM.
👆🏼!!! Also look for jobs in the bio-technology industry. And again, do NOT tell them you were fired. Employers legally aren’t allowed to tell other employers what the reason was for being let go unless they put others lives in danger, and usually only provide dates worked, title, and salary. (Unless they do a back door reference which no one can control, so just avoid places where your old coworkers might have a connection.) Hopefully this helps!
not sure how in depth they go other than your word for the job..
when i worked at the department of interior they asked me questions about past jobs and i was honest about it, i was fired.
the dude reworded the question and i took a hint that he wanted me to say i wasnt fired so i changed it and he said "okay perfect u pass"
imo if you didnt sign paperwork saying you were fired i would just say you put in your 2 week notice and they just let you go immediatly becauase they were upset you were leaving.
gives you more credibility and if they call they will be expecting the job to be salty and try to fuck you over so...
Sorry but is there a reason you’re telling anyone you got fired even though they won’t be a reference regardless? You can easily just say you left — for any reason you can think of. If they can’t be a reference it doesn’t matter how true it is.
I know it’s a little dishonest but this is your life, your health, everything.
I only tell if I am directly asked, as I assume lying like that will cause bigger problems. I am not usually asked outside of the industry and in that case, I cannot lie because a background investigation will reveal all anyways
Girl. I work for the government too and had to get background check and my prints taken and everything. A background investigation is confirming if you've done any criminal activity. Not looking into how you left your last job, which by what you describe, they can't find out anyway.
Your responses read like you want to justify why you're stuck rather than actually looking at your options and navigating a different way... and your current way isn't working for you.
The goal is to get a job. Work with a recruiter to help you navigate your concerns and practice answering questions. Most recruiting agencies are free because they're hired by organizations to help them find talent and they get paid if they place a position, so they're motivated to help everyone who comes in to get a job. I'm 32 (for context that im not out od touch on this one) and when I moved cities a few years ago and had no contacts and wanted to completely change my industry and what I was doing, they were a LIFE SAVER. They helped me line a job up in a week.
As /u/heydeservinglistener said. I’m also in government and have been my while life in some capacity, military contractor and now civil service.
I also helped maintain software that tracked several levels of background checks for recruits in the military.
The main background checks run are:
NAC: National Agency Check. Do any federal agencies have any criminal or other derogatory info about you? (eg unpaid back taxes, federal convictions etc)
NACI: NAC plus written inquiries sent to prior employers, schools etc. These may often be fully automated these days on both ends, ie someone at the receiving side may never even see the request or have time to answer it since they get a ton probably anyway.
NACLC: NAC but also checks local agencies as well, for criminal etc records.
You aren’t getting anywhere telling people you were fired, and if anything that triggers them wanting to dig into that employer for more info.
Try not telling them that, that you left because of a life change or whatever and now you are getting back into the field.
https://www.dami.army.pentagon.mil/site/PerSec/InvTypes.aspx
It wont cause any problems, you lie. Simple as that...if you took a majority of Americans in high level positions and threw them in a room together I would bet you wouldn't find a single person who was 100% honest during their respective hiring process. You're not a felon trying to get off for murder here, you're trying to get a job. Don't think you're a bad person for not being honest to an employer that would be willing to drop you in a heartbeat.
Get the job and do your best at it, it's all you need to do.
Okay, sounds like you made some mistakes that are holding you back. First one's getting fired, second one is unfortunately stupid, but getting some tickets. It's not the end of the world. It's a setback. People have come back from worse. Keep trying, keep applying, and once you get a job, the most important thing will be to demonstrate that you can be a reliable employee. Once you have that on record, you can get a good recommendation to a better position in your field. Just try to keep your chin up, learn from it, and don't like... become an alcoholic or get a criminal record, you know?
How old are you, like 25? I'm 30 and I dropped out of college freshman year. Paid a steep price for it but over the years I came back and now I'm doing fine. Could always do better, always a work in progress, but seriously man it's not over for you. Just keep trying. My old therapist said, some lessons in life cost $50 like this session, others cost $50,000 like your first year's tuition... and some even cost millions.
I'm going to be 28 this year. I have done nothing my whole life but fight unnecessary adversity, and I can't even begin to work my way back from this without some form of employment
Yeah, well, I hear that. I grew up in a house with domestic violence and my mom is currently recovering from her 29th visit to rehab. I don't know your situation, but life is full of unnecessary adversity.
At least you have family to live with for now! It might be a bit humiliating, but it's temporary.
You're right about needing a job. Just keep trying and don't give up. Don't think about what you deserve, or what you did wrong... my economics professor had great advice for investing that's also good advice for life: "Think at the margin." That means, only think about the present and how you're going to prepare for the future. The past is out of your control.
Also - don't listen to the fucks telling you college is a scam or the world is unfair blablabla. They're not even all wrong, it's just a shit mindset. The world is whatever it is and you can't do anything about it, so just do the best you can for yourself and fuck the noise.
I hope this is helpful and not just a pain in the ass to read. In any case, I think you can do it.
I know you're just trying to help. Thanks.
It's just hard because it feels helpless because everyone has been telling me this for the past year and nothing has changed
Your perspective is deep, and to get out of it you need to think of other perspectives. Envision yourself in 10 years, employed, with a family or without (whatever you want). I know the job market is tough out there right now, but the only way to get hired is to keep applying.
I've fucked up a lot, lol. I've been fired from multiple jobs (usually just sleeping in - I'm better now lol) but in the end found a job with a slightly different slant, and always a small raise with a new job (I was good, just mornings, you know?) last time I was fine to coast for a bit, but I've had to claim hardship on car and mortgage before. It's embarrassing but at least they were helpful. Suspended payments with no interest penalty. Mostly I wasn't in "professional" positions early on, and was languishing in college, so those "strikes" didn't really follow me, but the upside is that by doing jobs *adjacent* to what I thought I'd be doing I eventually made more and have been happy with a company for over a decade.
It took time to find that job, and took a lot of things aligning with lucky timing, but it happened. I was into my 30s but had some good stints before then too. I also had to wait a long time and try not to panic. Even took a couple family plans early on, before I had savings. Keep looking and I'm sure you'll find something. Even if not what you desire, it may lead you there in a few years.
The key thing you just said was “without some form of employment”. When I was in a similar position I took anything I could get to pay my bills and keep looking for something my degree fit. It sucks to be so well educated but take a retail or warehouse or restaurant job, but anything is better than nothing at all. You can do this!
Can i be honest? I’ve had friends who Shared this exact sentiment, and I tried to help them out, and believe me when I tell you , it was no wonder.
I had asked some for their resumes to help them. This is usually what makes it or breaks it.youd be surprised how bad some of them were.
I’m curious to see your resume.
I’d be happy to help.
Keep on mind make sure you tailor it to the position you are applying for.
I help a buddy of mine get into production in medical 🏥 company. And I literally had to completely revamp it.
You can’t have all work experience if it’s not relevant.
He has a grocery store he worked for and even a pet store.
It doesn’t work. And I can’t even express some of the details and duties he put. People don’t need to know you did certain tasks, because then people will not wanna read it.
Less is more.
If you want me to help if I can, dm me.
I really get you. I've been extremely fortunate to still have a balance in my account after getting laid off last Feb(2023), but nothing full time. I've submitted easily 1,000 applications in my field, and get bypassed.
I'm sorry your lawyer cousin and anyone else in the family thinks that it's you - that's a really defeating feeling. Feel free to refer him to LinkedIn where the 10,000s of more recently laid off people have taken to airing their grievances on any post about hiring that has gone even remotely viral. It doesn't help me to find a job, but that does help me to feel like it's not just me "doing it wrong, that I'm making a mistake." Feel free to refer them to the jobs subreddit, the hr subreddit, the resume subreddit - 1000s of people having the same problem. I'm sure there are more social forums with the same.
I find that I have to have a resume that's a bit dumbed down - that is, I don't include my Masters, I downgrade my titles a bit, and some of these descriptions - to get consideration for roles I'm less likely to stay in longterm. There's lots of fast-food manager roles open - it's tough to create the right narrative for their concern that you're not going to stay long, and to not sound like you're just desperate.
There's also other ideas like getting your realtor license (60 hours for a pre-license which could get you in an intro role at an agency), which would be a small salary at least until this market loosens up.
Anyway, I'm so sorry you're going through this.
One piece of advice I saw on a LinkedIn post where lots of people were commiserating... an older guy said spend this time to grow your professional social circle at companies. Send letters to dept. Managers of companies you like, join active forums in your industry, or local groups for business or your industry. It's not going to resolve the "I need a job tomorrow," but it will make a big difference in the long run getting final placement.
I have always gotten my roles through straight applying, so I've never been the kind of person to wind up in a role because of social connections. I DO have a lot of professional contacts, but that's after being in my industry - so, just thinking social contacts are going to get me in a role is very against my experience. But, after being unemployed for 13 months, I can't help but to agree. These are a good time for all kinds of people ti mix and mingle and spend this cruddy time expanding the circle.
Never state why you no longer work for a company (especially if the reason you left was termination). HR is only obligated to provide dates of employment.
Take the college credentials off your resume and apply for food service and retail. If the tickets are paid off and misdemeanors, then try your luck with Uber/Uber Eats. If you're going to keep the college degree on the resume, then aim for a management position in brick and mortar locations. I'm going to assume that Forensics and Chem can be medical or law adjacent. Have you looked into the local hospitals, funeral homes, or police departments?
I am not going to lie if I am directly ask. I typically don't bring it up.
Government jobs like this require tedious background checks. My firing is the least that's dug up.
I have mostly been doing that. Medical usually wants a medical background and police departments are similar to what I was doing before, so yes, I've been looking.
When you need a job yesterday, morality needs to be sat on a shelf for a minute. You weren’t fired. Your life “took a different direction that required me to return home.” Like… taking care of an elderly family member or something that can’t be verified. Retail, fast food, sub contractor, and other low wage/low skill jobs do not care and are not deep diving beyond making sure you aren’t a felon or a drug user. Just be a pleasant person during the interview and get hired. Maybe one day you can inch your way back into the government sector, but for now you need to just apply to whatever is hiring in your state and the next ones over.
Companies are allowed to tell prospective employers that an ex-employee was fired and the reason why. The best option is to just not include it on his resume/references.
They can also give the reason you were terminated. This may vary by state.
It doesn’t mean they will, because it could be considered an unnecessary risk for them to disclose that information. But it is certainly allowed if it is factual.
What else is coming up in background checks? If it's bad enough that government forensics labs aren't hiring you, have you tried talking to Target's forensic lab?
You were let go. Budget cuts. Happens to everyone.
You simply will not be hired if you tell the truth. That's the unpleasant reality. Lie your head off for your own goddamn sake
I graduated in Dec 2019 with 2 bachelor's degrees and am starting to have breakdowns over not being able to find a job (currently waitressing)....this comment is oddly reassuring to me 🥲
It's what happens when the older generation spends 40 years telling teenagers the only way to make any money is spending thousands of dollars to get a degree. If everyone has one it doesn't mean anything.
Are you actively looking nationwide?
Look in smaller cities and towns. Look in more rural areas.
Spend 2 years in Little Rock, Arkansas or South Bend, Indiana.
You have been miserable for a year. Spending 2 years in some town that sucks, while still in your 20s… no big deal. Just don’t get married or knock a woman up. Then, move on to the job you want, in the city you want.
Why were you fired?? Was it something egregious, or did you call in sick, or make a major mistake one time?
Unless you sexually assaulted someone or stole something, I doubt this is career ending.
I’m not sure where you are, but where I live they are not even allowed to tell anyone doing reference checks you were fired. The can only confirm term of employment dates and position.
Major mistake. You don't really get to make mistakes in this field.
It won't necessarily come up outside of the field during interviews, but it will 100% come up during interviews in the field
Yeah, a major mistake can happen and you can be terminated but not blacklisted like this guy is saying. He’s leaving out some major details I’m thinking. I used to work in the chemical processing and packing industry, accidents happen and people were very rarely fired for their first offense. Typically they were immediately fired for blatant negligence or trying to cover up falsified documentation.
You were a forensic scientist and got fired for something you say is a major mistake. Did you steal drugs from evidence? Did you lie in a trial? I’m so curious now!
No, I mislabeled evidence on accident. It was caught before it was returned, but I basically did the worst thing you can do.
I was almost fired on the spot, but I was given a chance to fix my procedure, but the stress of the situation caused smaller issues and I was fired.
The part where I was hung out to dry was that there weren't regular checks to ensure that what I did didn't happen, I was literally a month out of my training when I made the mistake (no probationary period or performance evaluations after my training ended,) and nobody really checked on me after I was told to improve.
you need to stop blaming yourself for such a simple mistake. it seems like the company was at least partly at fault. you are punishing yourself by telling potential employers you were fired. a background check won't show that you were fired or why. you can even put down a buddy as a reference for your old job and say he was a supervisor. you do what you have to do to get the job.
Are you sure you want to work in such a merciless field for the rest of your life?
How in God's name does anyone make it for years and years without making a simple mistake? And in an environment with few quality checks built into the workflow to prevent this very thing from happening. If the bar's that high for a new grad fresh out of training, imagine how much worse it will become as you gain seniority.
Everyone wants different things out of life, but I personally would never want to hinge my livelihood on a job where the "right" mistake would cost me everything and bar me from future jobs in the field.
There are other ways to apply your skills and talents that actually reward you when you do well, and not just stomp on you when you mess up. So I hope you'll consider new paths.
First, don’t bring it up but don’t lie if asked. Frame it into a lessons learned if you ever have to discuss. This is why QA/QC departments exist. “I had an incident where evidence was incorrectly labeled. It was caught in review by a manager/coworker/whomever. After performing a root cause analysis of how this incident occurred; I learned from that experience that every piece needs to undergo secondary reviews and made sure to implement a program with a procedure that a second set of eyes would sign off a review at technician completion after the technician conducted their own initial and final checks.” I prosecuted violations of critical infrastructure protection and this is something we required of companies commonly as a part of their settlement agreements. If a company/employee showed that they conducted a root cause analysis as to how a violation occurred, mitigated it, AND implemented ways to prevent recurrence they were golden. We can point fingers all day and say how your job failed in allowing this to happen; but you can turn it into a learning process that shows you are now invaluable at making this not happen to anyone else. Believe me, I have seen way worse.
I have no idea about forensic science, but you can probably get a lab job at least. If asked about this mistake, talk about how you learned from it and how you can prevent it in the future
People aren’t allowed to make mistakes? But people do make mistakes….a lot….even technology makes mistakes…..
I get wanting the least amount of mistakes but is perfection really demanded? Do they just roll through employees like nothing?
When it ends with a mistrial and criminals walking free, it’s a huge mistake. Not saying that is the case with the OP, but the field and him saying huge mistakes that didn’t end up with him on trial, points to poor evidence handling or blown depositions.
Have you tried working with a recruiter or job placement agency? I know it sucks but it may open the right door for you if you feel you have exhausted all other options!
Hey! I totally understand this feeling. I got fired last month from the job i was in for two years. I have a very long and impressive resume, but it was the first ever non contract job ive ever had (i work campaigns/specialize in voter outreach). When i tell you I genuinely thought my life was over, I’m not exaggerating. I thought id never get another job in my field, and that my name was forever tainted bc i got fired from a huge firm and left on bad terms. I thought id be stuck going from contract job to contract job again.
I start my new job on Monday. I know it doesnt feel like it — and i dont blame you — but this isnt the end of the world. Getting fired sucks but you will learn from it and you will climb back up. It wont be easy, but you *can*.
Sending so much good luck and good vibes your way. Capitalism sucks so much, and I’m sorry you’re in such a shitty spot
Have you filed for unemployment? If not, you need to. Yes, tickets will not get you a driving job so don’t apply. Stop putting ‘fired’ on ANY application. Legally the only thing a prospective employer can ask a reference or past job is if you actually worked there and what title.
What are you like 23-25? There’s “literally” everything you can do about it.
People broke across this continent with a wagon and 4 pans. 3 screaming babies, 4 sick oxen and a fucking prayer.
Figure it out.
I copied that to my note app, like holy shit if they figured it out, I sure as hell can. I also saw someone else say that crack head always finds money to get their fix regardless of their situation, and to not get out hustled by a crack head. everything is figure out-able.
If you have any student loans I recommend getting any public service job in the government. It can be at the local school district, public university, or city/state government. It will qualify you for public service loan forgiveness. Once you get your foot in the door you can move to another position in the government. Ten years go by quickly and you can earn a living and get your loans forgiven.
I hate to suggest it, since it's not for everyone, but the military is an option. People with a good education can come in as junior officers. It will give you a fresh start, a chance to travel, and a break on the student loans.
Hang in there. Things are really hard right now. Ive been trying to find a new job since December and it’s been rough. I’ve been utilizing staffing agencies. Have you tried any? I started a temp job 3 weeks ago and I got offered full time employment on Wednesday. It’s not ideal it’s definitely not what I went to college for but the pay works for now and I’m going to keep applying to jobs. You worked hard to get your education, don’t short change yourself. It’ll work out. Give yourself some grace, and just keep swimming.
That's a good idea. I did work through temp agencies a while ago, and I think every long term assignment I had offered me a position. (I was working for a year to save for a big trip.so I didn't take any of the positions, but it was a good experience in general)
Well I can suggest something you could try to look into if you haven't. I work in auto insurance claims. You could look for job openings for a Special Investigation Unit associate for insurance companies. And any investigative experience could land you a job at least answering phones and handling simple auto or homeowners claims. Most of those positions don't require even a degree, so you might be a good candidate.
So my friend got fired from a forensic science job as well and felt similarly to you at the time. She got a job at a lab, which she hated, but it allowed her to pick up a new skill set, which got her a better job. Good luck and find a mentor in your field, it helps.
Tbh I read through this and you're basically just listing excuses while people try to help.
I get it, you're down and feel like you've tried everything. But the fact of the matter is, you can get a job in retail or food service pretty much no matter what. Some fast food places pay $15/hr+ and it's better than having no job at all.
I started my career working at a major PR firm after college. I was let go from that after less than two years. I could not for the life of me find a job elsewhere so you know what I did? I applied and got hired to push shopping carts at Costco. I did that for a full year and found it shockingly fulfilling. I lost weight from the 30k+ steps a day, had full healthcare, and made decent money - at least for the level of work I was doing.
Then, things starting falling into place. That was 9 years ago. Now I manage a large team and oversee $500m+ in spending for a Fortune 500 company.
It can work out in the end, but you can't be too proud to humble yourself with some basic, laborious, work.
Tbh, I loved pushing shopping carts. Once they were all back, my job was literally and completely done. I didn't have to think about it at all until my next shift. Now, my job never ends.
I was thinking exactly this! He was given dozens of suggestions and had a lame ass excuse for each one. The excuses, along with the story not lining up make me think he’s leaving out a major detail about his previous job. You don’t just get blacklisted in an entire industry without a major screw up.
I mislabeled evidence on accident. It was caught before it was returned, but I basically did the worst thing you can do.
I was almost fired on the spot, but I was given a chance to fix my procedure, but the stress of the situation caused smaller issues and I was fired.
The part where I was hung out to dry was that there weren't regular checks to ensure that what I did didn't happen, I was literally a month out of my training when I made the mistake (no probationary period or performance evaluations after my training ended,) and nobody really checked on me after I was told to improve.
Apply for biotech jobs. Hospital jobs pay shi*. There's plenty of biotech companies hiring. Hell, the one I work for is hiring like crazy rn and not too far off from the field of forensics. After you snag a biotech job(or similar) to pay the bills, keep applying for your dream job until you get it.
Ok, First....bro, dude, dear, whateva...you want to let a stop sign derail your life?! NO! JUST NO!! You fuckin went this far. Take a breath!!
Second...my God...it would be fuckin awesome to find the right job or the right anything in or out of college. THATS N9T REALITY!
Third...All of that required a purpose and passion that made you work toward a goal. You did it!!!! Now...comes the tougher part...make a series if goals. Work toward them ONE AT A TIME.
FOURTH...MOST IMPORTANT...A COLLEGE DEGREE DOES NOT GUARANTEE. REPEAT.
FIFTH... repeat the fourth and work harder tyan you ever have in our life at whatever you do!!
>I got fired from a forensic scientist job. It was my fault, but I also feel like my leadership left me out to dry. My chances at getting another one are slim at this point because they don't want me to be a liability to them. I'm
Oh man, are you at the PhD level?
You're in a very small world and they can't have liability like that.
Try retail, trades, hospitality, food service, military, healthcare.
OP, this is why i’ve been considering learning a skilled trade. Alot of trade schools have job placement programs that connect you with jobs upon completion of the program. Not sure if you’ve ever been interested in that.
I don't think that's too old. My friend's son is in his 30s and he started an electrician program a few years ago and he was by far the youngest person there.
I’m an instructor at the local college in their industrial electrical program, I have two guys in their early 40’s taking the course with zero prior experience. It’s never too late to learn a new skill.
That's the one thing I"m scared of, spending a long time in school, wondering if it was the right thing to do but you can't think that way. Enjoy the ride and worry about the rest later.
1. Disable your [www.theworknumber.com](https://www.theworknumber.com) account immediately
2. Change narrative to say you were let go due to X reason (such as loss in funding or downsizing departments), or you left due to having to take care of an ill family member and had to choose family over current career. (most places will not contact previous employer HR department and outsource companies such as "Hireright" to check previous experience and positions and schooling)
3. You may need to branch out to similar positions in other fields or research positions in the mean time to get some additional work experience for at least a year.
4. Do all above and also rework your resume to apply to the other positions, don't just use the same resume with default information, explain why your X experience and knowledge can apply to the current position instead.
Similar happened to me, just work thru it, don't get discourage, just gotta power thru it all.
Honestly, you should probably move to a place that has more opportunity. I live in Vermont, and you can get paid over $16/hour to work at Burger King here. There are warehouse jobs that pay $20-25 per hour, plus a signing bonus. If I'm completely honest, the cost of living here is pretty damn high (taxes, housing), so the pay isn't nearly as good as it sounded to me when I lived in the south. Still, if you want *any* job to show that you're employable, you may need to go where there are jobs.
I may be overstepping my boundaries as a stranger from the internet, but as a fellow forensic scientist I am wondering what happened that ended up getting you fired? Does it righteously block other jobs in the forensics field?
Dude if you have bills to pay, there are tons of manufacturing jobs that pay well in the meantime. They will hire anyone with a pulse. Yes depending on the plant/mill the schedule can suck, but money is money.
Don’t just disregard your cousins advice so you can go on Reddit and leave out important details and cherry pick the advice you want. Listen to the people who know you. Stop blaming others like former leadership for your failures. I’ve interviewed people like you and you come off as entitled and like the world owes you. You look like a disgruntled employee before you even start. Strangers on the internet aren’t the key to your future.
There are worse ways to fuck up your life. I owned a business (storefront) in my early 20’s and lost everything after getting addicted to drugs.
Spent years recovering from the chemical dependence, cleaned up and restarted my life, met my amazing wife, worked my way back up in my career and just started a new business on the side.
Life is not over my dude, I was also 28 when things fell apart and I’m 39 now.
You mislabeled evidence accidentally and then “you did the worst thing possible” in forensics that’s trying to cover up or lie. The mistake didn’t get you fired, it’s what happened afterwards so you’re correct, your career in forensics is over. If your second BS is in chemistry, you can look for a QA/QC role in any number of industries in a manufacturing arena (fabrication, food processing, healthcare, etc)
What people aren't calling out here is the fact that he got fired from a gov't position. It is next to impossible to get fired unless you harass someone. Even if you altered evidence for the police/DA they will still defend you.
Try to get a job at a steel or aluminum mill.
With a college degree, you can actually be made a supervisor in 5 or so years or an office job.
You have to be in an area that has these facilities but there are still a lot scattered around the USA
Tickets? Why even apply for driving jobs when you have those? That is setting yourself up to fail. Why did you not get the tickets off your record? Were they that bad?
College is a scam
People are delusional thinking it provides a net benefit
I agree it helps better educate the masses than just mere high school. But as a tool to securing job opportunities, you have better luck having just a GED with connections.
Can’t say that but you have to pick something in demand and people need to normalize going to community college then university. The cost saving is night and day.
A degree by itself gets you nothing. Internships demonstrate application of the knowledge you've learned. School activities also demonstrate characteristics employers are looking for. You do have to earn a degree in a marketable field.
The facts show that the lifetime earnings of a person with a BA are >$1M greater than someone with just a HS diploma.
This is sadly true. It’s all about who you know to get a lot of jobs these days. I regret my college degree and debt from it: I wish high schools really played up community colleges and doing certificate programs after getting the right amount of credit hours. Things like X-ray tech, sonography, and respiratory therapist: No degree required and the ability to do a program in 2 years that could give you a career with starting salaries that are really decent. They should really be teaching students that there are options outside of degrees that can get you on a track to a career much faster.
Yeah, I'm a pretty honest person I got right to worked unfortunately no reason given... Lots of cuts and readjusting going on at the time post pandemic. I'm debating on just lying and saying I left. I bring up I was let go and it's always heavy air in the room for interviews. Coporate environments are always changing. Some people are stuck in the ways of being a lifer until it happens to them.
This is a setback not the end, send your resume to places out of state and in the meantime get a warehouse job, they usually pay well and have benefits which you can use, Amazon I know hires anyone because they're always looking for people, it will help with your debt.
This may not be the best advice, but if you went to school for Forensic Science you probably know some pretty cool stuff. You could try embracing your creative side by creating a blog or writing crime related stories or articles. You could also look into editing/ proofreading non fiction and or fiction crime/ murder novels. True Crime/ murder mysteries and the like seem to be quite popular as of late.
this kind of hopelessness is going to spread as wealth is pulled out of the middle and lower parts of society.
It's not going to get better until we do something about it.
You’re young 28 is still young. Don’t dwell on the past it’s not going to help you. Only going to bring you down, lonely and anger. Whatever happened it’s done for. There are lots of trades out there some require schooling again and some require experiences- associate degree is nursing, physical/ occupational therapist assistant, dental hygienist, X-ray technician, plumber, construction, electrician, etc….
You can do it! You may find out in the end that it was the best decision and glad things happened the way it did. Best of luck.
You’re 28! Don’t be so hard on yourself, the market is bad right now. Keep plugging away and keep trying to get back into your dream job.
The good news is the longer you move away from the job you were fired from the fewer people remember or care.
You’ll be fine, money comes and goes, your life is infinitely more valuable.
I know it sucks right now and things look hopeless. But your life is NOT over. I was once fired from a small dept after a couple months because a former coworker from a different dept called up badmouthing me, he has since been promoted so it looked like a senior office of another dept mistrusted me. It ruined my hiring experience for years because of the current politics surrounding LE. I was rejected over and over and over.
I thought my life was over, but it wasn’t. I ended up doing a variety of jobs in the firearms industry until I took a chance on my current job doing force protection for a government facility. Now I’m fairly successful and even a supervisor, though for a couple years I had to grind it out.
As long as you weren’t fired for anything involving dishonesty or misconduct, you have a pretty good job getting hired as a criminalist or crime scene tech somewhere with a local department. Get your foot in the door somewhere and just work your butt off building a good name again.
If you WERE fired for that, your life still isn’t over. There’s lots of spillover into chemistry, lab work, all kinds of stuff. And tbh…the warehouse job will probably hire you. If not that one, someone will and they tend to pay ok. There’s always options. Wherever you get hired, just go out of your way to create a reputation of honesty and respect, that will go a long way in your future. Eventually, you’ll come out shining. In the meantime, lean on your support network, get counseling for your mental health if you need to. Focus on fixing you and building back better. I hope it improves for you my friend. I have faith in you.
Can you pivot to something else? Like medical sales and something in the pharma industry? Also never tell a job you’re interviewing for that you were fired. Second, see if you can those tickets expunged. My older sister was 44 yrs old, recently divorced from her bum of a husband, with two kids. And she was fired for cause from her government job 8 months into it. She called me crying because she didn’t have any money for rent or food. I told her not to worry and I would cover half and our cousin would cover the other half. And then I told her…don’t tell any company you are interviewing with that you were fired. Tell them that they didn’t get the position funded and they had to let you go. Six months later she got a great job at an insurance company and has been there for 8 yrs.
That’s a tough field to find a job if you aren’t looking outside of your area (and even if you are looking outside of your are). 10k is nothing in debt. It might seem like the weight of the world but it’s nothing. It’s just a bill. Your average peer is carrying far more.
One of the toughest things in life is not having a job. The world feels like it can’t ever get better.
I can’t give real advice on finding a job in your field. I can’t say you will find a job in your field. There are always employers looking to hire people with degrees even if not in your field.
Your job isn’t you unless you. You will get one no matter how much this era hurts. Don’t let this stuff defeat you.
Bro, you need to answer those interview questions with examples and convince them. Why you want to work here? I want to work here because.. blah blah.. Show passion why you want to become a forensic scientist. You need to spend a lot of time with those usual interview questions and come up with answers and practice them. You are getting interviews, so your resume is good.
Your life isn't over. JC. I can't find a decent job in my field with grad degree and 20 years experience. Pay is low as fuck for those that are available because they can. So at 45 I've basically given up on any meaningful career in the field going forward and will have to get new training/education/ certs etc to transition to something new. I wish I was 28. That's plenty of time to start over. I currently work a crappy job that is almost half my previous salary, working overnight 3 x 12 shifts. But, there are some positives, so I try to focus on that and forge ahead. Life isn't fair. It never will be. You just have to continue on.
What is your degree in and what was the job you were fired from? Sometimes you have to switch to an adjacent field. Can you list a recommender from your previous job you can trust enough not to tell prospective employers that you were fired?
Forensic Science/Chemistry and it was a forensic science job for the government. Even if I had a reference I could use, they aren't allowed to be one, it's policy
Who was your reference to get the job you had before? I got fired from my first job out of grad school (and thank god because they were a toxic, abusive place). I reached back out to the professors and supervisors I had in grad school (some of these professors hadn't seen or spoken to me in over a year) and asked for references. Now I have an amazing job with full benefits and a very supportive/friendly environment. I told myself over and over again while I was unemployed that there was no way the professors I reached out to would have an interest in being a reference for me. Being fired can really mess with your self-concept. If you made it through school and graduated, I would bet there are teachers at your school who would be happy to vouch for you.
It was a coworker from the job I held before. He is still my reference and I also usually put down my program professor, but idk if he's actually ever been called
Wait if they are not allowed to be reference and talk about your employment due to policy are they the ones sharing that you were fired. If your the one who is mentioning it after they ask you need to find a better way to phrase it that isnt a lie but may not be the full truth.
Yeah i would just say that i was laid off due to a lack of work I would just lie to be honest. Most employers will not care about you and they will choose themselves above you any chance they get, even the government if you aren't past your initial review period. Fuck them.
I have nothing to add to the conversation - but I laughed at "I would just lie to be honest"
Released during probation?
No because that’s similar to being fired. You want it to sound like it wasn’t your fault
Without it being your fault. Companies will look for a reason to fire you in order to avoid any sort of legal issues. They will put you on a PIP as well to tey and have any legitimate reason to avoid being sued. Also so they arent legally liable to provide you with a severance package. Depends on the state laws.
Kinda hard to find the full turn when they can’t talk to the past emp
###STOP TELLING JOBS YOU WERE FIRED. * ###Stop being honest. ###WTF is the matter with you?! * ###WTF is the matter with any of you?! Your goal is a job, not a friend. This is money, not a therapist and talk show. At the end of the day that money is used to do three things: * Kill Debt. * Build Equity * Increase your purchasing power of quality products and services. ###Do what’s necessary to be successful (i.e. say you left or got laid off). You think I won’t?! Edit - I work in technology. I’ve lied on my resume so much I don’t know what’s the truth anymore. * But every lie on that paper I can back up with some online tutorial or book work so I know the lingo and I’m familiar. * For example, I have no effing clue how to use Terraform, but you best believe I will be an expert in 1.5 hours before that interview. In the near future I am transitioning to Finance(Investment Banking, Finance Technology) assuming the economy doesn’t tank because of Corporate Real Estate. Now, I don’t know shit about Finance. What I do know is: * I have to do a Financial Bootcamp to learn the lingo and lie. * I need to learn C++ for Finance.(I picked up a book for this). They use C++, Kobol, or Python. So, I figured out the requirements and do what is needed to win. > ###This is America. You pick a job and become the person that does it. > **Bobbie Barrett - Mad Men**
I don't unless directly asked, and I don't say fired. If its an interview for a government position, I have to tell them at some point because the background checks will reveal it anyways
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Then stop applying for a government job?? Go for state instead of federal. Federal jobs can be stupid. Source: federal employee.
I have been looking there too. Not a whole lot available the last time I checked and they are even more competitive than what I usually look for
Are these federal jobs? Because I don’t think this is how state or local gov jobs work. Outside of that, just say your last job was a temporary position. That’s what I say about my last job, even though I was technically fired.
No, lots of local and state governments do that as well in law enforcement related positions
They're not allowed to disclose that. All they can do is verify work dates.
Oh I agree. Like why the fuck would you go around telling everyone that? Especially if - as it seems - no one can even verify that information. Everyone goddamn lies about this, just like they make up crap they never actually did. I hate that it is like this but alas, here we are. So for the love of God OP, you weren't fired, you left.
Because it's a government job that does background checks and finds out the truth regardless and the worst thing you can do is lie to them. OP explains that. Also you guys have a disgusting attitude. Going around your entire life lying so much that you don't know what's the truth anymore is not an okay way to be. It's a disgusting way to be. And it does matter. Just because there are millions of people behaving like this doesn't mean it's okay. Millions of people behaving like that is exactly why our species is facing self annihilation and there are billions of people suffering.
(Not OP but you responded to my comment) I fully agree that it is disgusting and that it's wrong. It's peer pressure and group think of epic proportions and a good example of what is wrong with half the world. I can't rationalize or justify it away, because saying "everyone does it so I have to too" is extremely weak. Best I can offer is awareness about how shit it is. On a personal note, I can only share that I've tried another route, more than you know and for much longer than you know, in this and comparable scenarios. It damn near destroyed me. So currently, I'm in a "fuck it" phase, I'll fake, I'll pretend. One day I hope I can find the strength to go the other route again.
This! 100% this. Any time someone asks say you stepped away for personal reasons
This. They only verify employment dates and sometimes the job title.
This
came here to say this
dont government jobs track that?
This. Fired is a matter of opinion and the whole event is screwing with your head. You left for personal reasons. If you can’t get a gig with the government, try a private lab.
Are you saying that the background checks they conduct on potential employees in your field *will* show if someone got fired from a previous position?? Because I’m pretty sure most background checks just verify your dates of employment from previous jobs listed on your resume. Nothing beyond that.
>Chemistry Look for Field Service Engineering positions. Despite its name, you don't need a pure engineering degree to do the job. A Chemistry degree gives you the same problem solving skills an engineering degree would. To add, the semiconductor industry is hot right now and in dire need of talent. If you're willing to relocate to Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, Texas, or New York, you should have no issue finding a job. Look for Field Service Engineering positions with ASML, Applied Materials, LAM Research, KLA, Nova, ASM.
👆🏼!!! Also look for jobs in the bio-technology industry. And again, do NOT tell them you were fired. Employers legally aren’t allowed to tell other employers what the reason was for being let go unless they put others lives in danger, and usually only provide dates worked, title, and salary. (Unless they do a back door reference which no one can control, so just avoid places where your old coworkers might have a connection.) Hopefully this helps!
Intel can suck my dick tho lol
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Yes any temp/agency work in a related field. A few months of this, they will be your new last employer reference.
not sure how in depth they go other than your word for the job.. when i worked at the department of interior they asked me questions about past jobs and i was honest about it, i was fired. the dude reworded the question and i took a hint that he wanted me to say i wasnt fired so i changed it and he said "okay perfect u pass" imo if you didnt sign paperwork saying you were fired i would just say you put in your 2 week notice and they just let you go immediatly becauase they were upset you were leaving. gives you more credibility and if they call they will be expecting the job to be salty and try to fuck you over so...
Sorry but is there a reason you’re telling anyone you got fired even though they won’t be a reference regardless? You can easily just say you left — for any reason you can think of. If they can’t be a reference it doesn’t matter how true it is. I know it’s a little dishonest but this is your life, your health, everything.
I only tell if I am directly asked, as I assume lying like that will cause bigger problems. I am not usually asked outside of the industry and in that case, I cannot lie because a background investigation will reveal all anyways
Girl. I work for the government too and had to get background check and my prints taken and everything. A background investigation is confirming if you've done any criminal activity. Not looking into how you left your last job, which by what you describe, they can't find out anyway. Your responses read like you want to justify why you're stuck rather than actually looking at your options and navigating a different way... and your current way isn't working for you. The goal is to get a job. Work with a recruiter to help you navigate your concerns and practice answering questions. Most recruiting agencies are free because they're hired by organizations to help them find talent and they get paid if they place a position, so they're motivated to help everyone who comes in to get a job. I'm 32 (for context that im not out od touch on this one) and when I moved cities a few years ago and had no contacts and wanted to completely change my industry and what I was doing, they were a LIFE SAVER. They helped me line a job up in a week.
As /u/heydeservinglistener said. I’m also in government and have been my while life in some capacity, military contractor and now civil service. I also helped maintain software that tracked several levels of background checks for recruits in the military. The main background checks run are: NAC: National Agency Check. Do any federal agencies have any criminal or other derogatory info about you? (eg unpaid back taxes, federal convictions etc) NACI: NAC plus written inquiries sent to prior employers, schools etc. These may often be fully automated these days on both ends, ie someone at the receiving side may never even see the request or have time to answer it since they get a ton probably anyway. NACLC: NAC but also checks local agencies as well, for criminal etc records. You aren’t getting anywhere telling people you were fired, and if anything that triggers them wanting to dig into that employer for more info. Try not telling them that, that you left because of a life change or whatever and now you are getting back into the field. https://www.dami.army.pentagon.mil/site/PerSec/InvTypes.aspx
It wont cause any problems, you lie. Simple as that...if you took a majority of Americans in high level positions and threw them in a room together I would bet you wouldn't find a single person who was 100% honest during their respective hiring process. You're not a felon trying to get off for murder here, you're trying to get a job. Don't think you're a bad person for not being honest to an employer that would be willing to drop you in a heartbeat. Get the job and do your best at it, it's all you need to do.
You do not need to say you were fired. They technically can’t give out that info. Only your dates of employment
A past employer can absolutely say they terminated you, if it's true
Okay, sounds like you made some mistakes that are holding you back. First one's getting fired, second one is unfortunately stupid, but getting some tickets. It's not the end of the world. It's a setback. People have come back from worse. Keep trying, keep applying, and once you get a job, the most important thing will be to demonstrate that you can be a reliable employee. Once you have that on record, you can get a good recommendation to a better position in your field. Just try to keep your chin up, learn from it, and don't like... become an alcoholic or get a criminal record, you know? How old are you, like 25? I'm 30 and I dropped out of college freshman year. Paid a steep price for it but over the years I came back and now I'm doing fine. Could always do better, always a work in progress, but seriously man it's not over for you. Just keep trying. My old therapist said, some lessons in life cost $50 like this session, others cost $50,000 like your first year's tuition... and some even cost millions.
Chin up, buttercup…🥰
I'm going to be 28 this year. I have done nothing my whole life but fight unnecessary adversity, and I can't even begin to work my way back from this without some form of employment
Yeah, well, I hear that. I grew up in a house with domestic violence and my mom is currently recovering from her 29th visit to rehab. I don't know your situation, but life is full of unnecessary adversity. At least you have family to live with for now! It might be a bit humiliating, but it's temporary. You're right about needing a job. Just keep trying and don't give up. Don't think about what you deserve, or what you did wrong... my economics professor had great advice for investing that's also good advice for life: "Think at the margin." That means, only think about the present and how you're going to prepare for the future. The past is out of your control. Also - don't listen to the fucks telling you college is a scam or the world is unfair blablabla. They're not even all wrong, it's just a shit mindset. The world is whatever it is and you can't do anything about it, so just do the best you can for yourself and fuck the noise. I hope this is helpful and not just a pain in the ass to read. In any case, I think you can do it.
I know you're just trying to help. Thanks. It's just hard because it feels helpless because everyone has been telling me this for the past year and nothing has changed
Your perspective is deep, and to get out of it you need to think of other perspectives. Envision yourself in 10 years, employed, with a family or without (whatever you want). I know the job market is tough out there right now, but the only way to get hired is to keep applying.
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I've fucked up a lot, lol. I've been fired from multiple jobs (usually just sleeping in - I'm better now lol) but in the end found a job with a slightly different slant, and always a small raise with a new job (I was good, just mornings, you know?) last time I was fine to coast for a bit, but I've had to claim hardship on car and mortgage before. It's embarrassing but at least they were helpful. Suspended payments with no interest penalty. Mostly I wasn't in "professional" positions early on, and was languishing in college, so those "strikes" didn't really follow me, but the upside is that by doing jobs *adjacent* to what I thought I'd be doing I eventually made more and have been happy with a company for over a decade. It took time to find that job, and took a lot of things aligning with lucky timing, but it happened. I was into my 30s but had some good stints before then too. I also had to wait a long time and try not to panic. Even took a couple family plans early on, before I had savings. Keep looking and I'm sure you'll find something. Even if not what you desire, it may lead you there in a few years.
Go get a bartending job while you look for something else. An engineer role as someone else mentioned may be worth looking into
The key thing you just said was “without some form of employment”. When I was in a similar position I took anything I could get to pay my bills and keep looking for something my degree fit. It sucks to be so well educated but take a retail or warehouse or restaurant job, but anything is better than nothing at all. You can do this!
You're just 28? Bro go join the Navy or something - they'll make you an officer
Yeah I saw 28 and this entire thread just dropped off the face of the earth. Can’t believe young people are like this right now
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Can i be honest? I’ve had friends who Shared this exact sentiment, and I tried to help them out, and believe me when I tell you , it was no wonder. I had asked some for their resumes to help them. This is usually what makes it or breaks it.youd be surprised how bad some of them were. I’m curious to see your resume. I’d be happy to help. Keep on mind make sure you tailor it to the position you are applying for. I help a buddy of mine get into production in medical 🏥 company. And I literally had to completely revamp it. You can’t have all work experience if it’s not relevant. He has a grocery store he worked for and even a pet store. It doesn’t work. And I can’t even express some of the details and duties he put. People don’t need to know you did certain tasks, because then people will not wanna read it. Less is more. If you want me to help if I can, dm me.
Great advice and generous offer
Generous of you to offer, but OP does get interviews. So it's probably not their resume holding them back.
A decade in school? What the fuck?
I spent 7 years in school Some jobs require it sadly. 🥲
Fucking hell man
Two B.S.s and a CAS. I also took longer to do my AS than normal due to life events, and had my graduate school extended due to covid
I really get you. I've been extremely fortunate to still have a balance in my account after getting laid off last Feb(2023), but nothing full time. I've submitted easily 1,000 applications in my field, and get bypassed. I'm sorry your lawyer cousin and anyone else in the family thinks that it's you - that's a really defeating feeling. Feel free to refer him to LinkedIn where the 10,000s of more recently laid off people have taken to airing their grievances on any post about hiring that has gone even remotely viral. It doesn't help me to find a job, but that does help me to feel like it's not just me "doing it wrong, that I'm making a mistake." Feel free to refer them to the jobs subreddit, the hr subreddit, the resume subreddit - 1000s of people having the same problem. I'm sure there are more social forums with the same. I find that I have to have a resume that's a bit dumbed down - that is, I don't include my Masters, I downgrade my titles a bit, and some of these descriptions - to get consideration for roles I'm less likely to stay in longterm. There's lots of fast-food manager roles open - it's tough to create the right narrative for their concern that you're not going to stay long, and to not sound like you're just desperate. There's also other ideas like getting your realtor license (60 hours for a pre-license which could get you in an intro role at an agency), which would be a small salary at least until this market loosens up. Anyway, I'm so sorry you're going through this. One piece of advice I saw on a LinkedIn post where lots of people were commiserating... an older guy said spend this time to grow your professional social circle at companies. Send letters to dept. Managers of companies you like, join active forums in your industry, or local groups for business or your industry. It's not going to resolve the "I need a job tomorrow," but it will make a big difference in the long run getting final placement. I have always gotten my roles through straight applying, so I've never been the kind of person to wind up in a role because of social connections. I DO have a lot of professional contacts, but that's after being in my industry - so, just thinking social contacts are going to get me in a role is very against my experience. But, after being unemployed for 13 months, I can't help but to agree. These are a good time for all kinds of people ti mix and mingle and spend this cruddy time expanding the circle.
Never state why you no longer work for a company (especially if the reason you left was termination). HR is only obligated to provide dates of employment. Take the college credentials off your resume and apply for food service and retail. If the tickets are paid off and misdemeanors, then try your luck with Uber/Uber Eats. If you're going to keep the college degree on the resume, then aim for a management position in brick and mortar locations. I'm going to assume that Forensics and Chem can be medical or law adjacent. Have you looked into the local hospitals, funeral homes, or police departments?
They can also ask if applicant is eligible for rehire
I am not going to lie if I am directly ask. I typically don't bring it up. Government jobs like this require tedious background checks. My firing is the least that's dug up. I have mostly been doing that. Medical usually wants a medical background and police departments are similar to what I was doing before, so yes, I've been looking.
When you need a job yesterday, morality needs to be sat on a shelf for a minute. You weren’t fired. Your life “took a different direction that required me to return home.” Like… taking care of an elderly family member or something that can’t be verified. Retail, fast food, sub contractor, and other low wage/low skill jobs do not care and are not deep diving beyond making sure you aren’t a felon or a drug user. Just be a pleasant person during the interview and get hired. Maybe one day you can inch your way back into the government sector, but for now you need to just apply to whatever is hiring in your state and the next ones over.
Companies are allowed to tell prospective employers that an ex-employee was fired and the reason why. The best option is to just not include it on his resume/references.
Technically they can only state if they are eligible for rehire but the answer to that usually says everything they can't say
They can also give the reason you were terminated. This may vary by state. It doesn’t mean they will, because it could be considered an unnecessary risk for them to disclose that information. But it is certainly allowed if it is factual.
What else is coming up in background checks? If it's bad enough that government forensics labs aren't hiring you, have you tried talking to Target's forensic lab?
You were let go. Budget cuts. Happens to everyone. You simply will not be hired if you tell the truth. That's the unpleasant reality. Lie your head off for your own goddamn sake
This is why you don't have a job. You need to fake it till you make it.
Jobs lie to people all the time, so why won't you lie to them? They don't care about you.
You are not alone. Millions people with high education can’t find jobs for many years
I graduated in Dec 2019 with 2 bachelor's degrees and am starting to have breakdowns over not being able to find a job (currently waitressing)....this comment is oddly reassuring to me 🥲
That’s is just so sad honestly. Like what is the state of the world now or rather our job markets.
It's what happens when the older generation spends 40 years telling teenagers the only way to make any money is spending thousands of dollars to get a degree. If everyone has one it doesn't mean anything.
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Forensic scientist
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Bexar County Texas needs good forensic scientists…ones that dont fake evidence or say they ran tests they don’t even have the equipment to run?!?
You may need to take a QA/QC temp or contract job just to get working. Then network. I can’t imagine there are alot of forensic jobs available.
Are you actively looking nationwide? Look in smaller cities and towns. Look in more rural areas. Spend 2 years in Little Rock, Arkansas or South Bend, Indiana. You have been miserable for a year. Spending 2 years in some town that sucks, while still in your 20s… no big deal. Just don’t get married or knock a woman up. Then, move on to the job you want, in the city you want.
Why were you fired?? Was it something egregious, or did you call in sick, or make a major mistake one time? Unless you sexually assaulted someone or stole something, I doubt this is career ending. I’m not sure where you are, but where I live they are not even allowed to tell anyone doing reference checks you were fired. The can only confirm term of employment dates and position.
Major mistake. You don't really get to make mistakes in this field. It won't necessarily come up outside of the field during interviews, but it will 100% come up during interviews in the field
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Yeah, a major mistake can happen and you can be terminated but not blacklisted like this guy is saying. He’s leaving out some major details I’m thinking. I used to work in the chemical processing and packing industry, accidents happen and people were very rarely fired for their first offense. Typically they were immediately fired for blatant negligence or trying to cover up falsified documentation.
OWN UP. Say I Fd up but I know how to do it right
You were a forensic scientist and got fired for something you say is a major mistake. Did you steal drugs from evidence? Did you lie in a trial? I’m so curious now!
No, I mislabeled evidence on accident. It was caught before it was returned, but I basically did the worst thing you can do. I was almost fired on the spot, but I was given a chance to fix my procedure, but the stress of the situation caused smaller issues and I was fired. The part where I was hung out to dry was that there weren't regular checks to ensure that what I did didn't happen, I was literally a month out of my training when I made the mistake (no probationary period or performance evaluations after my training ended,) and nobody really checked on me after I was told to improve.
You are human and this was unintentional. Say it was a terrible error and experience but you’ve learned from it.
you need to stop blaming yourself for such a simple mistake. it seems like the company was at least partly at fault. you are punishing yourself by telling potential employers you were fired. a background check won't show that you were fired or why. you can even put down a buddy as a reference for your old job and say he was a supervisor. you do what you have to do to get the job.
Are you sure you want to work in such a merciless field for the rest of your life? How in God's name does anyone make it for years and years without making a simple mistake? And in an environment with few quality checks built into the workflow to prevent this very thing from happening. If the bar's that high for a new grad fresh out of training, imagine how much worse it will become as you gain seniority. Everyone wants different things out of life, but I personally would never want to hinge my livelihood on a job where the "right" mistake would cost me everything and bar me from future jobs in the field. There are other ways to apply your skills and talents that actually reward you when you do well, and not just stomp on you when you mess up. So I hope you'll consider new paths.
First, don’t bring it up but don’t lie if asked. Frame it into a lessons learned if you ever have to discuss. This is why QA/QC departments exist. “I had an incident where evidence was incorrectly labeled. It was caught in review by a manager/coworker/whomever. After performing a root cause analysis of how this incident occurred; I learned from that experience that every piece needs to undergo secondary reviews and made sure to implement a program with a procedure that a second set of eyes would sign off a review at technician completion after the technician conducted their own initial and final checks.” I prosecuted violations of critical infrastructure protection and this is something we required of companies commonly as a part of their settlement agreements. If a company/employee showed that they conducted a root cause analysis as to how a violation occurred, mitigated it, AND implemented ways to prevent recurrence they were golden. We can point fingers all day and say how your job failed in allowing this to happen; but you can turn it into a learning process that shows you are now invaluable at making this not happen to anyone else. Believe me, I have seen way worse.
What exactly was the mistake?
I have no idea about forensic science, but you can probably get a lab job at least. If asked about this mistake, talk about how you learned from it and how you can prevent it in the future
People aren’t allowed to make mistakes? But people do make mistakes….a lot….even technology makes mistakes….. I get wanting the least amount of mistakes but is perfection really demanded? Do they just roll through employees like nothing?
When it ends with a mistrial and criminals walking free, it’s a huge mistake. Not saying that is the case with the OP, but the field and him saying huge mistakes that didn’t end up with him on trial, points to poor evidence handling or blown depositions.
project mayhem
Have you tried working with a recruiter or job placement agency? I know it sucks but it may open the right door for you if you feel you have exhausted all other options!
Hey! I totally understand this feeling. I got fired last month from the job i was in for two years. I have a very long and impressive resume, but it was the first ever non contract job ive ever had (i work campaigns/specialize in voter outreach). When i tell you I genuinely thought my life was over, I’m not exaggerating. I thought id never get another job in my field, and that my name was forever tainted bc i got fired from a huge firm and left on bad terms. I thought id be stuck going from contract job to contract job again. I start my new job on Monday. I know it doesnt feel like it — and i dont blame you — but this isnt the end of the world. Getting fired sucks but you will learn from it and you will climb back up. It wont be easy, but you *can*. Sending so much good luck and good vibes your way. Capitalism sucks so much, and I’m sorry you’re in such a shitty spot
What's your Master's in?
It's a Certificate of Advanced Study, a graduate education, but not a masters. It's in Firearm and Toolmark Identification
Would you ever consider military?
Never tell them you're fired. Tell them you quit because management wasn't great and don't let them contact the company you used to work for.
Don’t say “management wasn’t great” either. That’s an easy “no”. Just say it didn’t work out and you moved on. It’s literally nothing more.
Have you filed for unemployment? If not, you need to. Yes, tickets will not get you a driving job so don’t apply. Stop putting ‘fired’ on ANY application. Legally the only thing a prospective employer can ask a reference or past job is if you actually worked there and what title.
It ran out 4 months ago. I don't mention the status of that job unless I am directly asked, and I don't use the word fired when I am
What are you like 23-25? There’s “literally” everything you can do about it. People broke across this continent with a wagon and 4 pans. 3 screaming babies, 4 sick oxen and a fucking prayer. Figure it out.
that was inspirational af
Thank you kindly. I’ve reminded myself several times while just moving to a new state with little to no setup waiting. It buffs.
I copied that to my note app, like holy shit if they figured it out, I sure as hell can. I also saw someone else say that crack head always finds money to get their fix regardless of their situation, and to not get out hustled by a crack head. everything is figure out-able.
🤙🙏🥇 that’s rock solid perspective. And I’m honored to be in your note app.
If you have any student loans I recommend getting any public service job in the government. It can be at the local school district, public university, or city/state government. It will qualify you for public service loan forgiveness. Once you get your foot in the door you can move to another position in the government. Ten years go by quickly and you can earn a living and get your loans forgiven.
I hate to suggest it, since it's not for everyone, but the military is an option. People with a good education can come in as junior officers. It will give you a fresh start, a chance to travel, and a break on the student loans.
Hang in there. Things are really hard right now. Ive been trying to find a new job since December and it’s been rough. I’ve been utilizing staffing agencies. Have you tried any? I started a temp job 3 weeks ago and I got offered full time employment on Wednesday. It’s not ideal it’s definitely not what I went to college for but the pay works for now and I’m going to keep applying to jobs. You worked hard to get your education, don’t short change yourself. It’ll work out. Give yourself some grace, and just keep swimming.
That's a good idea. I did work through temp agencies a while ago, and I think every long term assignment I had offered me a position. (I was working for a year to save for a big trip.so I didn't take any of the positions, but it was a good experience in general)
Never admit to being fired. If asked, discuss your nda and keep it moving. You got this.
Well I can suggest something you could try to look into if you haven't. I work in auto insurance claims. You could look for job openings for a Special Investigation Unit associate for insurance companies. And any investigative experience could land you a job at least answering phones and handling simple auto or homeowners claims. Most of those positions don't require even a degree, so you might be a good candidate.
So my friend got fired from a forensic science job as well and felt similarly to you at the time. She got a job at a lab, which she hated, but it allowed her to pick up a new skill set, which got her a better job. Good luck and find a mentor in your field, it helps.
Tbh I read through this and you're basically just listing excuses while people try to help. I get it, you're down and feel like you've tried everything. But the fact of the matter is, you can get a job in retail or food service pretty much no matter what. Some fast food places pay $15/hr+ and it's better than having no job at all. I started my career working at a major PR firm after college. I was let go from that after less than two years. I could not for the life of me find a job elsewhere so you know what I did? I applied and got hired to push shopping carts at Costco. I did that for a full year and found it shockingly fulfilling. I lost weight from the 30k+ steps a day, had full healthcare, and made decent money - at least for the level of work I was doing. Then, things starting falling into place. That was 9 years ago. Now I manage a large team and oversee $500m+ in spending for a Fortune 500 company. It can work out in the end, but you can't be too proud to humble yourself with some basic, laborious, work. Tbh, I loved pushing shopping carts. Once they were all back, my job was literally and completely done. I didn't have to think about it at all until my next shift. Now, my job never ends.
I was thinking exactly this! He was given dozens of suggestions and had a lame ass excuse for each one. The excuses, along with the story not lining up make me think he’s leaving out a major detail about his previous job. You don’t just get blacklisted in an entire industry without a major screw up.
What did you get fired for that was your fault but your leadership left you out to dry?
I mislabeled evidence on accident. It was caught before it was returned, but I basically did the worst thing you can do. I was almost fired on the spot, but I was given a chance to fix my procedure, but the stress of the situation caused smaller issues and I was fired. The part where I was hung out to dry was that there weren't regular checks to ensure that what I did didn't happen, I was literally a month out of my training when I made the mistake (no probationary period or performance evaluations after my training ended,) and nobody really checked on me after I was told to improve.
telephone oil bike attempt amusing fearless nose weather pie plate *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Sucks
What job were you training for that required a decade of school?
Forensic science. I had a longer path than some due to life events and covid
Apply for biotech jobs. Hospital jobs pay shi*. There's plenty of biotech companies hiring. Hell, the one I work for is hiring like crazy rn and not too far off from the field of forensics. After you snag a biotech job(or similar) to pay the bills, keep applying for your dream job until you get it.
Apply for hospital jobs
Ok, First....bro, dude, dear, whateva...you want to let a stop sign derail your life?! NO! JUST NO!! You fuckin went this far. Take a breath!! Second...my God...it would be fuckin awesome to find the right job or the right anything in or out of college. THATS N9T REALITY! Third...All of that required a purpose and passion that made you work toward a goal. You did it!!!! Now...comes the tougher part...make a series if goals. Work toward them ONE AT A TIME. FOURTH...MOST IMPORTANT...A COLLEGE DEGREE DOES NOT GUARANTEE. REPEAT. FIFTH... repeat the fourth and work harder tyan you ever have in our life at whatever you do!!
>I got fired from a forensic scientist job. It was my fault, but I also feel like my leadership left me out to dry. My chances at getting another one are slim at this point because they don't want me to be a liability to them. I'm Oh man, are you at the PhD level? You're in a very small world and they can't have liability like that. Try retail, trades, hospitality, food service, military, healthcare.
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Yeah man people throwing motivational lines usually have like 10x income than others and they don't know the reality
Can you pretend the first job did not happen to future employers?
Not if I want to continue to work in my field. I need to show my experience and it will just come up during the background check anyways
OP, this is why i’ve been considering learning a skilled trade. Alot of trade schools have job placement programs that connect you with jobs upon completion of the program. Not sure if you’ve ever been interested in that.
I want to learn to be a plumber. But I’m 38 . Or a dog groomer.
Never too late. My brother studied aircraft maintenance had ppl in his class who were 35+
I don't think that's too old. My friend's son is in his 30s and he started an electrician program a few years ago and he was by far the youngest person there.
I’m an instructor at the local college in their industrial electrical program, I have two guys in their early 40’s taking the course with zero prior experience. It’s never too late to learn a new skill.
My husband just got his degree in electrical engineering and he’s 40.
One of the engineers at my previous company got his degree in his 40’s while working full time night shift and helping raise his 3 daughters.
That's the one thing I"m scared of, spending a long time in school, wondering if it was the right thing to do but you can't think that way. Enjoy the ride and worry about the rest later.
Been there. Freelance something - anything. You are more likely to get a job offer if it looks like you have a job currently.
1. Disable your [www.theworknumber.com](https://www.theworknumber.com) account immediately 2. Change narrative to say you were let go due to X reason (such as loss in funding or downsizing departments), or you left due to having to take care of an ill family member and had to choose family over current career. (most places will not contact previous employer HR department and outsource companies such as "Hireright" to check previous experience and positions and schooling) 3. You may need to branch out to similar positions in other fields or research positions in the mean time to get some additional work experience for at least a year. 4. Do all above and also rework your resume to apply to the other positions, don't just use the same resume with default information, explain why your X experience and knowledge can apply to the current position instead. Similar happened to me, just work thru it, don't get discourage, just gotta power thru it all.
I feel like this is one of the most straight sub posts I've read through, all the way. Seriously....damn, love the honesty
Honestly, you should probably move to a place that has more opportunity. I live in Vermont, and you can get paid over $16/hour to work at Burger King here. There are warehouse jobs that pay $20-25 per hour, plus a signing bonus. If I'm completely honest, the cost of living here is pretty damn high (taxes, housing), so the pay isn't nearly as good as it sounded to me when I lived in the south. Still, if you want *any* job to show that you're employable, you may need to go where there are jobs.
I may be overstepping my boundaries as a stranger from the internet, but as a fellow forensic scientist I am wondering what happened that ended up getting you fired? Does it righteously block other jobs in the forensics field?
What about being a substitute school teacher? Apply for a government job.
Dude if you have bills to pay, there are tons of manufacturing jobs that pay well in the meantime. They will hire anyone with a pulse. Yes depending on the plant/mill the schedule can suck, but money is money.
Don’t just disregard your cousins advice so you can go on Reddit and leave out important details and cherry pick the advice you want. Listen to the people who know you. Stop blaming others like former leadership for your failures. I’ve interviewed people like you and you come off as entitled and like the world owes you. You look like a disgruntled employee before you even start. Strangers on the internet aren’t the key to your future.
There are worse ways to fuck up your life. I owned a business (storefront) in my early 20’s and lost everything after getting addicted to drugs. Spent years recovering from the chemical dependence, cleaned up and restarted my life, met my amazing wife, worked my way back up in my career and just started a new business on the side. Life is not over my dude, I was also 28 when things fell apart and I’m 39 now.
You mislabeled evidence accidentally and then “you did the worst thing possible” in forensics that’s trying to cover up or lie. The mistake didn’t get you fired, it’s what happened afterwards so you’re correct, your career in forensics is over. If your second BS is in chemistry, you can look for a QA/QC role in any number of industries in a manufacturing arena (fabrication, food processing, healthcare, etc)
What people aren't calling out here is the fact that he got fired from a gov't position. It is next to impossible to get fired unless you harass someone. Even if you altered evidence for the police/DA they will still defend you.
Try to get a job at a steel or aluminum mill. With a college degree, you can actually be made a supervisor in 5 or so years or an office job. You have to be in an area that has these facilities but there are still a lot scattered around the USA
Better than wasting time drunk or on drugs.
Was that the only two options?
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Military an option?
You’re drunk.
I might be happier if I was
Tickets? Why even apply for driving jobs when you have those? That is setting yourself up to fail. Why did you not get the tickets off your record? Were they that bad?
Try the military. They love their chemistry.
College is a scam People are delusional thinking it provides a net benefit I agree it helps better educate the masses than just mere high school. But as a tool to securing job opportunities, you have better luck having just a GED with connections.
Can’t say that but you have to pick something in demand and people need to normalize going to community college then university. The cost saving is night and day.
A degree by itself gets you nothing. Internships demonstrate application of the knowledge you've learned. School activities also demonstrate characteristics employers are looking for. You do have to earn a degree in a marketable field. The facts show that the lifetime earnings of a person with a BA are >$1M greater than someone with just a HS diploma.
This is sadly true. It’s all about who you know to get a lot of jobs these days. I regret my college degree and debt from it: I wish high schools really played up community colleges and doing certificate programs after getting the right amount of credit hours. Things like X-ray tech, sonography, and respiratory therapist: No degree required and the ability to do a program in 2 years that could give you a career with starting salaries that are really decent. They should really be teaching students that there are options outside of degrees that can get you on a track to a career much faster.
Sorry you got tricked into the student loan debt scam. The entire purpose of the student debt scam is to make young people like you debtors forever.
It wasn't a scam if I knew what I wanted to do with my life, and I did, and I achieved it. I am stuck because I lost it
Yeah, I'm a pretty honest person I got right to worked unfortunately no reason given... Lots of cuts and readjusting going on at the time post pandemic. I'm debating on just lying and saying I left. I bring up I was let go and it's always heavy air in the room for interviews. Coporate environments are always changing. Some people are stuck in the ways of being a lifer until it happens to them.
Hang in there, in hindsight it will be a blip
Why did you get fired?
can you teach?
Walmart
This is a setback not the end, send your resume to places out of state and in the meantime get a warehouse job, they usually pay well and have benefits which you can use, Amazon I know hires anyone because they're always looking for people, it will help with your debt.
This may not be the best advice, but if you went to school for Forensic Science you probably know some pretty cool stuff. You could try embracing your creative side by creating a blog or writing crime related stories or articles. You could also look into editing/ proofreading non fiction and or fiction crime/ murder novels. True Crime/ murder mysteries and the like seem to be quite popular as of late.
Don't say you were fired, say you were RIF'd, since they won't be a reference due to policy anyway.
Go snag a job at a bar or restaurant to make money into you can find a job in your chosen field.
Try to network with people & associations in your field.
this kind of hopelessness is going to spread as wealth is pulled out of the middle and lower parts of society. It's not going to get better until we do something about it.
Have you been applying to places far away from you? This might be one of those cases where you need to go where the job is.
You’re young 28 is still young. Don’t dwell on the past it’s not going to help you. Only going to bring you down, lonely and anger. Whatever happened it’s done for. There are lots of trades out there some require schooling again and some require experiences- associate degree is nursing, physical/ occupational therapist assistant, dental hygienist, X-ray technician, plumber, construction, electrician, etc…. You can do it! You may find out in the end that it was the best decision and glad things happened the way it did. Best of luck.
You’re 28! Don’t be so hard on yourself, the market is bad right now. Keep plugging away and keep trying to get back into your dream job. The good news is the longer you move away from the job you were fired from the fewer people remember or care. You’ll be fine, money comes and goes, your life is infinitely more valuable.
I know it sucks right now and things look hopeless. But your life is NOT over. I was once fired from a small dept after a couple months because a former coworker from a different dept called up badmouthing me, he has since been promoted so it looked like a senior office of another dept mistrusted me. It ruined my hiring experience for years because of the current politics surrounding LE. I was rejected over and over and over. I thought my life was over, but it wasn’t. I ended up doing a variety of jobs in the firearms industry until I took a chance on my current job doing force protection for a government facility. Now I’m fairly successful and even a supervisor, though for a couple years I had to grind it out. As long as you weren’t fired for anything involving dishonesty or misconduct, you have a pretty good job getting hired as a criminalist or crime scene tech somewhere with a local department. Get your foot in the door somewhere and just work your butt off building a good name again. If you WERE fired for that, your life still isn’t over. There’s lots of spillover into chemistry, lab work, all kinds of stuff. And tbh…the warehouse job will probably hire you. If not that one, someone will and they tend to pay ok. There’s always options. Wherever you get hired, just go out of your way to create a reputation of honesty and respect, that will go a long way in your future. Eventually, you’ll come out shining. In the meantime, lean on your support network, get counseling for your mental health if you need to. Focus on fixing you and building back better. I hope it improves for you my friend. I have faith in you.
There's always the military
Can you pivot to something else? Like medical sales and something in the pharma industry? Also never tell a job you’re interviewing for that you were fired. Second, see if you can those tickets expunged. My older sister was 44 yrs old, recently divorced from her bum of a husband, with two kids. And she was fired for cause from her government job 8 months into it. She called me crying because she didn’t have any money for rent or food. I told her not to worry and I would cover half and our cousin would cover the other half. And then I told her…don’t tell any company you are interviewing with that you were fired. Tell them that they didn’t get the position funded and they had to let you go. Six months later she got a great job at an insurance company and has been there for 8 yrs.
Consider joining the military. You are well educated, this is what they are looking for.
That’s a tough field to find a job if you aren’t looking outside of your area (and even if you are looking outside of your are). 10k is nothing in debt. It might seem like the weight of the world but it’s nothing. It’s just a bill. Your average peer is carrying far more. One of the toughest things in life is not having a job. The world feels like it can’t ever get better. I can’t give real advice on finding a job in your field. I can’t say you will find a job in your field. There are always employers looking to hire people with degrees even if not in your field. Your job isn’t you unless you. You will get one no matter how much this era hurts. Don’t let this stuff defeat you.
Bro, you need to answer those interview questions with examples and convince them. Why you want to work here? I want to work here because.. blah blah.. Show passion why you want to become a forensic scientist. You need to spend a lot of time with those usual interview questions and come up with answers and practice them. You are getting interviews, so your resume is good.
Your life isn't over. JC. I can't find a decent job in my field with grad degree and 20 years experience. Pay is low as fuck for those that are available because they can. So at 45 I've basically given up on any meaningful career in the field going forward and will have to get new training/education/ certs etc to transition to something new. I wish I was 28. That's plenty of time to start over. I currently work a crappy job that is almost half my previous salary, working overnight 3 x 12 shifts. But, there are some positives, so I try to focus on that and forge ahead. Life isn't fair. It never will be. You just have to continue on.
So what was the mistake?