13 Ways To Rebound From A Mistake That Got You Fired

Human beings make mistakes, so it’s natural to slip up in your career every now and then. These errors can happen due to stress, an honest oversight or simply a moment of carelessness.

Sometimes it’s possible to recover and get back on the right track, but in some cases, your mistake might get you fired. If you’ve been terminated for an error you made on the job, it’s now time to focus on making up for it and showing future employers you’ve learned from your experience.

For expert advice, a panel of Forbes Coaches Council members explain how to bounce back from a fireable offense and rebuild your professional reputation.

1. Take Accountability

Accountability is essential. An employee who was terminated for a mistake might be well-served by being proactive when asked about their reason for being terminated. Provide a well-crafted narrative that indicates you were separated due to an error and indicates ownership of your mistake, that you took away key learnings from the experience and how you would handle such a situation in the future. – Scott Singer, Insider Career Strategies

2. Ask Your Employer How They Will Talk About It

When termination takes place, it is critical to ask your former employer what will be said if they are called. Often, terminations are corporate decisions and not supported by all management, so it can be possible to secure a positive reference and a letter of recommendation, effectively crushing the issue. When you know what will be said and have a reference, termination won’t hold you back. – Laura DeCarlo, Career Directors International

3. Tell The Truth

Take responsibility and acknowledge the negative impact that was caused based on your actions or inaction. Be humble and articulate what you’ve learned throughout the process. Honesty is always the best policy, and if you can demonstrate how you have grown both personally and professionally as an employee or leader, these hard-earned lessons can be of immense value to you and your future employer. – Debbie Ince, Executive Talent Finders, Inc

4. Get References From Your Supporters

Some employees have steered a successful tenure before they were fired. Internal shifts might change the climate or personal issues might affect employee decision making. Remember that this mistake doesn’t define your entire career or tenure. One way to communicate that it was an isolated issue to your future employer is to get good references or recommendation letters from others in the company. – Rosa Vargas, Authentic Resume Branding & Career Coaching

5. Apologize To Your Former Employer

Before you jump into a new opportunity, start with a formal and honest apology to a previous employer. If it is possible, do it face to face. Do not use excuses, but own the mistake you made. Show genuine remorse. With a new employer, be honest and say what you have learned from that experience. You might express what you would do if a similar situation appeared in the future. – Inga Bielińska, Inga Bielinska Coaching Consulting Mentoring

6. Demonstrate Humility, Courage, And Discipline

Fireable offenses are complex, fear-ridden and lead to distrust. To rectify the mistake, employees must be vulnerable and act from a foundation of character. The three competencies of humility, courage, and discipline provide a positive foundation to transform the situation, support validation of employee value and, possibly, retain their employment. – Lori Harris, Harris Whitesell Consulting

7. Be Brief And Be Done

I have hired a couple of people who had previously been fired. In both cases, they handled it more or less as follows. They let the subject come up naturally. Once it came up, they were clear in describing the situation, took ownership of their role and how they could have handled it differently. Then they shared their key learnings and stopped talking. Enough said. – Susan Gellatly, BenchStrength Coaching LLC

8. Understand The Blind Spots That Led To The Mistake

Mistakes are often made from one’s blind spots. Hiring a coach to help uncover your blind spots is an essential assurance to the next employer that you are serious not to repeat the same mistake. Even if the mistake is not stemming from a blind spot, a coach can bring greater self-awareness and insights into your patterns of thinking and decision making that could have resulted in the mistake. – Melinda Fouts, Ph.D., Success Starts With You

9. Take Action That Shows You Have ‘Failed Forward’

Share with the next employer that you have found yourself fail forward since the time you made the mistake. Specifically, tell them that you are a “growth mindset” person and the lessons learned from such a severe offense were actually hardwired in your brain so you’ve become a more well-rounded employee and even have more drive to excel and redeem. Show them you indeed started such a journey with a plan. – Amy Nguyen, Happiness Infinity LLC

10. Share The Details And Impact Of Your Mistake

Mistakes are tainted as negative, but in truth, all strengths are built from mistakes. One way to reassure a future employer you’ve learned from your mistake is to own it. Be prepared to share in detail where you’ve made a mistake and illustrate its effects. Then make sure to highlight what you would do differently going forward to strive toward the common goal for the business. – Whitney Mullings, Whitney Mullings

11. Show You Won’t Repeat Your Mistake

As an employer, I look for the person to accept responsibility and then show the actions they’ve taken to correct the mistake and learn from it. It’s important to explain what you’ve chosen to do so that you don’t repeat the mistake. Showing that you’ve taken steps not to repeat it is the most proactive action you can take. – Jessica Hernandez, Great Resumes Fast

12. Turn It Into A Competitive Advantage

The mistake deemed by your former employer to be worthy of termination, when presented correctly, can translate to a real competitive advantage when interviewing for your next job. Conveying your experience, what you learned from it and how hiring you will keep them from making the same costly mistake and others like it is a value proposition the savvy employer will not pass up! – Kevin Leonard, Emerald Bay Performance

13. Prove You’ve Grown Beyond Your Limitations

Show the new employer the work you have done to learn from the past situation. If you have developed a new process, gotten additional professional training or even sought personal therapeutic assistance, be open about your efforts to grow beyond the limitations that caused the previous incident. Just saying it will never happen again is not always enough—exhibit how you are walking the talk. – Tonya Echols, Vigere