Just Got Fired - In School - What Can I Do?

Mai-Kero

I just got fired from the second job I've ever had, that I had been working at for two years, for a kind of bullshit thing and I have no idea what to do. I'm applying everywhere that I can think of, but I'm worried that no one will hire me because of the firing thing. I'll still have a good reference from my manager, but does that really count for anything now?

I'm in school, and living on my own, and I've got nothing saved up and a lot of bills. My parents can't help me at all. Is there anything I can do as a stopgap measure? Apply for aid or anything?

Reckless

Talk to your Financial Aid office.
Talk to your Student Employment office.
Talk to professors you have a relationship with.

If you're in an interview, and the firing comes up, just explain the situation as professionally as possible. If you've still got a good rec from your manager, you should be fine.

Mai-Kero

Reckless wrote: »

Talk to your Financial Aid office.
Talk to your Student Employment office.
Talk to professors you have a relationship with.

If you're in an interview, and the firing comes up, just explain the situation as professionally as possible. If you've still got a good rec from your manager, you should be fine.

I'm mostly worried about just not getting interviewed. Like, people see the "Have you ever been terminated from an employment position" thing checked off and they just throw it away. Especially right now where every place has a billion people looking for jobs.

adejaan

Usually there will be a "reason for termination" blank where you might be able to make your case. Just don't make it sound snarky.

Reckless

If you go into detail on the firing here, we can help you explain it well to a future employer.

Esh

adejaan wrote: »

Usually there will be a "reason for termination" blank where you might be able to make your case. Just don't make it sound snarky.

Don't put anything in that space except "Discuss in person" or something to that effect.

Mai-Kero

Reckless wrote: »

If you go into detail on the firing here, we can help you explain it well to a future employer.

Well, I worked at a Starbucks inside Target, and, here:

I went into work one day from my GF's house, forgot to bring the right shirt, and got one from the sales floor. There were long lines, so I went to buy it at Starbucks. No one was in line, but my boss was making a drink at the moment, so I scanned the item myself (from the customer side of the counter), inserted my card, got the receipt, and went to work as usual. My boss saw everything and didn't have a problem with it, but later one of the higher-ups got statements from her and another co-worker who was sitting nearby. I was talked to about it by our Asset-Protection Manager, who told me not to worry about it, but it was a close thing so don't do it again. Two weeks later, two of the other store managers pulled me and terminated me. Personally I think they did it because I had pissed one of them off by going to one of their bosses and complaining about her when she wasn't doing her job, and then again when I threatened to call the health department because we had been without hot water for a week, which was kind of illegal, I think.

Orogogus

If it was an entry level Starbucks job and you're still in school, couldn't you just not even list it as job experience?

Feral

I would say that you were fired for a one-time violation of a policy you weren't clear on.

Describe your story with the shirt, but leave out any smacktalk about your manager or the lack of hot water. That stuff is conjecture and irrelevant. You don't want to come across as bitter.

As for what to put in the little box in applications, I'm not sure. I'm not a fan of "discuss in person" because interviewers know exactly what that means. I don't have a better idea off the top of my head, though.

Are you a full-time student? If not, file for unemployment.

Dman

Is the complaint that you paid the wrong people for the shirt by buying it at the Starbucks till instead of a target till or what?

Shitty justification for firing you on their part, but I guess some managers decided you were a whistle blower and they didn't want you around. Whistle blowers tend to get fucked, despite doing the right thing.

Are you covered by unemployment insurance till you get another job?

Esh

"Personally I think they did it because I had pissed one of them off by going to one of their bosses and complaining about her when she wasn't doing her job, and then again when I threatened to call the health department because we had been without hot water for a week, which was kind of illegal, I think."

This is why you got fired. You just gave them an excuse. Bad idea to piss off your employer like that in this economy. It's a Starbucks. You're so replaceable it's not even funny.

Just don't list the job and go get some other entry level menial position elsewhere.

Chanus

Is Virginia unique in that discussing firing between previous and prospective employers is illegal?

I'm not even sure it's legal to ask if you've been fired on an application here... but I don't know if that's a state law or not.

The only question that a prospective employer may ask a previous one is, "Would you hire him again?" and the previous employer may only say "Yes" or "No".

But again, maybe that's a VA State law.

Mai-Kero

Dman wrote: »

Is the complaint that you paid the wrong people for the shirt by buying it at the Starbucks till instead of a target till or what?

Shitty justification for firing you on their part, but I guess some managers decided you were a whistle blower and they didn't want you around. Whistle blowers tend to get fucked, despite doing the right thing.

Are you covered by unemployment insurance till you get another job?

I don't even know what unemployment insurance is. I'm 20, living on my own, going to school full time. I don't even have medical insurance.

Yeah, I'm just going to list it as "One time policy violation" or something. It was officially because I checked myself out for the item.

matt has a problem

Mai-Kero wrote: »

Dman wrote: »

Is the complaint that you paid the wrong people for the shirt by buying it at the Starbucks till instead of a target till or what?

Shitty justification for firing you on their part, but I guess some managers decided you were a whistle blower and they didn't want you around. Whistle blowers tend to get fucked, despite doing the right thing.

Are you covered by unemployment insurance till you get another job?

I don't even know what unemployment insurance is. I'm 20, living on my own, going to school full time. I don't even have medical insurance.

Yeah, I'm just going to list it as "One time policy violation" or something. It was officially because I checked myself out for the item.

That's a fireable offense in every retail job though, I can't think of a single store that doesn't forbid people from checking out their own merchandise.

Orogogus

Mai-Kero wrote: »

Dman wrote: »

Is the complaint that you paid the wrong people for the shirt by buying it at the Starbucks till instead of a target till or what?

Shitty justification for firing you on their part, but I guess some managers decided you were a whistle blower and they didn't want you around. Whistle blowers tend to get fucked, despite doing the right thing.

Are you covered by unemployment insurance till you get another job?

I don't even know what unemployment insurance is. I'm 20, living on my own, going to school full time. I don't even have medical insurance.

Yeah, I'm just going to list it as "One time policy violation" or something. It was officially because I checked myself out for the item.

I don't know; for this kind of job wouldn't any kind of policy violation, especially if it got you terminated, look worse than not having any work experience? I'd think as a 20 year old full time student you'd at least be on equal footing with a lot of other similar applicants if you had a blank history.

matt has a problem

You should cancel any non-necessary service you have too. Cable etc. Spend as little money as possible starting now, since you don't know when more will come in.

Deebaser

Mai-Kero wrote: »

Dman wrote: »

Is the complaint that you paid the wrong people for the shirt by buying it at the Starbucks till instead of a target till or what?

Shitty justification for firing you on their part, but I guess some managers decided you were a whistle blower and they didn't want you around. Whistle blowers tend to get fucked, despite doing the right thing.

Are you covered by unemployment insurance till you get another job?

I don't even know what unemployment insurance is. I'm 20, living on my own, going to school full time. I don't even have medical insurance.

Yeah, I'm just going to list it as "One time policy violation" or something. It was officially because I checked myself out for the item.

Check your state. You are probably eligible for unemployment.

kaliyama

Uh. While in any other circumstance, I wouldn't advocate this, you could try just not listing the experience at all. They're not going to poly you, and I don't think any job you're looking at right now is going to do a record search, and even if they did, i'm not sure employment would turn up - unlike a criminal record, which almost certainly would.

Viscountalpha

matthasaproblem wrote: »

Mai-Kero wrote: »

Dman wrote: »

Is the complaint that you paid the wrong people for the shirt by buying it at the Starbucks till instead of a target till or what?

Shitty justification for firing you on their part, but I guess some managers decided you were a whistle blower and they didn't want you around. Whistle blowers tend to get fucked, despite doing the right thing.

Are you covered by unemployment insurance till you get another job?

I don't even know what unemployment insurance is. I'm 20, living on my own, going to school full time. I don't even have medical insurance.

Yeah, I'm just going to list it as "One time policy violation" or something. It was officially because I checked myself out for the item.

That's a fireable offense in every retail job though, I can't think of a single store that doesn't forbid people from checking out their own merchandise.

For the record, Why didn't you wait Mai? There are DAMN GOOD reasons for not checking out your own merchandise. Didn't they tell you that?

Wezoin

matthasaproblem wrote: »

Mai-Kero wrote: »

Dman wrote: »

Is the complaint that you paid the wrong people for the shirt by buying it at the Starbucks till instead of a target till or what?

Shitty justification for firing you on their part, but I guess some managers decided you were a whistle blower and they didn't want you around. Whistle blowers tend to get fucked, despite doing the right thing.

Are you covered by unemployment insurance till you get another job?

I don't even know what unemployment insurance is. I'm 20, living on my own, going to school full time. I don't even have medical insurance.

Yeah, I'm just going to list it as "One time policy violation" or something. It was officially because I checked myself out for the item.

That's a fireable offense in every retail job though, I can't think of a single store that doesn't forbid people from checking out their own merchandise.

I can, but thats only because I work at the slackest store in the world.

But yeah, be honest about it, but don't sound bitter or give potential alternate motives.

Darkewolfe

This is now your example in future interviews for a time when you messed up/identified a weakness and worked to correct it. You learned the importance of company policy, even when it doesn't make sense/seem expedient to you. From now on you will always follow your employer's rules. (Or at least that's what you'd tell an interviewer.)

What did you get fired from the previous job for? Being fired twice IS a bit harder to play off than being fired once.

Reckless

Darkewolfe wrote: »

This is now your example in future interviews for a time when you messed up/identified a weakness and worked to correct it. You learned the importance of company policy, even when it doesn't make sense/seem expedient to you. From now on you will always follow your employer's rules. (Or at least that's what you'd tell an interviewer.)

This. Perfect.

Kyougu

I done hiring for a local video store where I was the store manager, and seeing someone fired didn't persuade me from not calling them for an interview AS LONG as the rest of the application/resume looked good.

I would ask them why they got fired during the interview, and weigh their response with everything else, so it's not the end of the world.

cooljammer00

Also, try to see if your school offers a health insurance program. They're usually pretty alright and better than nothing.

Djeet

Sucks that you got fired, but it shouldn't hurt you too much really. So long as you're upfront, indicate you were in the wrong, spin it as a learning experience, and not badmouth your employer I'd still list the experience. If you can't do that then don't list it.

Might as well file for unemployment, worst thing that'd happen is you'd get denied, and it's possible you'd be approved and get back some of those taxes you've been paying.

rockmonkey

Might consider selling some plasma while looking for a job. I don't always suggest it, but you seem pretty desperate.

hit up all the food service and retail stores for applications, despite a crappy economy these jobs are still hiring due to high turnover rates, and they're the jobs you qualify for at this point anyway.

While most of your bills are a fix cost try to eliminate as much variable cost as possible. Spend as little on things like: gas, food, entertainment, and clothes as possible until well after you have a steady pay check coming in.

And even though you're just a 20 year old college student, for gods sake man get a cushion of cash saved up, even a months worth of bills would be great.

Mai-Kero

Darkewolfe wrote: »

This is now your example in future interviews for a time when you messed up/identified a weakness and worked to correct it. You learned the importance of company policy, even when it doesn't make sense/seem expedient to you. From now on you will always follow your employer's rules. (Or at least that's what you'd tell an interviewer.)

What did you get fired from the previous job for? Being fired twice IS a bit harder to play off than being fired once.

I wasn't fired from the previous job, I moved because of school. So that's something at least.

mooshoepork

Not sure why it's different where I live, but here, you don't have to tell them shit.

I don't understand why you even would. Just say you worked at starbucks from x to z. Don't even mention getting fired.

When you apply for a job there do you have to fill out a pre-made application form?

You could always just not check it. If they called your manager (who you're on good terms with) they might not even ask if you've been fired.

Again, this is advice from where I live, so I could be totally off.

Durandal Infinity

Mai-Kero, save the loss of money for a bit you are fine when it comes to finding a new job. Hell a bunch of my friends damn near rotate jobs because they are lazy incompetent teenagers/ college students. IMHO I would not list starbucks because it does not appear favorable to me, but if you did it wouldnt be a problem. You have prior work experience to put down and of course if you had no prior experience you'd prob have the same odds. You're a young kid, firing shows character

kedinik

Get medical insurance, do what it takes.

Ideally, find a job that offers it.

Enc

Chanus wrote: »

Is Virginia unique in that discussing firing between previous and prospective employers is illegal?

I'm not even sure it's legal to ask if you've been fired on an application here... but I don't know if that's a state law or not.

The only question that a prospective employer may ask a previous one is, "Would you hire him again?" and the previous employer may only say "Yes" or "No".

But again, maybe that's a VA State law.

In Florida, you can't even say that without being liable for defamation. You cannot, under any circumstances, give any arguably negative information without being able to be sued. Generally the bad review statement is "He/she worked here from x to x" to whatever the new employer asks.

cooljammer00

kedinik wrote: »

Get medical insurance, do what it takes.

Ideally, find a job that offers it.

I think some schools offer a cheap insurance plan. I suggest he see what his school offers.