Today’s Tip: Let’s Get Fired Up!

Been fired on the job (for cause)? Yes? Then it's now time to Play Ball! Hard Ball that is...

The first thing that you should do is to call an employment lawyer. Cuz you want to hire them? No! It's cuz you want to use this leverage when you call your former company.

Ask the employment lawyer what they charge, politely thank them, and hang up. Immediately call your former company's HR department and inform them that you have contacted an employment lawyer and before you took things to the next level, you wanted to call and see if you could get the "firing" reclassified as a mutual separation, layoff, or resignation by you. After all, companies do this all the time for C-level executives. It's now your turn to take a swing at the plate and your going for the home run! Anyway, they will sometimes agree to this for fear of lawsuits, fear of their image if this gets ugly, and the fact that you are now a potential threat to the company. However, you cannot sue them for wrongful termination if you left on your own accord. Note: you will be giving up collecting unemployment insurance if you take this route. But most likely, if your were terminated (with cause), you weren't going to be able to collect unemployment benefits anyhow.

If successful in this endeavor, you will benefit by not having to click the "Have you ever been fired" box on future employment applications, you won't be worried that someone will find out about your termination, and you will feel more confident answering sticky questions during the interview about why you are no longer with your previous company. But most importantly, it will change your attitude. After all, you just took down the corporate BEAST.