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Is not mentioning the firing dishonest or irrelevant?
Seems to me that relevance depends on how recently it happened. If it's within
the past five years, I would expect a prospective employer to encounter the
information and consider it relevant.
That being the case, I'd want to be the one to mention it (direct damage
control).
A relative of mine went through a similar situation. As a young, single guy he
had no problem telling a boss he disliked what he thought. When he was fired, he
didn't really care, because he went on to his own business. A few years later he
had a wife, child, and need for insurance. He was ready to forget his own
business. He had an opportunity to apply for a job with a company in the same
line of work as that which he'd been fired from. Here's what he did:
He went back to the company that fired him. He apologized for the immaturity
that had gotten him fired and asked if there was anything he could do to
minimize the damage. He didn't ask them to lie, but pointed out the maturity,
change, and ability to handle responsibility that he'd acquired since his
firing. He asked if they could note that as well as the firing when the other
company called.
Well, as it turned out, the company that fired him said that with his permission
they'd explain that he'd been fired as younger man, but that he seemed to have
grown up. They changed his status to "re-employable" rather than "do not hire."
They were true to their word and he got the job with the new company. A couple
years later he was laid off by the new company (not his fault). He went to the
company that had fired him, reapplied, and was hired back. He's still there (5
years later).
Anonymous: I vote for honesty, simple statement of fact ("I was immature, got
fired, grew up"), and building a strong case for how you've changed.
