Being terminated from a job, especially one you love working for can feel overwhelming. Worse still, it can make you feel like your future with the company has ended permanently. However, that’s not always the case, as you can get rehired by a company even after being terminated.
You can get rehired after being terminated. However, you must first understand the company’s rehiring policy to know how to reapply for a position with them. The process will likely take a lot of time and effort. Unfortunately, your chances of being rehired are extremely low if you were terminated for an unforgivable offense.
In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about getting rehired after being terminated. In addition, you’ll discover what the process looks like and the pros and cons that come with it.
Let’s get started.
Can You Get Rehired After Being Terminated?
Yes, you can get rehired by a company that terminated you in the past. However, you must understand that the process isn’t so straightforward and will require a lot of patience and effort.
The reason this process is challenging is that rehiring someone that was terminated isn’t a simple thing for a company to do. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, so companies must carefully handle things like this on a case-by-case basis.
While it is possible to work in the same company again someday, there is no guarantee that you’ll get the same role you had before. Instead, your return to the organization might happen in a different role as part of a new department.
Whatever the case, you must take some time to consider whether or not it’s worth the time and effort trying to get rehired by the company that terminated you.
As mentioned earlier, the process will require a lot of effort and patience, which might be better spent on pursuing a job elsewhere.
However, if you’re sure this is what you want, keep reading through the rest of this guide. The following section will help you understand what you need to do to get rehired.
How To Get Your Job Back After Being Terminated
The process of getting your job back after being terminated involves several steps. However, those steps will differ depending on whether you were rightfully terminated or wrongfully terminated.
Here’s a closer look at what the process would look like for you in both cases:
Getting Rehired If You Were Rightfully Terminated
Let’s suppose you were terminated for a justified reason. In that case, the steps you’ll take to try and get your job back are the following:
- Understand rehiring policies: Before you devote time and effort to getting your job back after you were rightfully terminated, you must first understand the company’s rehiring policy. If they have a policy, it likely states how long you must wait before they can even consider giving you another job. You can use that time to strengthen your credentials.
- Collect recommendations: When you try to get rehired, it’s best to collect up-to-date professional and personal recommendations. Some of the most important ones you can get are from ex-colleagues still working for the same organization. That way, the hiring manager will have one or more ‘insider’ opinions on your value as an employee.
- Demonstrate your work results: Another way to show your value to the company is by demonstrating work-related results. These can be the results you achieved before you were terminated and also from when you worked somewhere else after. When you prove your results, you show your objective value as a returning employee to the company.
- Highlight your benefits: Lastly, you can make a case for rehiring you more appealing by highlighting your unique benefits. For example, you can highlight that you require little or no training if they rehire you because you’re still familiar with the company’s processes.
Out of all the steps above, the most important is understanding the company’s rehiring policies. When you’re familiar with them, you can put yourself in the best position possible to get rehired by the company that terminated you.
Getting Rehired If You Were Wrongfully Terminated
Getting your job back is significantly different if you were wrongfully terminated. That’s because you have to prove that the termination was done unfairly so you can have them reinstate you in the role you lost.
Here are the steps you must take when attempting to get rehired after a wrongful termination:
- Collect evidence: First and foremost, you must gather as much evidence as possible to prove that you were wrongfully terminated. That evidence will include any written communications (e.g. emails) and feedback from former colleagues willing to speak up on your behalf.
- File a claim: Next, you’ll want to file a claim with the relevant government agency. You should consult your state labor office about this matter, as they can guide and advise you on matters surrounding wrongful terminations. The laws governing wrongful terminations differ depending on your state, so consulting the labor office is crucial.
- Get a lawyer: Another important step to take when trying to get rehired after a wrongful termination is to consult a lawyer. As you read above, the laws on this issue are different state-by-state. While the labor office can be incredibly helpful, it’s even better to have a lawyer who will fight on our behalf and navigate the legal aspects of your case.
The process for getting rehired is significantly more challenging if you were wrongfully terminated. That’s because the decision to rehire you isn’t just with the company that fired you but also involves government bodies and laws.
Still, if you believe you lost your job unfairly, this approach might be worth your time and effort.
What Would Discourage Employers From Rehiring You?
Earlier, you read that the first and most important step to getting rehired by your former employer is understanding their rehiring policies. Another reason that step is so critical is that the policies will likely tell you if you have no chance of being rehired at all.
More specifically, companies with rehiring policies will feel strongly discouraged from even considering rehiring you if you were terminated for one or more of the following reasons:
1. Trust Violation
A company will most likely refuse to rehire you if you’ve violated their trust in the past. For example, perhaps you were terminated because you stole company property or failed to protect company secrets.
In that case, the company might have permanently blacklisted you from their hiring. As a result, they won’t consider you for a position no matter how much time has passed.
2. Illegal Activities
Committing illegal activities on the job is another reason why a company could refuse to rehire you after termination. Such activities put the company’s reputation at risk, so it’s likely they won’t ever consider you for a job with them ever again.
3. Harassment Or Violence
Companies will often refuse to rehire anyone who was terminated on the grounds of harassment or violence.
Aside from the threat to the company’s reputation, welcoming such a person back into the organization would make other employees uncomfortable or unhappy with that decision.
As a result, the company that terminated you will likely choose to avoid that problem entirely by refusing to rehire you.
4. Poor Performance
Unfortunately, your chances of getting rehired are extremely low if you have a long history of poor performance. If that’s why you were terminated, trying to prove that you’ve changed can be quite challenging.
Some companies will have policies in place that prevent people from being rehired for that reason.
5. Attendance Issues
Similar to the reason above, a history of attendance issues will strongly discourage the employer from rehiring you after termination.
That could include a history of coming late to work, not showing up at all, or going missing from work without an explanation.
Benefits Of Reapplying To An Employer That Terminated You
Considering everything you’ve read in the previous sections, you might wonder if it’s worth even trying to get rehired by the employer that terminated you.
While that’s something you have to decide for yourself, you must know that there are benefits to returning to a former employer.
Here are some benefits to consider when deciding to reapply to a company that terminated you:
- Better opportunities: As a job seeker, your top priority is to seek out better opportunities. Sometimes, that better opportunity could be with the company that terminated you quite some time ago. A better role with better pay is a good enough reason to reapply to a company where you once worked.
- Personal growth: Suppose you were terminated quite some time ago. In the months or years that have passed, you could have learned from your mistakes and grown personally and professionally. Reapplying to your former employer could be a chance to prove that you’ve grown, both to yourself and the people who terminated you.
- Former colleagues: Lastly, getting rehired by a place that terminated you gives you a chance to work with your former colleagues again. That’s a win-win situation for everyone, especially if you were part of an effective team. You, the team, and the company benefit from your return to the organization.
As you can see, there are some concrete benefits to returning to a company you once worked for, even if they terminated you in the past. With enough time and growth, your return can be beneficial to everyone involved.
Drawbacks Of Reapplying To An Employer That Terminated You
Every choice you make in life will have its fair share of pros and cons or benefits and drawbacks. The same is true with getting rehired by a company after being terminated.
So, before you choose to pursue a rehiring, you must consider whether or not getting the job would be good for you.
Here are a few drawbacks to consider of reapplying to a place that terminated you:
- No growth: Let’s assume that you get rehired by the organization. Finding yourself in the same position you once occupied might mean that you’ve achieved little or no growth. For example, the role might be too familiar to you with no chance of upward mobility. In that case, you might have been better off seeking a different job elsewhere.
- Negative reputation: Depending on the reason you were terminated in the past, you might return to the same company with a negative reputation. That reputation could make it more challenging to do your job the second time around, especially if it leads to friction with your co-workers.
- Old habits: Lastly, rehiring at your old job will return you to an environment that wasn’t the best for you. That can quickly lead you to readopt old habits, perhaps even the ones that got you terminated in the first place.
Should You Try To Get Rehired By A Company That Fired You?
Considering the process, the pros and cons, and the challenges involved, should you try to get rehired by a company that terminated you?
The answer isn’t straightforward, as it depends on your individual situation.
For example, has enough time passed since you were terminated? And throughout that time, did you learn from your mistakes and grow both as a person and a professional?
More importantly, have you thoroughly considered the pros and cons of this decision?
When you take the time to answer these kinds of questions, you can decide for yourself whether or not getting rehired by a company that fired you is a wise choice.
Commit to whichever choice you feel is best, and you’ll surely end up in a better position eventually.
Final Thoughts
Getting terminated by your employer can be quite shocking, especially if you’ve imagined yourself staying with them for a long time. However, a termination isn’t necessarily the end of the road for your career with them.
You can be rehired by a company that terminated you if you didn’t commit an unforgivable violation. To maximize your chances, understand their rehiring policy and make yourself the best candidate possible.
That could mean taking time to learn from your mistakes and develop more strengths before reapplying to the same company.
