A few years ago I was the victim of a motor vehicle accident. Due to my injuries my medical was temporarily suspended, and as a result I was fired from my job.

Obviously this is not something I would not want to discuss in an interview for a new job, but I'm not one to tell lies either as I believe honesty is the best policy.

How would you handle this when asked in an interview "Why did you leave company A"?
Will employers be understanding to this? 1000's of people are injured in accidents every day.

Maybe I am naive or am missing something, but why can't you just say that?

You were injured, couldn't hold a medical and therefore couldn't perform the duties of your job.

If your former employer would back that statement I can't see how it hurts you, unless there is something otherwise sinister like poor performance that played into it.

I dont hire pilots but I interview and hire Engineers and Scientists and exaggeration or lying is an instant end of an interview.

You answered your own question. Tell the truth besides hardly your fault unless you caused the accident due to negligence in which case it may be seen in a bad light, but either way come clean.

Was your motor vehicle accident alcohol related? If it was just a regular car accident and not a result of alcohol or extreme speed I would imagine every company would be fine with explaining how you got fired. Now if it was a result of bad choices if you can show that you have grown up / changed as a result I bet they would respect that as well.

JAHinYYC wrote:Maybe I am naive or am missing something, but why can't you just say that?

You were injured, couldn't hold a medical and therefore couldn't perform the duties of your job.

If your former employer would back that statement I can't see how it hurts you, unless there is something otherwise sinister like poor performance that played into it.

I'm just hesitant to say "I was fired". When someone tells me they were fired from a job, it's usually because they did something very bad.
Nothing sinister going on, but the former employer is no longer in existence.

fish4life wrote:Was your motor vehicle accident alcohol related? If it was just a regular car accident and not a result of alcohol or extreme speed I would imagine every company would be fine with explaining how you got fired. Now if it was a result of bad choices if you can show that you have grown up / changed as a result I bet they would respect that as well.

God no! I was hit from behind. The trunk of my car ended up in the back seat. haha

Like JAH said, consider a better way of phrasing the conversation.

"While working at Company X, I was involved in a serious car accident that was not my fault. Due to the extent of my injuries my Medical was suspended, and because I could not work, the company had to let me go. Fortunately I made a full recovery and was able to continue my career"

Big Pistons Forever wrote:Like JAH said, consider a better way of phrasing the conversation.

"While working at Company X, I was involved in a serious car accident that was not my fault. Due to the extent of my injuries my Medical was suspended, and because I could not work, the company had to let me go. Fortunately I made a full recovery and was able to continue my career"

Thanks, that's exactly what I will say.

You can be fired because your medical gets temporarily suspended through no fault of your own?? Scary! Isn't that what disability leave is for? I've had plenty of injuries where I couldn't work. I've never worried about being fired for it. We're human therefore susceptible to injuries. You don't scrap a good airplane because it has an oil leak......you fix it and put it back into service.

LocCap wrote:You can be fired because your medical gets temporarily suspended through no fault of your own?? Scary! Isn't that what disability leave is for? I've had plenty of injuries where I couldn't work. I've never worried about being fired for it. We're human therefore susceptible to injuries. You don't scrap a good airplane because it has an oil leak......you fix it and put it back into service.

It was a big surprise to me too, but do you know what's really scary? ....Having $1000's in medical expenses with no income or health benefits because you were fired.
What happened was not only contrary to the Canada Labour Code, it's was downright inhumane IMO.
I should have fired the union and gone with the Labour Board, but hindsight is 20/20.

Big Pistons Forever wrote:Like JAH said, consider a better way of phrasing the conversation.

"While working at Company X, I was involved in a serious car accident that was not my fault. Due to the extent of my injuries my Medical was suspended, and because I could not work, the company had to let me go. Fortunately I made a full recovery and was able to continue my career"

Very good advice!

There are so many other words to use than just "fired" and bpf showed you the way.

If your new prospective employer can't handle that you were 'fired' because of that, s/he isn't worth working for anyway.

I wouldn't say it as soon as you answer the phone/enter the interview room. But don't hold it back either.

I had to do it before for similar reasons, and it worked out for me. It's easier to tell the truth, then to try to remember a lie for your whole time at said company.

Just don't say fired, thats a Donald Trump thing. Say you were 'let go'.

Cheers,

TPIR

Hey,

I was in almost exactly your shoes recently. I was off work due to a MVC which was not my fault. I did get asked in the interview about it.

I was asked how I could have mitigated the risk, what the accident chain was on my end and how I caused the accident. They also asked if the accident was a reflection of my flying in the aircraft. I'm not kidding.. They dug very deep into this.. I thought I was prepared to answer the questions but in the end I wasn't I would recommend talking to an interview prep person.

Keep in mind, my accident was a rear ender where the back was relocated up to the drivers seat. I was hit by a driver on a cell phone who plowed straight into the back of my vehicle while I was stopped at a traffic light. The other driver was 100 percent at fault asper the police etc. I told the panel this as well..but they didn't accept that answer.

The first time I was asked that, this was basically my response:


I get better at answering it over time.

Annapurna wrote:Hey,

I was in almost exactly your shoes recently. I was off work due to a MVC which was not my fault. I did get asked in the interview about it.

I was asked how I could have mitigated the risk, what the accident chain was on my end and how I caused the accident. They also asked if the accident was a reflection of my flying in the aircraft. I'm not kidding.. They dug very deep into this.. I thought I was prepared to answer the questions but in the end I wasn't I would recommend talking to an interview prep person.

Keep in mind, my accident was a rear ender where the back was relocated up to the drivers seat. I was hit by a driver on a cell phone who plowed straight into the back of my vehicle while I was stopped at a traffic light. The other driver was 100 percent at fault asper the police etc. I told the panel this as well..but they didn't accept that answer.

I guess it is a good thing they didn't hire you then, if that reflects the intelligence of the company... Looks like you dodged that bullet

Annapurna wrote:I was hit by a driver on a cell phone who plowed straight into the back of my vehicle while I was stopped at a traffic light. The other driver was 100 percent at fault asper the police etc. I told the panel this as well..but they didn't accept that answer.

Clearly, the correct answer was to tell the panel that you no longer stop at traffic lights. It's called learning from experience, and is what separates safe pilots from unsafe ones.