“How to explain a failure or job loss in an interview without losing credibility”
A professional failure or a dismissal often feels intimidating in a job interview. Many candidates fear being judged, disqualified, or perceived as unstable.
Yet on the Swiss job market, it is not the event itself that raises concerns, but how it is understood, processed, and explained.
Explaining a failure or dismissal is primarily an exercise in clarity, maturity, and alignment.
Here is how to address the topic with credibility, without over-justifying or undermining your value.
1. Accept the end of the experience before explaining It
One aspect that is often underestimated in interview preparation (yet absolutely essential) is the personal work done beforehand.
Before looking for the “right words” to explain a failure or dismissal, it is essential to have fully accepted the end of that experience, both professionally and personally.
Why this step is essential
As long as a past experience has not been processed, it tends to:
generate frustration or resentment,
create discomfort when talking about it,
weaken your interview narrative (defensive tone, hesitation, excessive justification).
Recruiters notice this immediately.
You cannot tell a clear story when it is still emotionally charged.
Putting words on what happened
Letting go of a professional experience does not mean erasing it. It means being able to calmly answer questions such as:
What exactly did not work?
What was no longer aligned with me?
Which skills were under-utilised?
In which environments do I truly perform at my best?
This reflection allows you to:
regain control of your narrative,
move away from a reactive or “victim” story,
turn the experience into a structuring reference point.
Closing one chapter before opening the next
On the Swiss market, recruiters look for aligned and stable profiles who can commit long-term.
A candidate who has not fully “closed the previous chapter” often, unintentionally, appears uncertain or unstable.
Accepting the end of an experience is also a form of self-respect.
Closing a chapter does not mean denying what it contained.
It simply allows you to open the next one with clarity, confidence, and credibility.
2. What to absolutely avoid in an interview
Before knowing how to explain a dismissal or failure, it is essential to know what not to do.
❌ Over-justifying yourself
Long, defensive explanations weaken credibility.
❌ Blaming the company or management
Even when facts are objective, openly criticising a former employer damages your image of reliability.
❌ Minimising or avoiding the topic
Recruiters quickly detect vague answers and inconsistencies.
❌ Sharing too many details
A job interview is neither a therapy session nor a place to settle scores.
The priority is clarity and coherence.
3. The 3-step method to explain a failure or dismissal with credibility
A strong and professional explanation is built on three simple pillars.
1 - The Facts — Neutral and Objective
Describe the situation clearly and concisely:
economic context,
reorganisation,
role/environment mismatch,
strategic shift within the company.
The goal is to help the recruiter understand the context in a few seconds.
2 - Your responsibility (awareness and maturity)
This is not about self-blame, but about demonstrating professional insight:
what you would do differently,
what you identified as an area for improvement,
what you learned about your strengths and needs.
A balanced acknowledgment of responsibility is a strong signal of professionalism.
3 - The logical next step (coherence and direction)
Clearly connect the experience to your current career project:
what you are now looking for,
why the new role is more aligned,
what you bring today with greater clarity.
The recruiter should feel that the experience strengthened your trajectory, not weakened it.
4. Examples of credible interview answers
Example 1 – Economic dismissal
“My position was impacted by a company restructuring. This period allowed me to step back and clarify the type of environment where I deliver the most value.”
Example 2 – Poor fit
“On paper, the role was a match, but in reality the scope was far from my core expertise. This experience helped me refine my professional positioning.”
Example 3 – Project failure
“The project did not achieve the expected results. I learned a great deal about prioritization and stakeholder communication, which I now apply differently.”
5. What Swiss Recruiters are really assessing
When recruiters ask about a failure or dismissal, they are not looking for someone to blame.
They want to assess:
your ability to step back,
your sense of responsibility,
your reliability,
your professional coherence.
The implicit question is always the same: “Can I trust this person in a demanding environment?”
6. Credibility comes from alignment
Explaining a failure or dismissal is not about justification. It is an exercise in professional and personal maturity.
On the Swiss job market, credibility comes from the ability to:
analyze situations with clarity,
accept outcomes calmly,
turn past experiences into a solid foundation for what comes next.
What defines your value is not what happened to you, but how you make sense of it and move forward.
When you are at peace with your professional past,
when you have accepted the end of an experience,
your message naturally becomes calm, credible, and reassuring.
Credibility does not come from a perfect career path, it comes from your ability to understand your story and build the next chapter with intention.
Want to prepare your story with clarity and confidence?
Discover Impact Interview, a focused interview preparation and simulation to structure your answers and strengthen your impact in interviews.
contact@candidateimpact.com
+41 22 506 85 62
