Career expert reveals how you can spin getting laid off into a positive during a job interview

A career coach has revealed how to spin getting laid off into a positive during a job interview with a potential new employer.

J.T. O’Donnell, from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is the founder and CEO of Work It Daily – an online platform that helps people solve their biggest job search and career challenges.

She spoke to Good Morning America about the best way to discuss getting made redundant when applying for a new role.

J.T., who has gained more than 1.1 million followers on TikTok by sharing her insights, said it was essential to ‘get your mindset right’ and ‘give just the right amount of information.’

She spoke to Good Morning America about the best way to discuss getting made redundant when applying for a new role (stock image)

Speaking in a video, J.T. divulged how to approach an interview when questions arise about being laid off.

‘The first thing you need to do when you’ve lost your job is get your mindset right. So many people come to us and say, “I feel guilty. I feel like I did something wrong.” You did nothing wrong,’ she said.

‘Hundreds and thousands of people have lost their job in the last few months and you weren’t the only person that lost their job at your company.

‘And that data should remind you that this had nothing to do with you – it just had to do with the business.’

The expert continued: ‘Now, that being said, when you have to answer the question “why did you leave your last job or why did you get laid off?” you really want to be prepared with your answer.

‘And the first tip that I want to give you is to always respond with: “That’s a great question.”

‘So when you come into the interview, they’re going to know that you don’t have a job and so how you react to this question – that first reaction – is going to say a lot about your career confidence.’

J.T. expressed that the next trick was to make sure that you give ‘just the right amount of information.’ 

J.T. said it was essential to ‘get your mindset right’ and ‘give just the right amount of information’

She revealed that there were three key steps to perfecting this.

‘The first one is experience and in this case you’re giving them just the facts so you might say something like this, “I’m really glad you asked that question. As you know hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs lately and at my company, over 100 people lost their jobs due to a layoff and I was one of them,”‘ J.T. said.

She reiterated that people should not give an opinion on the situation and should instead bolster their point with sharing what they had learnt.

Giving an example, J.T. said: ‘In this case you would say something like, “As a result of this, I’ve learned that I should always be ready to look for a new job, that every single job is temporary.” Plain and simple.’

The entrepreneur then said to tie everything together with comments about how the situation helped with personal growth.

She said it was here that job seekers should stress their appreciation for the opportunity to ‘meet new employers’ and ‘build new skills.’

Anna Papalia, based in the US, took to TikTok to suggest job seekers lie about certain topics when talking to a potential new employer 

J.T. is not the only career expert to give interviewees a helping hand in their job search.

Anna Papalia, based in the US, took to TikTok to suggest job seekers lie about certain topics when talking to a potential new employer.

This included fibbing about where they will be in five years, ‘why’ they are looking for a job and even how they feel towards a current boss.

She also gave the green flag for people to lie about their hobbies as well as about their title, especially for those doing work not getting compensated for.

And viewers quickly flooded the comments section with praise before claiming they would ‘binging’ all of her videos to prepare for their next interview.