Has anyone ever been let go after making too many mistakes?

17 Comments

1. AnonymousFebruary 6,2025 at 5:48PM UTC

   First step, acknowledging your mistakes. Next steps, outline what lessons you learned from it and take them with you forward. Try not to beat yourself up too much, way easier said than done but still.

   I think it's laudable that you've admitted and accepted your part in the situation. It's a lot more than most people do.

2. AnonymousFebruary 6,2025 at 8:19PM UTC

   I appreciate your comment -- I will take a step back and consider what I can do differently in the future.

3. AnonymousFebruary 6,2025 at 6:02PM UTC

   Doesn't feel good, I get it. Perhaps reflect on your qualifications and search for roles in your skill set, look for education to help you in the areas you need to improve in. Own it, which it sounds like you are. YOU are so not alone, and whether you thought prior to quit or not, this is where you're at and you need to move forward and invest in yourself. The right role is out there.

4. AnonymousFebruary 6,2025 at 8:30PM UTC

   It does suck, but not completely. I plan on reviewing my skills and gaining a few more. I will continue to be the best I can be, but if I feel stressed or anxious like before, I'll stop and access. Hopefully, the next job I have won't make me feel as overwhelmed and I'll be better prepared to handle it.

5. AnonymousFebruary 6,2025 at 6:18PM UTC

   We all make mistakes and grow from it. Find a job that you feel comfortable with. In my current role, it took me a little time to get my sea legs and I would beat myself up if I made a mistake. I worked hard at figuring out better ways to work, and I did, which makes my current role easier. It's not easy, and am stressed a lot, but it's cyclical. I offer this as a suggestion to many readers. Use the Occupational Outlook Handbook online. It can help drive you to areas you are good at, and have an interest. Giving you job title ideas. Take a look, try that out then get back out there to seek a job that fits your skills better. Could be you are not to be in the job you just left, but I guarantee you there is one out there you are good at. Keep your chin up, you will be okay.

6. ANDREA RAGGAMBIFebruary 6,2025 at 7:29PM UTC

   Maybe it just wasn’t the role for you! I remember making a lot of mistakes in a job early in my career that requires tons of details. 25 years later, I’ve gotten better at managing necessary details but I am in a career that is not focused on needing to be detailed- it’s not part of my dna so I no longer force it. Use this time to do a couple personality tests and gain some more self awareness. Good for you at least for owning it. That shows a lot of integrity which so many people don’t have! You may make a great leader one day!!

7. AnonymousFebruary 6,2025 at 8:44PM UTC

   I felt swept up when I got hired -- I'd just completed my training the month before. I have learned so much from the position but I never really "relaxed" in the role. I was constantly worrying about things, but still occasionally missing them. I hate the overuse of the term 'imposter' but it was the closest to how I felt. I don't want to be the person someone else has to prop up, so I kept this to myself. I sound great on paper but maybe I just have a hard time believing it. More self-awareness certainly can't hurt me, so thank you for suggesting it.

8. AnonymousFebruary 6,2025 at 8:19PM UTC

   I've seen it happen and have experienced it myself. Either internal (self-talk) or external (your manager) influences can have a tendency to snowball. You make a mistake, you a hard on yourself. Too hard on yourself. And mistakes continue to be made. You have a manager that's a bit of a micromanager or perfectionist or whatever and they beat you down for one mistake and it gets to the point where you are so afraid to make a mistake that you are making more.

   How to combat? The internal influencers - the negative self-talk, nip that in the bud. The external? That's tougher. I've seen it happen so much where a manager is so hard on an employee that they get so stressed and fearful of making mistakes that they continue to make them. It's sad to see and honestly don't know how to combat that.

9. AnonymousFebruary 6,2025 at 8:43PM UTC

   Have considered therapy? Maybe there are strategy that you could learn to help relieve your stress and help you not compound your anxiety over each mistake and help you see the larger picture without the fear of new mistakes.

10. AnonymousFebruary 6,2025 at 8:54PM UTC

    I speak to someone when I need to. They told me that I should consider all of my options; they said I was talented and shouldn't limit myself, but nothing is definite. Also, that brain surgery is the only profession where one cannot make a mistake.

11. AnonymousFebruary 7,2025 at 1:36PM UTC

    I can totally relate. I’ve taken jobs where I realized my skill set was not in line with the work. They did not last long it end well.

    But the one that bothered me was at a law firm where the job was simple enough but the attorney I worked for was so exacting that I was gone after four days Even if I had been able to do the job right it would’ve been soul crushing.

    I remember talking to a former colleague after I got laid off once. She laughed saying “oh yeah. I’ve been there a few times myself!” That helped.

12. WandaFebruary 7,2025 at 2:06PM UTC

    First, please know that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Every one of us on here has had that one experience, maybe two or three, when despite our best efforts, all didn't end well and we lost the job, the promotion, the marriage...or whatever. Second, give yourself that grace and look at this as time of learning and discovery. If you were consistently making mistakes, it only indicates that the job you held was not the right one for you. When you're doing what you're gifted to do, it will seamlessly click, and you won't have to try so hard to perform. Sure, there will be those moments of stress and adjustments, it just won't be all the time. And you'll know you are where you should be. So please - don't let this one hiccup define your career. Ponder, learn, and move on. Blessings to you.

13. AnonymousFebruary 7,2025 at 2:47PM UTC

    Firstly, I would say your recognition and seeking to better yourself rather than make excuses speak volumes and I am sure you will excel in your career in the future.

    Secondly, I think that how to improve depends on the types of mistakes you were making and your personal strengths and weaknesses. It might be something you can work on, but it also might be changing the type of work you do. As others have noted in their past experiences I also had jobs where I made many mistakes because it wasn’t aligned to how my brain is wired. Specifically, I am more big picture than noticing if a decimal point is off. For my current career, that’s actually beneficial because it’s not good to get bogged down in details, but for my old job (finance) it was an issue. And by the way my new career is much more interesting and better paid.

    but I’ve also been in the case of it being more internally driven, you are over anxious about errors so you can’t see the wood for the trees and you miss something you weren’t watching like a hawk. That’s more of a self coaching approach needed. Good luck!

14. AnonymousFebruary 7,2025 at 3:39PM UTC

    I've been on both sides of the situation. Some roles aren't the right fit and you start making mistakes as you're so stressed about doing everything right that you make more.

    You've accepted accountability and now it's time to move forward. Is there anything that would have helped you... more clarity from your supervisor, more experience in certain programs or recognizing there's a disconnect and finding a way to bridge that gap?

    During my last role, it was my first time in a very senior position and I admit that I fumbled. I made a lot of mistakes, owned them but I didn't have any way to change things. There wasn't anyone I could go to for help. I had friends that would listen but looking back, I still needed some guidance if problems occurred.

    I hope that helps! In a future role, read the room and address situations before they become problematic. Make sure you have clear objectives and deadlines. If you're having trouble, have a first pass done before the deadline and meet with your supervisor to make sure you're on the same page. Good luck!

15. AnonymousFebruary 7,2025 at 8:29PM UTC

    Thank you for your insight. While I admit my role in this situation, it was not completely on me. My boss did not have a technical background and my other team members' work didn't intersect. I asked for help when I needed it, but most of the time I felt it was solely up to me. I strongly believe in exhausting all avenues before asking another person to weigh in. However, having another person to regularly bounce things off of would have made a difference. Again, I thank you for your comment. In the future, I will stop and assess a situation before it's too late.

16. maria roseFebruary 8,2025 at 4:47PM UTC

    You the OP are asking how to cope with failure that you admitted was caused by your inability to reach the level of performance at the job you just lost. But you failed to realize that you actually lasted despite those failures in that job for 2 years which means you were doing something right just not consistently enough. When you are calm enough to think about it, you should review what you had done and how you were approached to discuss correcting your actions—your job from your description involved customer interaction and your interactions with others may be the reason. Not knowing what type of job it was, I can only assume that you interact better with an intimate/known person than constantly changing customers and it’s not your overall job skills but rather your customer service skills that are the key issue—in other words you don’t work well with constantly changing people interactions but can do well with a much slower interaction with people. The job you had tried to help you overcome that issue but they need employees who will satisfy the customer all the time as it is the core of their business model for that company. But there’s plenty of other jobs that utilize those same job skills without customer interaction and that’s where you should start looking for job opportunities. You are not incapable of doing a job but you need to find a job that doesn’t ask for skills that you don’t have. Don’t assume you have skills you don’t have.Good luck

17. AnonymousFebruary 8,2025 at 11:23PM UTC

    I too was laid off because of too many mistakes, I was only there close to 3 months I don’t feel as if I was given a fair chance. It’s devastating and makes you want to second guess everything you do going forward. It was also a very uncomfortable environment.