What if you go on vacation and come back to learn that you’ve lost your job? I’ve seen that happen before, especially when the time off stretched into months.

In one such case, a student had booked time off from her job to visit her relatives overseas. While she was away, her work place got a new manager who apparently had scheduled her to come in to work the week before she was to return. When she returned from vacation she learned of this shift change. She called her work place to let them know that, as per the staff schedule she was away during that time. But the manager would hear nothing of it, and terminated her.

The first thing you must be aware of is your rights. Make sure that you have read the company policy on what kinds of things can result in termination. If you have been given several warnings that you have violated company policy, then the next likely step is that you could lose your job.

If the job you lost was your first job or if you have been working for only a couple of years, do you put that job on your resume? Yes, if you have gained relevant skills and experience pertaining to future jobs you are applying for. And if the interviewer asks why you left, be honest. If you had deserved being fired, state the lesson you learned from the experience. If the firing was unjust, then describe the situation briefly without assigning blame.

Do share your thoughts. How would you advise a young person on protecting herself from job termination?