Laid Off or Let Go? Here’s How to Tell the Difference

As a headhunter, decision-making executive, or board member, you should be able to cut through the story and get to the truth. It’s not complicated, but it is critical.

Start With the Candidate’s Responsibility: Tell the Truth

The candidate owes you one thing: honesty.
Their job is to be clear, direct, and factual about why they left their last role. No dancing around it. No vague storytelling.

If they can’t be upfront about the simplest part of their career history, they won’t be upfront when the stakes get higher inside your organization.

Then the Headhunter’s Job Begins

A competent search partner doesn’t take surface-level answers.
A top-grading interview should reveal which of the three real reasons someone leaves a role applies, including whether that exit was a genuine layoff or a quiet “please pack your things.”

This is where specialization matters. At ONWARD Headhunting, our healthcare focus keeps us tight to market dynamics, industry consolidations, and the M&A waves that create real layoffs and expose bad fits. When you live inside the ecosystem, you can spot the difference immediately.

How to Test Whether It Was a Layoff or a Let-Go

Confronting the question directly is still the best tactic. But if you want to stress-test their answer, here are the two best tells:

1. Reference Checks with Prior Bosses

Not “peers,” not “friends,” and not “someone I worked closely with.”
You want the person they reported to, with direct contact information provided by the candidate.

A trustworthy candidate makes this simple.
A shaky one starts getting creative.

2. Exit Package Details

Yes, senior executives sometimes receive payouts even when let go for performance.
But generally speaking:

• Robust package → more likely a layoff
  
  
• Minimal or no package → often a performance issue
  
  

The amount, timing, and structure of the separation agreement can tell you more than the candidate ever will.

Finally, It’s on the Hiring Committee

Internal leaders must align around a consistent narrative before moving a candidate forward. At ONWARD, we build that narrative for you, fact-based, timeline-correct, and pressure-tested.

In a world where everyone can sound polished in an interview, the truth about their exits tells you whether they’ll actually deliver or just interview well.

Need a Partner Who Can Spot Push vs. Pull Exits Immediately?

This is one of the places where retained search pays for itself.
If you want a team that knows how to separate a real layoff from a quiet firing and protect your leadership bench, we should talk.

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