[larrys]

"virtually no answer to that question that makes you sound like a better candidate "

My first reaction to this was to think that someone could somehow turn this into a positive if they could solve this dilemma as in "No! I was fired for (insert reason) but I overcame...and now I"m ..."

But then I realized that similar to breaking up in a relationship if you reveal the reason to your new partner and say that you learned from it, and aren't the same person, all that will do is alert the other party to be especially vigilant to the particular behavior, and in fact then you are automatically disadvantaged. Everything you do is magnified greatly. "Oh boy. Here we go again just like their old job"

About the only thing I can think of (and in fact recommend this when trying to get rid of a sales person) is to produce a reason that can't happen again. Such as "I was fired because I had to take care of my sick mother. But she died and I now live alone and don't have any other relatives". Etc.