Why are you leaving your job?

Interview Insights

By David Lawsonyou are fired
At some point, you may be asked this question during a job interview. If so, it shows a bit of laziness on the part of your Interviewer because it means he or she really didn’t properly prepare for your interview, according to Pat Ferdinandi, an author, blogger, speaker, and trainer.
If you are asked this question be very careful how you answer it, Ferdinandi warns. Make sure you do not bad-mouth your past employer. You never know if someone from your former firm has a best friend, or relative, working at the company where you are applying for a new job, she continued.
What sort of response is the Interviewer trying to elicit by asking this question?
The Interviewer really wants to uncover whether you are going to be a problem employee, says Pat. He or she is listening carefully for certain things, such as:

  • Did you have disagreements with other employees at your present job?
  • Are you a trouble maker?
  • Did you disagree with executive or managerial changes?
  • Are you a team player?
  • Are you targeted to be fired?  If so, why? Will we have the same problems with you?
  • Are you greedy or arrogant or both?
  • Do you expect more from this job then the company will be able to offer you?

Possible responses to this question
If your answer is benign, Pat recommends you go ahead and answer the question. Here are a few examples of possible answers:

  • “The company doesn’t allow spouses to work together and (the firm’s) reorganization is causing this conflict.”
  • “Our group is moving to another state and (my wife and I, or, my husband and I) would like to stay close to our family here.”
  • “My department is being outsourced (at) the end of the year.”

Ferdinandi recommends trying to turn the interview question around on the Interviewer, even if you think you have a good, benign answer and use your response to this question to show you did your homework, she says. Sound excited about the possibilities. For example, you might say something like, “Why wouldn’t anyone leave (his or her) current job to take this opportunity?”
Follow up with the reason you applied to work at this company and take this particular position. Based on your Google search, mention all the great things you know about the company, the Hiring Manager, the position itself, and its responsibilities.
If pressed, Pat recommends you follow up with this statement: “I do not see these possibilities at my current job.” Above all, be honest, positive, and prepared.
Ferdinandi is a YouTube Marketing Strategist who operates a website www.viditude.com, to help owner of small businesses, and others, with their YouTube marketing/videos.
She teaches people how to: lose their fear of public speaking, determine what they want to talk about in their videos, and helps them learn the mechanics of uploading a video.
In addition to her video expertise, Pat has also written a book entitled: Your Video Playbook, How to Demonstrate Your Value Through Video.
She is the author of multiple blogs, has written many articles, and, has been published by: McGraw-Hill, the American Management Association (AMA), and Addison-Wesley. If you are interested in any of Pat’s services and want to contact her directly please send an email to PatF@viditude.com.

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