By: Paul Croteau
Date: March 14, 2010

According to a recent research report by careerbuilder.com, up to 19% of workers plan to leave their jobs in 2010. Still others state they are only willing to stay with their current firm for a minimum of six months. The top reasons for switching careers include moving for more interesting work, higher salaries, career advancement, greater personal and professional stability and/or a return to school.

At the same time, interviewers frequently ask their candidates why they were planning to leave their current job and/or why they have left a previous job. As you might expect, most candidates struggle with their answer. And, if they aren’t careful, before they know it they are speaking ill about their current and/or former employer. This then doesn’t bode well for the candidate. So, what could one say?

First of all, when you are preparing to leave for a new job, you need to really understand yourself, your interests, your motivators and your skills. As noted above, the most frequent reason for people leaving a job is for more interesting work. To say it another way, I would suggest that some of your skills are probably not being utilized to the extent that you would like. This is particularly true for people who have several skill sets and are more of a generalist. In many cases as well, there is just no room for promotion and an employee is forced to leave an organization in order to gain career momentum.

So, how should a candidate answer this tricky question? Here are three examples for your review.

Questions: Why are you preparing to leave your job? Why did you leave your job?

Answer:

•    I am the type of person who thrives on challenge and I find that my job role is becoming too routine;
•    I recognized the challenge in your job ad and it appeals to me;
•    I want to grow my breadth of experience and your position appeals to me.

However, a greater challenge is the situation where the candidate was terminated from their last job. Now, a termination can happen for a number of reasons. Most often termination occurs when there wasn’t what is called a “cultural fit”. This means that the candidate’s work style or personality didn’t fit with the work environment and/or, in many cases, there was conflict with a manager. There is no reason to be ashamed of being terminated, it happens, it is just a fact of life. That being said, the potential new employer will certainly be observing how you handle it. Therefore, here are a few examples of how to handle this sticky question.

Question: Why did you leave your last job?

Answer:
•    There was a difference in philosophy between myself and my direct supervisor;
•    My position was eliminated due to restructuring;
•    The job role changed and my skills were no longer suitable.

Another tricky question that challenges candidates is how to address the issue of being “off work” or “out of work” for some time. Once again, individuals tend to feel embarrassed when they have not been able to land a job right away. And, once again, the potential employer is much more interested in how you handle this situation rather than the fact that you might have been out of work for some time. Therefore, it is important to feel positive, maintain your high level of self esteem and to address the issue head on. The following few examples will help you to meet the challenge of this sticky question.

Questions: You seem to have been on the job market for some time…why is that? When did you leave your last job? What has taken you so long to get a job?

Answer:

•    It is very important to me that I land the right job for my skills, so I want to take time to do that;
•    I have looked at several opportunities, but I very much wanted to find the right fit for my skills and work style.

While approximately 20% of employees appear to be planning to leave their current job sometime in 2010, they must also take some time to plan for their next interview. This is where the hiring decision is made and you must make a good impression no matter why you are leaving and/or have left your current job.


Source: Hitting the Road, Canadian HR Reporter, February 22, 2010

Research and Review by 6P Marketing


Paul Croteau, B.Comm., CMA, FCMA is a partner with Waterhouse Executive Search Partners, a Canada-wide executive search firm. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 204-934-8821.