Why am I changing careers again? Reflections on your mindset.
When an interviewer asks you “why are you leaving your current job?”, candidates are at a crossroads - it speaks to your good character when you don’t negatively reflect on your current employer but there are reasons for leaving that you should address. In part 2 of this series "why am I changing careers again", we delve more into how to prepare for this line of questioning, and why answering this question is so important for your interviewer, but in this part we’ll be focusing on how you handle this question in the moment.
The CEO of Interview Mastery Michael R. Neece provides step by step guidance on this unique line of questioning and how to best prepare and answer it:
Be Succinct:
- Describe the reason for your departure directly and succinctly. Do not go into great detail unless they ask. The longer you speak on the subject the more suspicious the interviewer becomes. For example: “My company merged with another firm and the new management wanted to bring in their own team. Prior to the merger I was recognized as a top performer at the company.”
Provide Evidence:
- You could then say you’re happy to provide references from the former company to verify your top performance. Demonstrating a confidence to provide references is a powerful way to ensure you are believed.
Tell the Truth:
- Stay with the facts of what happened, what you did, how you felt and what you learned. Interviewers want to believe you were not the problem and understand how you handled yourself.
- Post-Interview Hack! Tell this story again in a second and third interview, where possible. This crucial piece of information is the drive force behind your reason to move jobs and join a new company. It’s a vital storytelling device and sets your mindset up in the mind of your new hire.
What Did You Learn:
- This is an opportunity to describe what you learned and how you will handle things differently in the future. Describing what you learned positively demonstrates that you are a life-long learner and you look on the positive side of most scenarios.
Be Positive:
- State the facts in a positive manner. Any negativity you express will only reflect negatively on you. If you’re angry about the situation, you’ll need to process that anger in another manner before you interview. The interview is the last place to express anger.
Make No Assumptions:
- Do not speculate on the motives or feelings of the other people involved in the events of your departure. Focus only on the facts of what happened and what you did.
Eye Contact::
- Look the interviewer in the eyes when responding. This will convey your confidence, communicate that this is the truth and that you have nothing to hide.
Conquer Your Fear:
- Write out your response and practice saying it. First, practice responding out loud to yourself, and then practice saying it to another person. Ask a friend to practice interviewing you. Practice until you are comfortable with the words you say and how you deliver them.
Why are you changing your job? A simple 3 part answer.
A good rule of thumb when answering this question is to confer eagerness to learn, development channels, and where you want to be. If it helps, break your answer into those three parts to frame your answer. For example:
“As you can see in my last role, I was internally promoted every 18 months, and I want to keep progressing (eagerness to learn). Your company has an envious internal development channel for talent (development channel) which will help me get to my goal of running my own sales team within 5 years (where you want to be).”