Often times applicants and job seekers are asked this questions by recruiters out of the blues….well not exactly out of the blues if you’ve prepared ahead of your interview. The main point however is that more often than not employers want to know why you left your last employer and how you answer the why did you leave your last job is a big determinant of you getting the job or not.
One of the most obvious reasons employers ask this questions in interviews is in order to find out if you’re a good employee or a bad employee. But basically hiring managers ask this questions in an interview setting so as to ascertain if you have a good reason for leaving your job or jobs, if you are running away or pursuing a new opportunity, if you can leave employment on good terms with others and if you value work and have a sense of obligation.
If you know all these then you can incorporate these features into your answer without lying.
Below are different ways employers might phrase this question.
Why are you leaving your current job?
Why are you looking for a new job?
Why are you looking for a new opportunity?
Why did you leave a particular job?
Can you explain your career gap?
Why did you leave after two days – weeks – months?
Why were you fired?
They all pretty much mean the same thing, some more direct than others but basically have the same foundation.
Below are some really acceptable reasons you can give for leaving your previous job
You wanted to switch to another industry.
The company you worked for didn’t offer enough professional development opportunities.
You wanted an increase in pay.
The job turned out different from its original description.
The company went out of business.
You wanted to pursue a new challenge.
Corporate layoffs left you out of job.
You decided to move to a different city.
The job made it difficult for you to maintain a work-life balance.
You’ve maxed out your promotion possibilities.
You found a more exciting opportunity.
Family or personal reasons meant you had to leave a job.
Finally when answering the why did you leave your last job interview question or any other interview question for that matter avoid lying and victimizing yourself, instead focus on the productive things you did while unemployed then expertly swing the conversation back around to why you’re right for this particular job.
Chinonso Kenneth Onwurah is an SEO trained web content writer, copywriter and research writer with over three years experience in helping websites and small business achieve content goals and Google ranking. Chinonso has an Msc in Political Economy and Development studies. he is also detail and result oriented.
