It is a shame that so many job interviewers treat a job interview as an interrogation rather than the friendly and human conversation it should be.
Poorly-trained interviewers not only ask intrusive and inappropriate questions of job-seekers but they also have a knack for making every question sound like an accusation.
That’s one reason why job-seekers worry about the best way to answer the interview question “Why did you leave your last job?”
They may feel that they have to defend themselves against the presumption that they did something terrible at their last job that led them to be banished forever!
If you were laid off or terminated from your last job, you might really sweat the question “Why did you leave your last job?” but you don’t need to. You never need to tell an interviewer if you were fired.
Here are ten ways to answer the question “Why did you leave your last job?”
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Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?
- I learned a tremendous amount at that job but there was no additional learning for me to get there. I was interested in pursuing my love of [whatever you’re looking to do in your next job] and that’s why I contacted your company.
- I worked way too hard at my job to have time available to job-hunt alongside my work, so when I decided I needed a new challenge I left my job to focus on my job search full-time.
- The direction of my last company shifted away from [the topic I’m most interested in] so it was the perfect time for me to leave.
- I left that job in the reorganization after their acquisition, and since then I’ve been focusing on learning more about organizations whose missions particularly speak to me, like yours.
- I finished a huge project at my last job and was very proud of our team. I realized it was the perfect stopping point for me in that organization and a great time to try something new. That’s when I learned about your firm.
- I was in Inside Sales in that job and I loved it but I was ready to move into Outside Sales and the company didn’t have any job openings, so I looked further afield.
- I was one of the first people hired into my last company and I was happy to help them grow. When they switched from a fast-growth mode to maintenance mode that was my cue to move on.
- That was a great job until I realized that I need to get more involved in [dental-floss farming, e.g.] , started to look around and found your company.
- They were making strategic changes in the company that will be very good for them but made my job much less interesting and challenging, so it was the perfect time for me to make a change.
- I wanted to find a work environment like the one you have here. I’d love to hear more about it!
