Top 10 Interview Question 7: Why Did You Leave Your Job?

7. Why Did You Leave (or Why Are You Leaving) Your Job?

By asking this question the interviewer is trying to (a) see if you will fit in, (b) see whether you will stay at the company for a suitable period of time, (c) determine if you are worth the company’s investment and (d) find out if there is anything wrong with you.
To answer this question, deal with the interviewer’s needs and state your reasons for leaving in a positive context.

Potential answer:

If you were laid off, show you were just one of many.
I joined the company because it was a startup and I would get a lot of opportunities to take on more responsibility quickly. Unfortunately, the rapid shift in the economy left us under-capitalized to properly market what ultimately will be a great product. Ultimately, for the survival of the company, management needed to reduce costs by eliminating the support team of which I was a key member.
If you were fired, show that you had a different approach than management.
I am a firm believer that all customers deserve the highest possible customer service experience even if it means being on the phone a little longer than my colleagues. My clients do not need to call back, because I take the extra time to resolve all their problems in one call. At times, going this extra mile affects my call times and the number of calls handled.
If you are a recent college graduate, show that you will fit in and that you are trainable.

• My education has provided me with valuable job skills, but more importantly, it has equipped me with the foundation to learn skills quickly throughout my career. By learning a base set of programming languages, I now know how to pick up any new language rapidly. The best part of my education? It expanded my mind and opened me up to new ways of thinking.
• By working in teams over the term of certain classes, I learned what makes teams tick and how to provide effective feedback that other members of the team can use.”

If you are simply switching companies, show that you will fit in, stick around and are worth the investment. For example:
Having originally joined XYZ out of college I realized that I would not have the opportunity to work in activities that hit their bottom line. I am now looking to work with you to use my buying and negotiating skills to cut costs within the IT department.

Worst Answer:

• I was fired.
• I am not able to work properly. 

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