When actively applying for jobs, every employer you come across will ask you this one question: Why are you leaving your current company? It’s common to expect such a question because it allows the employer to gain a quick understanding about you in more ways than one. This is surely not a question to be underestimated as your answer carries the chance to either heighten or lessen your impression with your new pursuit. This simple curious query allows hiring managers to assess if there is any issue in your work ethic, work attitude, level of maturity and resilience. When making a career move, every candidate has a “good reason”, however not everyone would make the same choice under similar circumstances. Since your choice may reflect your personality, the answer to the question may not be as important as the thought process behind it. Obviously, it is good to practice honesty in an interview, and if you’re an earnest worker, that will be your go to approach. But it is wise to make calculated decisions while also maintaining your integrity. For example, you might be leaving your previous company because the boss is an extremely difficult person to work it. Just downright nasty! You can, of course, share this information with your new employers. But what’s the right way to go about it? It seems easy to just be as dismissive as possible about your current company but for all hiring managers, this will be a red flag as it will immediately discredit your reputation in front of your new employers. Good, structured and positive responses can help catapult you right into the eligibility criteria for the role, bringing you one step closer to attaining your new job. It’s also helpful to understand that when a potential employer wants to know the reasons for leaving your job, it has much more to do with the advantages of a new job rather than negatives about your present job.
If you’re on the road to recruitment (searching for a new job), it’s advised to be well prepared with a solid answer for this common interview question, and a strategy for answering it as well. Keep on reading to better equip yourself with some useful knowledge you need to ace the investigation in any interview.
What your new employer is trying to find out:
When an interviewer asks you why you are leaving your current job, they are trying to figure out:
- If you are leaving involuntarily;
- If you are leaving because of personal issues;
- If you are leaving on good terms with your current employer;
- If you have unrealistic expectations that are difficult to fulfill;
- Your career path and how the opportunity might align with your job scope.
Your new employers are very interested in trying to gauge what your motives are when applying for a new job because every single employer out there understands that no matter what the size of the organization or whatever the designation, anyone leaving at any time causes a temporary setback to the company. They want to explore your intentions so it’d be wise to be careful with them. Present yourself in a positive light. Be truthful about your reasons but be logical about what you choose to share with the hiring managers.
Positive justifications behind leaving current employer:
Below, you can find a list of suitable and relatable reasons that you can share with your employer for leaving your current job. These will help to reflect you in a more positive and harmonious light:
- Want to broaden learning horizons,
- Ready to take on more challenging responsibilities,
- Need for exciting company culture to thrive and grow,
- Have achieved maximum progress in current role,
- Quest for job development.
Of course, one could be leaving their job either due to one or all of these reasons at the same time. Therefore, it is important to compose your answer in an honest manner that illuminates the crux of your search and helps your potential employers acknowledge your justifications positively. Mostly you will find that when you evaluate your reasons for finding new work, you are compelled by a number of reasons to do so, some of which are already highlighted above.
What NOT to say:
Adopting negativity will not fare well for you. It is crucial to realize that your employer is only trying to assess your suitability with this question; not be your therapist. While you may feel prompted to divulge into a series of stories and experiences from your previous company, your new employers will only take this as an opportunity to view you as:
- Irrelevant. If you choose to indulge in sharing almost meaningless excerpts from your previous job(s) about how bad they were, don’t think this will ‘help’ your new employers in understanding your situation. Your experiences may be true but if you paint a depressing picture just to push an unprofessional narrative, chances are your new employers will view you as irrelevant; someone who can’t stay focused enough to share actual concerns professionally.
- A complainer: You may find it comforting to share with hiring managers the nuisances surrounding your previous job because you think they, as hiring managers, will be able to understand. Truth is, they do understand. Because they are part gatekeepers to their organisations and due to that, they know all too well when they come across a complainer. Let’s face it. Every job is hard and has difficult times. If you try to use those times to sell your motive for quitting, your hiring managers will catch this instantly and disregard your profile immediately. Nobody wants to bring a complainer onboard!
- Unprofessional: That’s right. You could be coded as highly unprofessional if you go on long rants about your previous job(s) in an effort to try and persuade the new company into understanding your situation. This might come off as pitiful, if done distastefully. Come to think of it, there’s not much of a ‘tasteful’ way to go about it.
Always have good things to say about your previous company, or companies, because you learn something from everywhere and everyone. Humbleness is your key attribute when applying for new jobs!
What TO say:
Now that we’ve covered a general idea of what not to say when you are asked, “Why are you leaving your current job?”, let’s explore some safe options we can use in our interviews to conduct ourselves appropriately when faced with this inquiry from potential employers. We have established that it’s in our best interest to avoid being negative but we also know that we are, in fact, leaving our jobs for a reason. Sometimes, the reasons aren’t pretty. Sometimes, even petty. The right professionals know and accept that behind every reason there is a some motive, even if you’re being made redundant. They also truly understand that seeking better job opportunities has more to do with the prospects that lie ahead than the ones they’re leaving behind. It is helpful to translate positivity into your corporate escapades for more peace of mind and a more driven chase. It is imperative to practice honesty during your interviews but one must also be mindful of maintaining professional decorum. You can use, and customize, some of these common reasons for leaving your current job when asked by new employers:
- Professional growth. Every employer understands that growth is a huge motivator for the hardworking employees. Because little to no chances of growth leads to little or no satisfaction in the workplace which ultimately affects performance. You can share with prospective employers that you want to march towards positive professional growth and explore different avenues for broadening your job horizons. This will be viewed and appreciated by companies as a sign of a resilience and inquisitiveness.
- Financial growth: Everyone wants to earn more money. Who wouldn’t want to find a job that provides a higher income? But is it a good approach to outright say, “I want more money!” Definitely not. Employers do not take it kindly when a candidate expresses their salary concerns stronger than other factors. Essentially, it is best to avoid talking about money until and unless asked by the hiring managers themselves. But if it must be discussed, it must be done politely. You want to take the company and its policies into consideration as well before sprouting out an answer. You can reason with them and come to an understanding that both parties are satisfied with by first asking what the company’s budget allocation for the role is and what they think would be suitable for you based on your qualifications.
- Career switch: Sometimes what we set out to do, doesn’t quite work out. Many companies understand this. For example, you spend four, maybe six years of your life pursuing a Finance degree, then working in a bank for three years and at the end of it, you feel like the job opportunities in this domain are not to your liking. You now want to pursue consultancy or marketing because that is where your real interest lies. It happens more often than you think. Career switches are very common in the corporate realm and employers readily understand a good, hard-working individual’s needs to gain better for themselves. You must, still, have good reasoning for wanting to switch careers because it does probe some questions from employers. But if your intentions are in the right place, chances are it will rub off that way to your employers too.
When you find yourself in the process of applying for new jobs, always take some time out to truly ponder your reasons for considering an exit. It’s good to evaluate your decisions using a cost-benefit analysis and see if the pros outweigh the cons or vice versa. Make sure that when you put yourself out there and receive responses from interested employers, you always attend the interviews with thorough research so that both you and the probable employers can benefit from the interactions that you will share. Be prepared, honest, firm and tactful. Confidently share your reasons your leaving your previous employers and display eager interest in the new role to secure the position you are seeking.
