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Interview tips – why did you leave your last job? ๐Ÿƒโ€โ™€๏ธ

Why did you leave your last job

Interview tips – why did you leave your last job? –

Introduction ๐Ÿ‘‹

“Why did you leave your last job?”

This can feel like the most daunting question in the world, especially if you left your job for sensitive reasons e.g. mental health, stress, struggles with your manager.

Here are the most important things to remember, when preparing an answer this question.

1. You don’t need to get too personal ๐Ÿ’”

Leaving a job can be a very personal decision, but interviewers aren’t there to judge you for your personal decisions. They just want to learn a bit about you in an easygoing, lighthearted interview!

Don’t feel pressured to share anything you’re not comfortable talking about e.g. your health or relationship circumstances, that may have resulted in you leaving a job.

It can feel like interviewers want to “grill” you and judge you for your decisions, but usually these questions are just asked to learn more about you and the career path you’re following.

2. Keep it short ๐Ÿฉณ

Interviewers usually aren’t looking for a lot of detail with this question.

It might be tempting to waffle and over explain your reasons for leaving, but you don’t need to!

Keep your answer short, straight to the point, and confident!

3. Focus on the positives โ˜€๏ธ

Even if you feel totally sad and embarrassed about leaving your past job, you don’t have to show that to the interviewer.

Focus on the positives of leaving your past job, so that you can come across as confident and assertive when delivering your answer.

Remember – every question is an opportunity to sell yourself!

Positives about leaving your job

  1. Leaving your job was a good and responsible thing to do if you were in a stressful environment
  2. You have looked after your wellbeing by leaving an environment that wasn’t the right fit for you
  3. If you’ve had a career break, it has given you the energy and mental capacity to come into this new role with TONS OF ENERGY AND ENTHUSIASM! ๐Ÿ™‚
  4. Your interviewer didn’t see what happened, so you can explain your reasons for leaving however you want!
  5. No interviewer should expect you to explain your entire life story. They probably just want a quick and “straight to the point” answer for this one.

4. What to say (examples!) ๐Ÿ”Š

Easy to explain reasons for leaving a job –

Finding your passion ๐Ÿ’–

“I realised that the career path I was on, wasn’t what I was passionate about and that I’d much prefer to pursue a role in <insert job>.”

Looking for new challenges ๐Ÿ‘€

“I realised that I’d learned everything I could from the role I was in, so decided to look for a new challenge! “

I’ve always wanted to get involved in — โ›๏ธ

“I’ve always wanted to get involved in <insert job/area of work>, so I decided to look for an opportunity to move into that area of work!”

My family member/friend works in this job role, and I became excited to try it! ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

“My friend also was works as a <insert job role>, and it sounded like my dream job, so I decided it was time to leave my previous role and pursue something new.”

Always wanted this job – so decided to pursue it! ๐Ÿšต

“I’ve always wanted to work in this role, so I decided that it was time to leave my previous role and pursue it.”

Wasn’t looking to leave – but this role was too appealing! ๐Ÿฐ

“I actually wasn’t looking to leave my last role, but I came across this job role by chance and it seemed perfect for me, so I decided to leave and pursue it.”

Things you should avoid saying (examples!) ๐Ÿคซ

I hated my manager! ๐Ÿ˜ 

Let’s be honest – this is usually the most common reason for leaving a job!

Unfortunately, this answer doesn’t give a great impression. – It implies that you might struggle with relationships in your new job.

Ideally you should try and speak positively about your past managers, to show that you have had positive working relationships.

I hated my job! ๐Ÿ˜’

Everyone has a job that they reeeeally hate at least once!

Unfortunately, this answer doesn’t give a great impression either. – It can come across as very negative, and might imply that you don’t like being challenged.

Ideally you should try and speak positively about your last job, to show that you are a passionate and positive person!

I got fired! ๐Ÿ”ฅ

Getting fired can involve a lot of awkward explaining, and might cause the interviewer to doubt your capability (depending on why you were fired).

There might be some situations where you HAVE to tell the employer e.g. they ask you directly if you’ve been fired, or they already know that you’ve been fired. It’s not a good idea to lie if they ask you.

However, if it seems like a situation where it’s not mandatory to tell them that you’ve been fired, then don’t!

– You could use an answer like “I realised that the career path I was on, wasn’t what I was passionate about and that I’d much prefer to pursue a role in <insert job>.” instead!

I got angry and walked out! ๐Ÿšถโ€โ™€๏ธ

There are so many different reasons why a job might make you walk out – but often it can be difficult to explain these in a short job interview.

If you tell an interviewer that you walked out, they’ll probably wonder if you’ll walk out on them too, even if your reasons for walking out were reasonable.

Ideally you should try and speak positively about your last job, to show that you are a passionate and positive person!

Conclusion ๐Ÿ‘

So that’s it!

Hopefully you’re feeling more confident about answering the question “why did you leave your last job?”

If you know any friends or family members who might benefit from these tips, share this post with them!

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