How does a job seeker answer why you want to leave?

You want to leave your job. At some point in your career, you will land in a job that you want to leave. For some of you, it may come later in life. For others, it is early. There are multiple considerations you need to make before you actually make the move.

You want to leave your job?

It never hurts to be ready at any point in your career to make a move. Prepare your resume professionally, optimize your LinkedIn profile, select your references, and regularly nurture your network.

However, if you been working in a role for less than three years, make sure that you have determined that you need to move on. When you want to leave after only a short time in a job, it can reflect badly on you unless this is an internship or a short-term seasonal job. When you are still in school, you have a bit more flexibility but when you are working full-time after college, it is critical that you look at the time on the job any time you think you need to make a move.

Do you have a reason to change jobs?

Company triggers for job changes

1. Your company is restructuring and your position could be eliminated or moved to another part of the country or world.
2. Your company is closing in the near future.
3. Your company is being bought out and the terms of the merger / acquisition show that the company as you know it will change.

Personal triggers for job changes

1. Your spouse is transferring to another state.
2. You are experiencing health issues that show you need less stress in your work.
3. You have a child who needs you to be available at different hours.

Work triggers for job changes

1. You don’t get along with a coworker.
2. You don’t get along with your boss.
3. You hate the work.
4. The ethics of the company don’t match your ethics.

How do you respond in an interview?

These are just a few of the reasons you may want to move on. When you decide that you definitely need to change jobs, you need to prepare a response for an interview question that asks you why you want to leave.

For the company triggers, you can actually share those reasons in an interview because they are most likely already public knowledge. Just be brief and specific.

For personal triggers, analyze your reason for leaving and think about it from the employer’s perspective. If you have to move with a spouse, most companies will have no issues. However, sharing health conditions could put you in jeopardy and perhaps lose a job offer to someone without health issues. Similarly, child care issues may not be something you want to emphasize in an interview.

When your reason for leaving is a work trigger, you need to say as little as possible and avoid saying anything negative to the next employer. Not getting along with bosses or coworkers is not likely to be looked at as someone they want to hire. You can say that you were looking for a new challenge or you wanted to expand into a new line of work.

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