Work Experience

You should try to speak positively about your colleagues, while not completely ignoring possible negative aspects.

You can reply to this question with this answer:

I had an excellent professional relationship with my co workers, which gelled quite nicely with the company environment. People assisted one another. We worked as a team to solve problems and learned new skills to reach our team objectives.

I made some good friends for life, who today can vouch for me on a professional basis.

The interviewer wants reassurance that you have thought about the culture, environment and business goals that this company has. They want to know that you will fit in.

Think about the culture and work environment at your current employer and identify key differences and similarities with the new company. Reassure the interviewer that you do not see any differences as a problem.

GOOD TIP:

Think and be ready to discuss how you have adapted to new bosses, colleagues and jobs as you have undertaken different roles.

Most researches show that the single best predictor for who will perform well and succeed in a new job is the one who possesses learning agility (a quick learner) and the one who can adjust himself/herself to new and different jobs.

Past performance or even experience, skills and intelligence are not as important as learning agility.

Therefore, there is a tried and tested reply to this question that helps you appear level-headed and knowledgeable.

Another reason that can be provided is enhancement of abilities and education. If you have recently acquired a degree and have decided to utilize your education to enhance your professional profile, this would be a good reason to give for this question.

More often than not, relocation is another reason that is blindly accepted by a company as a reason for looking for another job.

While these are just some of the traditional reasons for a job change, there are some reasons that are more or less accepted today.

Sometimes, even reasons related to daily commutation, like spending too much time commuting from your place of work to your place of residence, as well as less time spent with family can be considered to be the reason/one of the reasons for leaving a job.

For example:

☛ Better quality performance or reliability?

☛ Did you make any difference in sales numbers, costs and profits?

☛ What about customer satisfaction?

☛ Did you improve support service level? What about productivity, efficiency and the company's reputation? Did you make any difference?

It would be wise for you to present a career achievement that reflects back to the job requirements and to the company to which you are applying.

In this way, you gain the employer's interest, tell a success story where you have had a challenge with an impressive achievement.

I would define success at work by what I learned from key job assignments experiences. I believe in making choices, tying them to circumstances and taking corrective actions when necessary. I always want to try new things and ask for feedback that leads to improved results.

Some people learn more than others and you would want to present that you are among those who are capable of learning new things.

Low performing employees seem to have more difficulty learning from experience and have trouble making the transition to different jobs and challenges.

Another common reason nowadays is company restructuring. When a company restructures, it can lay off several people and in a time frame. Therefore, even if you have not been directly told to go, nobody would blame you if you are looking for avenues because your colleagues or some other department has been told to go.

They want to make sure that you are not someone who complains too much. You need to come across as someone who remains positive when dealing with things they dislike.

They will listen to see if you come across as difficult to work with. Start by highlighting the positives and explain how you have worked around your dislikes. Your dislike should relate to circumstances, such as not having enough resources, rather than to any conflict with others.

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Do not mention problems with people and ensure you come across as someone who is upbeat and positive.

One reason is basic dissatisfaction with your career. Remember that it is not about the particular company or the department but your career on the whole. This reason would hold true if you have a rich career profile and are currently applying for a job in a new profession.

One of the most common and simple reasons is that your job was at a standstill and you wished to seek newer avenues and greater challenges.

I have not had much paid work experience as a teacher. I have spent most of my time outside of college and graduate school doing volunteer work at a private elementary school in my town. Because the summers are so short and I was working to complete my certification, I wanted to gain hands on experience without worrying about finding a school that would hire me. Now that I am certified, finished my master's degree program and have all those volunteer hours under my belt, I feel well prepared to apply for a full time teaching position.

You can easily say that you are looking for a change in role and wanted more growth or even that your position was getting stagnant. This might be an acceptable reason for quitting your job but this by no means gives you leeway to criticize your job.

They want to know about your job and how it has prepared you for the job you are being interviewed for. Are you motivated to move to this job or are you moving away from a job you dislike?

Make sure the examples you share are all relevant to the job you are applying for. Possible examples could focus on problem-solving, customer service and creating action plans.

GOOD TIP:

You want to make sure that your examples are positive and end with what attracts you to this job.

The following are a list of acceptable answers as good reasons to leaving a job:

☛ Career growth

☛ Your career path

☛ Looking for challenges

☛ Restructuring

☛ Relocation

☛ Enhanced Education

☛ Workplace distance

What did you achieve? What was going right? What did you learn from that experience?

The interviewer is looking for clues to serious problems or job difficulties that could carry over to a new job. You might say:

Since I was laid off from my previous employer, I have been actively looking for a job. However, as you know, there are many people looking for work and applying for the same jobs. I have always worked steadily but I have not been able to find a job in the present job market.

After I got laid off from my previous employer, I decided to go back to school to upgrade my skills so I can get a better, more secure job.

My work experience has been nothing but top notch. When I competed my accounting degree, I went right to the best firm in the city and was hired as an intern. I was able to use the internship time towards my MBA, which I just complete this past spring. Working with the best of the best has made me an asset to any company that will hire me.

Sales experience in a national retail chain, where I acquired an understanding of how customers need to be listened to and made to feel confident that their ideas and concerns taken into account.