Why did you leave your last job ?
Various methods in which this question can be asked for :
- Why are we looking for a new position now?
- Why did you leave position X?
- Why did you leave your most recent position?
Why did you leave your last job
Reason for asking this question is:
- Did you leave voluntarily ?
- Did you leave for a good reason ?
- What are your work values?
- Did you leave for a good term ?
Tips for responding to this question:
- Avoid negativity
- Be honest
Ways to answer this question :
- Since the company shifted the direction from my stream of interest it became as a perfect time to leave.
- I felt it as a great job until I realized that I need to be more involved in, started to look around and found your company.
- As I gained a lot of knowledge over that job and there was no additional learning for me from there. I decided to make a move as I am interested in learning things.
Ideal answer from their perspective:
- You are only thinking about leaving because this new opportunity is just SO awesome.
- Maybe you weren’t even looking.
- Maybe you’re content in your current role, but just could not resist this interview because the position is your dream job.
Sample answers:
- I have been at my company for three years now and have learned a lot from working with some amazing salespeople. I worked my way up to regional sales manager 18 months ago and my region has beat our sales projections by at least 25% each quarter since. However, I am starting to feel like I need some new challenges. This position really appeals to me because it would allow me to manage a bigger team and sell more innovative products.
- I have loved my time at Acme Financial and am really proud of the successful marketing campaigns that I have conceived and managed. However, I think the time has come for a change. We are going through some management changes right now and a lot of projects are on hold.