Why Do You Want to Leave Your Current Job?

This question often comes up early on in interviews, and sometimes it’s asked as the very first question. Some hiring managers will ask this of all candidates, though I generally do not. The only time I might ask this is if the candidate has only been at their current position for a few months. In those cases their current job is clearly not working out, and I might wonder why that was -- just in case they end up having the same issue at our company.

There are many safe, generic ways that people can respond to this question without much thought. And yet some people will fidget and equivocate, hemming and hawing, generally making it much harder for themselves than it needs to be.

For instance, here are some common safe answers:

• There was not enough growth opportunity / I wanted a more challenging position


• I could not deal with the commute.


• The company was having financial difficulties and layoffs were looming.

And here are some not so safe answers:

• I didn’t get along with my boss. (Hmm, will this guy get along with me?)


• My company treated its employees poorly. (A disgruntled employee? Generally you should not speak ill of your previous employer)


• I didn’t like the work. (Hmm, but you’ll be doing much the same type of work here…)