How to Tell The Interviewer How and Why You Left

We at Everyday Interview Tips often like to comment on some of the other tips supplied by job websites across the Internet. Sometimes the information is good. Sometimes the information is bad. Sometimes the information is good enough, but lacks important advice. That is the case in a recent article published on AOL Jobs

This article discusses how to address the reason for your unemployment. Though it contains some useful information, it completely ignores something that it addressed in the opening few paragraphs.

Where the Article is Right

If you quit your job, there are several things that the article suggests that you do in order to improve your chances of employment:

• Don’t say you “quit.” Say you “resigned.” They mean the same thing, but quit has far more negative connotations.
• When you explain your answer, do so in a nuanced way that addresses a respectable reason for leaving your last employer.

In addition, if you were laid off (a term that means being let go without cause), you have the option of addressing it in your cover letter or bring it up early in the interview. Most businesses understand layoffs, so the only way a negative stigma may occur is if you don’t tell the interviewer that you were laid off, leading them to believe you were fired for a good reason.

Where the Article is Lacking

The article says little about what to do if you were fired. Being fired causes a whole host of problems. Fired means you were let go for a good reason, presumably due to poor work or acting out in the office. If you were fired, you need to explain it to the interviewer in a way that does not harm your chances. The best way to do that is as follows:

• Don’t use the term “fired.” Use the term “let go.”
• Point out positives before focusing on negatives, then finish with a positive.
• Bring it up early in the interview and do your best with your interview answers.

Here’s an example of how to put that into action:

Q: “Why did you leave your last job?

A: “Ah, I was let go through something that was entirely my fault. I loved my work and the company. My supervisor and I used to exchange ideas openly, which of course is healthy for any workplace. Yet one day she and I were discussing one particular idea and the conversation got so passionate that it appeared to her that I was resisting her authority, which of course was not my intention. Since then I have made sure that I keep my tone down when discussing ideas so that my objectives are not misinterpreted.”

This is a fancy way of saying you were fired for insubordination, but it shows that you have put thought into it and it was a onetime thing. It also avoids any words with stigmas, such as “fired” or “insubordinate.”

Unfortunately, getting fired will always have a negative effect on your ability to find employment. If you put it into healthier terms, however, you reduce its damage to your chances of getting the new job.

Take Away Interview Tips

• If you were laid off, don’t say you were fired.
• If you quit, say you resigned.
• Try to put it in terms that are more acceptable.

3 Acceptable “Reasons” for Quitting Your Last Job

You quit. You probably quit for a good reason. That reason may or may not have to do with a tremendously annoying coworker, a boss whose suit always smells like your grandfather’s feet, or work that was considerably more difficult than it was supposed to be.

It should come as no surprise that if you are asked why you left your last job, you cannot share these reasons in your job interview. Your interview must be focused only on the positive. You massively harm your chances of getting the job if you complain about your last workplace in any way.

However, you do need to give a reason for quitting, and lying is never acceptable. So your best bet is to choose a harmless reason that is true in essence, even if it was not on the forefront of your mind when you left your job.

Reasons for Leaving

• “I realized the job no longer fit my long term goals.”

This answer is always true. Always. Did you have a job where you hated your boss? Chances are you didn’t want to work for them forever, so yes, the job did not suit your long term goals. If you are asked to explain this answer, though, you should say something like “The structure of the department made it unlikely that I would be able to continue doing the work I love long term.”

• “I wanted to work for a company that is more stable.”

If the company has had layoffs, but you were not one of the people that ways laid off, you have ammo for leaving. You can claim that you left because you wanted to work for a company where layoffs were less common, so that you could focus on the work instead of the organizational situation.

• “I have doubts about the company’s viability in the long term.”

If you work for a start-up, or a company that has been experiencing significant losses, or a company with a lot of quality competition, this is also a good reason for leaving. Companies will respect your decision to work for a company that looks like it will succeed.

Additional Reasons

There are other good reasons to leave your last job as well, including:

• You moved.
• Your department got cut and you had to take on a new role.
• You were looking for additional challenges and it would be a long while before a growth position became available.

Yet those three may not be applicable to your situation. Usually at least one of the 3 answers provided in the list above is applicable to every job, so if you quit and you don’t have a good reason like “I changed state,” you can use one of those and give an adequate answer that won’t harm your chances of getting the job.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Don’t give the real reasons.
• Give reasons that don’t speak negatively about your previous company.