Hey cultivator! Welcome back to my channel. So in this video today,
I want to address one of the most difficult interview questions,
which is "why did you leave your last employer?". I will share as a recruiter,
my trained eyes automatically go to the resume and looking at
the dates. If you have zero months listed out,
like it's just year to year,
I automatically dig in to understand why you left each position.
If you have any type of unemployment gaps,
I'm curious as to what happened there. So just FYI,
if you have any of these two things,
you want to make sure that you're prepared for this one question,
but regardless, even if you have zero unemployment gaps,
you're very transparent about the months and the years,
and there's no disconnect.
One of the top questions we still want to know is why did you leave that
opportunity? So in this video,
I'm going to break that down for you on just what we're looking for as
recruiters to understand whether or not you're a viable candidate and making
sure you understand what the red flags are that we're looking out for. Now,
if you're new to this channel,
be sure to hit like and subscribe because we release a new video
every Thursday around job search advice, career advice,
and mindset hacks. With all that being said, let's dive into this video.
All right.
So number one rule when answering this question is ensuring that you are
never bad-mouthing another employer.
I once was in an interview and asked a lady why she left her last position.
And she was saying,
without going into too many details that the employer just didn't
understand her needs.
They were very disorganized and she just went on and on about like all of these
different reasons of why she left.
And while that may be the true and honest answer,
in my mind I automatically had a red flag of, 'Oh my goodness.
I can't imagine if I ever let her go for any reason,
she would be going to the next employer, maybe a competitor,
maybe just anybody really,
and sharing all of these negative things and feedback about my company
or myself.' I just want to share that that is the number one reason why you
would never want to bad mouth or put anybody down during this process of
explaining why you're leaving,
even if it is the truth or what really transpired and happen.
I think a lot of the times we're looking for just general common sense around
how professional and polished can you spin something that is a
negative into a positive without again,
bringing up any drama or negative feedback about somebody.
So what do you do when there really was a negative experience or a disconnect?
How can you eloquently state that without necessarily putting somebody under
the bus?
One of the best things you can do is just focus on the future opportunities.
So this might sound like I put in 18 months with this
organization. And after being there,
I'm proud of accomplishing XYZ.
So you're kind of focusing on the positives. However,
I came to a point where I voluntarily resigned as what I'm really looking for
is, and then you can describe the new culture or the ideal culture for you.
So you could simply state something like what I'm looking for next is an
environment that has a bigger organization or team that I can really glean and
learn from. Just as simple as that.
So you're really positioning yourself to this next opportunity that you're in
that chair for,
you know that this is actually what this opportunity and this organization
brings to the table. And you're just pivoting and focusing on that versus again:
it was a toxic work environment, nobody was collaborative,
nobody was supportive, I didn't get to learn from anybody, right?
We don't need to go into those details.
So let's dive into some really positive responses. Again,
that example I just gave earlier is a positive spin to something that has been
negative. But in general, if you have voluntarily resigned,
you want to make sure that you state that you voluntarily resigned,
because the worst part is getting fired, right?
And if you were involuntarily let go,
or you involuntarily resigned,
then that's when they're going to probe a bit further.
But the minute you state that you voluntarily resigned, that's good.
If there was a mass layoff or there was an acquisition,
you can share that as well, because that's beyond your control.
If you ever received a severance package,
I would emphasize that I received a severance package.
This was what was happening in the organization and made it past two rounds of
layoffs. But unfortunately,
our department was outsourced to another
country, whatever that might be for the reasons, right?
Other favorable answers may sound like I wasn't even
looking, but an opportunity presented itself.
A recruiter reached out to me on LinkedIn and this came about,
or I wasn't looking, however,
my former manager or former colleague presented this opportunity and it was a
really great opportunity to grow in my career or learn XYZ skill.
So that's the reason why I left this company for the other company.
So again,
there's so many really valid reasons around why you have left an organization.
And if it's positive, you definitely want to share it.
If it makes you feel or sound like a really marketable candidate,
because you were poached or requested or recommended by a
previous colleague or a recruiter or a hiring manager,
then you absolutely want to share that as well.
I hope you found this quick tip helpful.
Let me know in the comments down below why you've left an employer,
either voluntarily or involuntarily. I'd love to hear your response.
And as always, if you found this helpful, please like, and share, subscribe,
and comment and make sure that you tune into this video next week.
And until then, I hope you continue to cultivate your life and your career.
Take care.