Hi, everyone. It's great to see you again, thank you for stopping by. I hope during these
times of the coronavirus, as I'm recording this video, that you guys are all staying
safe and are all healthy out there. It was due to this coronavirus that I've come up
with a idea as to a interview question that I want to reintroduce. This was one of the
very first interview questions that I think I put on my channel. It was a few years ago,
and I just want to refresh this a little bit because I believe it is going to be an extremely
common question out there now, although it's always been a common question, and that is,
"What happened at your last job?"
So this is something that I want you to consider as an exit statement. And an exit statement
is going to have two parts. The first part of the exit statement is you're going to get
to the point in one sentence, absolutely no more than two sentences, as to what happened
at your last job. Why are you not working there anymore? And the key behind this is
don't use any kind of emotional type of words like unfortunately, or even worse, thank God,
I couldn't stand the place. No, you just want to simply get to the point and then get off
of this first part, because remember, the exit statement is going to have two parts.
You were never laid off, your position was eliminated. Number one, I want you to understand
that.
So let's just take an example that could be happening right now during the coronavirus.
Are you still with company XYZ? No, due to the coronavirus outbreak, our company had
a restructuring that eliminated about 250 positions, including mine. Boom, we're done,
okay? But even if it wasn't a coronavirus, let's just say it was a relocation to Dallas,
Texas. Are you still with XYZ company? No, XYZ company actually did a restructuring and
has relocated to Dallas, Texas. I have taken a package with them as I elected to stay in
the Bay area. Any way, but the main thing is this, don't get deep into it as to why
they were relocating. Don't get into it as how the company tried to survive during the
virus epidemic. Just simply get to the point and get off of it. That's the first part.
Now here's the second part of the exit statement, and that is what were the opportunities that
were presented to you at this last company? Or what are the opportunities that are now
in front of you? So you can select one of these. Some people, they really had a sour
time with their last company, so they might want to talk about the opportunities that
are ahead of them. But let me give you a couple of examples. So no, XYZ company had a restructuring
after the coronavirus that eliminated 291 positions including mine. But I got to tell
you, Bill, during the time that I was there with XYZ company, I got to work on some incredible
projects. I got to learn from some really cool leaders. I got to work on teams that
were firing on all cylinders, teams that I'm going to be forever grateful for because they
developed me into a better person, better worker.
You see what I'm doing here is I'm ending this on a positive. If we just simply stated
no, I was laid off due to the coronavirus, that's really a negative. It's leaning on
a sour note. No, there was a restructuring that eliminated my position. We're ending
on a sour note still, but what I want you to do is I want you in this on a positive
note. So another way to go about it is, so no, I'm no longer with XYZ company. They had
a restructuring of their workforce that eliminated 11% of the positions, including mine. But
this is actually given me the opportunity to really start focusing on some industries
out there that I've been wanting to look into for some time, industries where I feel that
I can actually make a difference in society. No, but this is the opportunity that's in
front of me to be able to take some online courses and really develop my skills stronger
in React or Java or Python. But this has given me the opportunity to explore some new technologies
out there, leading edge technologies that have been on my radar for some time.
See, what I want you to do is I want you to end the exit statement on a positive note
because let's face it, we all like to be around optimistic, positive people out there. And
when you're going into the interview, it's becoming more about compatibility and likability
than it does about competence. It was your resume, it was the phone screen that validated
your competence. They would've never called you in otherwise. There's still going to be
some questions about your competence, but it really becomes more about compatibility
and likability. And what's one thing that you can do? You can show this individual that
optimistic side that you have out there that you can actually see the silver lining with
a gray cloud, so to speak.
So I hope you found this video informative and useful. If you haven't already done so,
make sure that you subscribe to this channel. Hit the bell notification, that way you're
not going to miss anything moving forward. Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward
to seeing you next week.