Hi everyone, it's Andy LaCivita, founder of milewalk and the milewalk Academy and award-winning
author of The Hiring Prophecies, here with this week's episode of Tips for Work and Life.
I've got a little something for all of you out there.
Maybe you had a few too many jobs in your career.
You know who you are.
You've been accused of being a job hopper or you always seem to get that question in
the job interview that asks, "Why have you had so many jobs?
Why haven't you been able to stay in one place?"
or some variation of that question.
I'm going to tell you exactly how to answer it, but before we do that, I want you to think
about what's actually happening when a job interviewer asks you that question.
I am not smart enough and no one I have ever met is smart enough to take your insight to
that question and determine whether or not you're going to be a good employee for my
company or their company.
It's too great a leap to jump.
Some decisions that you made years ago or why you were thinking what you were thinking
at the time is not necessarily going to help them understand how you're going to fit into
their organization.
What's really happening and what they really want to know from you is, why is it going
to be different this time?
Why are you going to make a good decision that sticks, so that when you come here you're
going to be a successful employee for a lengthy period of time?
That's what they want to know.
That's what they want to be assured of.
If you think about it, if you're sitting there and you're already getting interviewed or
you're a phone stream or you're in a face-to-face interview, the employer has already granted
that you are qualified, you must have something on the ball.
They're just nervous when they ask you that question.
Here's what I'd like you to do.
When you get that question, I want you to think about taking responsibility, I want
you to own all your actions.
I also want you to, instead of making it several problems about why you had several jobs, diffuse
it all at once.
Make it one question about one issue in your life that you can tackle all at once and the
third thing is, you're going to give them your response with a smile and a lot of positivity
about why this is going to work going forward.
You're going to take responsibility, you're going to diffuse it all at once, and you're
going to tell them exactly why, in a happy manner, it's going to work out going forward.
When you get that question, the best response would be something like, "You know what?
You're right, I do have quite a few jobs in my job history.
I discovered very recently that the reason that I was having so many, there was a common
issue.
I wasn't very clear upfront on all the different things that I needed in order to be happy
in a job, that happiness criteria.
I did some self-reflection and I really thought deeply about everything that I needed to make
me happy in my work life.
I took a lot of time, I did that reflection, and what that also did for me, it put me in
a much better position to evaluate from an employer's perspective about whether or not
this job opportunity and this company are going to be great for me, based on whether
or not you match that criteria.
I wasn't very skilled at getting that information from an employer."
"I'm in a much better position now because I've gone through this reflection and I understand
specifically what I need to evaluate and how to evaluate it.
Now, I will be in a much better position to determine whether or not your company is a
good one for me because when I looked at all those previous jobs, I was looking for what
the common thread was and that's what I found.
I am in a much better position now to evaluate whether or not this is a good opportunity
for me."
Then move forward.
Now, instead of taking it one job hop at a time where you run the risk of dragging out
the discussion and making them think it's always something with her, it seems like a
different issue every time, or he's just like Pig-Pen, he's got that cloud of rain over
himself wherever he goes.
That's what people will think, the longer you drag out that answer, the more unique
each issue is.
Don't get me wrong, I recognize that people leave jobs for various reasons.
You could have an illness in the family, your husband or wife could be getting transferred
and you're moving the whole family.
There's a whole host of reasons why people change jobs, but if you're getting asked the
job hopper type question, they're looking for, what's the pattern?
Take responsibility, diffuse it all at once, and talk positively about the action you've
taken to overcome it, and why that won't be an issue this time.
I hope that really helps.
If you're looking for more information about how to do that reflection, good responses
to job interview questions, hop on the Tips for Work and Life blog.
I've got some great give-aways, some great downloads that will really help you with reflection
and answering job interview questions, and all that good stuff.
The other thing, I've got some job interviewing webcasts that are coming up, so check those
out, and a resume writing workshop.
If you really want to figure out a better way to articulate your resume, sign up for
that.
All that stuff is in the notes and if you're listening to this on the podcast or watching
this somewhere other than my YouTube channel or the blog, hop over to the Tips for Work
and Life blog and check it out.
Until next time, we'll see you.