Hi, it's Linda Raynier of LindaRaynier.com
Career Strategist, Speaker and Coach.
And in this video, I'm going to teach you how to answer the "Why did you leave your last job?" interview question
in a tactful and concise way.
Specifically if you've been let go or fired from your last position.
So before we talk about what you should do when answering this question, let's talk about what you shouldn't do first.
Thing is, you don't want to badmouth your old employer,
because the interviewer will see these as red flags
and they'll characterize you as someone who's bitter and negative and they'll no longer want to hire you.
So when you answer this question, you want to make sure your language is neutral
and that you appear calm.
You don't want to go into super in-depth details
about exactly what happened, what your side of the story was
and sound all defensive and confusing.
I've actually witnessed that as well and it's just a big headache.
This should be an obvious one but I'm mentioning it because I've seen it happen as well.
Lying will only hurt you,
because as soon as they do a reference check, you'll be in hot water.
And even if they don't find out right away, they'll find out eventually.
Lying badly hurts your career so please don't ever consider doing it.
Because if you do, it'll also transfer over to the interviewer
and they'll also feel uncomfortable and that'll only hinder your chances of landing the position in the end.
All right, so now that we've talked about what you shouldn't do, let's talk about what you should do.
This is obvious, but I mention it because some people don't do it.
Always be honest.
You don't have to tell the whole story in order for it to make sense.
That's not the best use of your interview time.
Your focus isn't on your old job, it's on this job.
And as soon as you're done explaining why you left your previous position,
you want to somehow tie it back and relate it back to why this makes you a good match for this role.
All right so let's get into some real examples.
So I have 2 specific scenarios and I'll guide you
through exactly how to answer this
"Why did you leave your last job?" interview question
through each of these scenarios.
So let's talk about scenario #1.
So maybe it was due to mass restructuring, mass layoffs
that had happened in your company.
The way you would answer that would be,
This is a good answer, because
this individual in this example gives a good number of reasons
backing up why they were let go and for the majority of them
it was for reasons beyond their control.
One being that the company had lost a major client.
Second being that they were part of a new group of people that had been hired
so it was more due to seniority and rank for why they were chosen to be let go.
And lastly they showed that they have good performance and good references.
So overall, giving that set of details and information will
put the interviewer at ease and make them understand exactly why they were let go.
So if you were let go not because of business reasons and mass restructuring but
but because of your own individual performance,
then you definitely want to pay attention to the answer I have here.
So this is a good answer, because you'll notice that the individual essentially deflected
the reasons for why they were let go/fired from their last position,
due to a mismatch in strengths and expectations.
And then what they do is they immediately jump into exactly
what they've learned from this experience and why and how they're still a good fit for this
position that they're interviewing for.
So, like I said, you always want to remember to
tie it back, relate it back to why you're a good fit for this role.
Instead of agonizing over why you weren't a good fit for your last one.
So there you have it. The should's, should-nots and sample responses
to answering the "why did you leave your last job?" interview question
to enhance your chances of landing the offer.
Now you know how to answer this interview question, but do you know if your resume is up to par?
Feel free to download a copy of my 10 Ultimate Resume Hacks Cheat Sheet
which will give you 10 tips on how to land more interviews and ideally job offers through your resume.
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Thank you so much for watching and I will see you in the next video!