Why Do You Want To Leave Your Current Job?

Want to know the right answer? 

This is perhaps one of the most dreaded job interview questions - and the most dangerous. Yet it's common. Most interviewers will ask it at some stage.

And it's a question that works on many levels.

Don't be fooled into thinking they actually want to know the answer.

Ok, of course they do, but the interviewer will be looking for so much more.

They'll be watching your body language, listening for changes in your tone of voice, and trying to work out whether you're telling the truth.

This question often brings out the truth about your last job. So your hour of raving about how wonderful your work is and how talented you are can fall apart at this point, if you're not careful.

Job interview candidates often, literally, break out in a sweat, when they hear this question.

Very few of us are completely comfortable with our reason for job-hunting. It's as though we're scared the interviewer will judge us. So we come up with something twee like "I realised I needed more of a challenge than my current company could offer," when what we really mean is we hate our boss and couldn't take another day of their moaning.

What makes a good reply to this question?

If possible, don't answer it!

I don't mean ignore the interviewer. I mean be clever and turn the question around. Instead of talking about all the reasons you want to leave your old job, talk about what's attracting you to the new one.

So instead of trying to find a good way of explaining you were:

• Fired
• Made redundant
• Felt you had to quit to save your sanity
• Bored & stuck in a dead-end role
• After a big fat pay rise you knew your company wouldn't give you

... or whatever else your reason...

... talk about the specific aspects of the new role that you would most enjoy. Explain what attracts you to the company. Make sure they know you're there to stay, and not waiting for something better to come along. Talk about how the role fits with your long term career plans (with that company).

This is a really important question to practise before your interview, so you sound genuine with your response. Just in case you have a really tricky interviewer, make sure you've covered both sides of the answer in your preparation: why you want the new job and why you want the old one.

Final Top Tip: Don't say anything you wouldn't say to your current employer. It's a small world out there and you never know who the interview might be having dinner with on Friday...