How to Answer: “Why Did You Leave Your Previous Role?”

Employers want to understand both the risks and rewards of offering you a job. One of the most searching questions to understand the potential risks is to ask: “why did you leave your previous role?” The reasons you give can then lead to further forensic questioning and, before you know it, you are feeling a little hot under the collar.

It is indeed a revealing question, but there are plenty of perfectly normal reasons why you may have decided to leave past jobs. If you explain them factually, confidently, honestly and (most importantly) briefly, you will satisfy their curiosity, and they will move on to explore the rewards of working with you.

Here are ten possible reasons that you may wish to share:

Lack of development. Employers understand that you are ambitious. If you can show that you were a high achiever who pursued every internal avenue to further your development in vain, no one would blame you for looking for a new role. 

Changing careers. It is perfectly normal to completely change career direction a few times in your working life. Compose a career story where an organic career change or two fits in perfectly with where you are now. Did you leave your previous role as part of the grand master plan?

Family reasons. There are many reasons why family circumstances might mean that you needed to quit. Whether it is the birth of a child or the illness of a relative, every hiring manager will appreciate this. You do need to explain that things are now more stable.

Management changes. Most of us have incredibly close working relationships with our immediate superiors. They understand us, they guide us, and most of them feel like family. If they leave and a new boss arrives, the change in dynamic can be incredibly unsettling.

Offered a pay increase. Money talks, although this should not be a running theme throughout your interview. Candidates are headhunted regularly, and sometimes the financial package on offer is too good to resist. It is understandable to leave your previous role for a significant pay rise.

Role scope changed. We start our employment doing one thing, and then various changes in strategic direction mean that the scope of our job gradually creeps until we are doing something totally different. If you don’t enjoy it anymore, put your needs first and leave.

Pursue education. We have all had that feeling that we don’t quite possess the intellectual firepower to take on a new challenge, so going “back to school” is a common choice if people way to reset. Show that what you learned made a difference in your career.

Relocation. Very few of us exist in a vacuum – sometimes, family circumstances mean that moving to a new place is unavoidable. This is rarely something that can be foreseen in advance but may be less common with the new flexible working practices.

Redundancies. Now we are coming to the tricky two reasons. Redundancies happen for many reasons, but the questions of why you (in particular) were fired will be front of mind for any employer. Find a plausible excuse that doesn’t incriminate you.

Fired. Everyone is fired a few times in their career, things go wrong, relationships sour. Your previous employers will have to be careful what they say on your references, so you do have a certain amount of creative licence here, but do not be tempted to lie.

Those are some common reasons, and your situation may involve a couple of them, but how do you explain leaving your previous role without leaving a sour taste in the mouth?

…. Never speak badly about your previous bosses and colleagues.

…. Don’t delve into complicated and emotional personal animosities.

…. Don’t come across as impulsive or unclear about your motives.

…. Take responsibility for your actions and keep the chat positive.

…. Be honest when they ask, but keep details to an absolute minimum.

It may be good to think of a stock answer for every previous role.

The most important consideration is to leave any semblance of negativity or bad feeling out of your answer. Asking why you left various jobs is not a trick question. There are plenty of perfectly reasonable explanations. Employers ask it because they want to build a picture of your motivations as an employee, so as long as your answers fit with how you are portraying yourself, there is a great deal of flexibility in what you might choose to say.

Employers value honesty. They will be able to tell if you are bending the truth.

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This blog is shared with Job Seeker Duetists. 

Written by former recruitment ghostwriter Paul Drury (not AI).