Why are you looking for another job?

Disciplines > Job-finding > Interview questions > Why are you looking for another job?

The question | What they are looking for | How to answer | See also

The question

Why are you looking for another job?

Are you unhappy with your present work?

What makes you decide to change your job?

What they are looking for

This question is searching for your motivation for quitting.

People can change jobs for two very different reasons: Either they are getting away from the old job or they are attracted to the new job. In practice, although there is often an element of both of these, one motivation is dominant and the interviewer will seek to understand this.

Where people are motivated more to leave a job then they may not be to concerned about the new job, not work so well there and easily leave again.

There is always a reason, however, and the interviewer will want to find this and verify that it is reasonable and not a pattern that will repeat wherever you go.

How to answer

Do not show yourself as a person who is easily bored, who gives up on a difficult job or who does not like your present company. A better reason for leaving a job is that you have outgrown your current work and that prospects in your current workplace are limited.

I have been doing the job for two years now and feel I can contribute more. There is little opportunity where I am so I am looking elsewhere.

You can also link this to job in question, showing that you have developed sufficient skills.

I have deputized in management of a number large projects but there is no prospect of project management jobs there. So when I saw your job advert I knew I could be successful here.

See also

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