I will sometimes ask “So why are you looking?” or something similar. Usually it is an ‘ice-breaker’ question to get the nervous candidate used to talking. Although if someone quit I will be interested in why. Main reason for that is to start the conversation about the new job, and to address head-on anything that may not be apparent to the candidate.
If someone is leaving for a shorter commute, change of scenery (after 17 years!!) or unspecified growth opportunity, I’ll make agreeable noises and move on. If the answer is something like, “Well, I hated dealing with people; just want to write code” or “Was spending too much time coding, I really want to deal with people” then I’ll look at what the job entails and explain the possible pitfall to the candidate. Again, not to “trick” them into an answer, but to give them the opportunity to consider whether they want to move forward with the interview.
And don’t lie to me. In about 3 phone-calls, I can find out (back door references) what you have been doing the last few years.
“I’ve been doing this part time for amount of time and discovered I do it well and really love it.”
You tell the truth, haven’t trashed your former employer, and indicate that you already have a background here…a positive background that you can contribute to this employer.
I don’t disagree with you… I hate those interviews too.
But finding out why an applicant left a job can often tell the interviewer a lot about how they handle pressure and conflict. Everyone wants an employee who is able to solve problems, whether they be with other people, with their home life or with their job description. An employee who decides they can’t solve the problem in any way but quitting has revealed a lot about how they think if you can find out why.
There’s a gray scale on this of course; it’s not black and white. Leaving to build your skills and career suggests a person who will challenge themselves and is good. Leaving to spend more time with family or to pursue another interest is neutral; we get it, but it doesn’t necessarily tell us how you’ll handle the current job. Leaving because you couldn’t get along with your boss raises the question of how well you’ll relate to a new boss.
Thanks for all the replies – makes sense to use the “new career / only live once” angle, though we have had layoffs and more are likely coming, and there is a definite lack of advancement, and commuting 3+ hours/day is tiresome. I guess my concern was being seen as insane for leaving a job in this economy, especially one that paid so well (based on my longevity there, not the job itself).
I am leaving the IT field, and going into the health/fitness field, which I think will be growing as all us baby boomers get old(er).
Eh, when I was recently interviewing my reason was “The place is going to go under within the next two years and I want to make sure I’m not there when it finally sinks. As we all know, it’s better to look for a job when you have one then trying to find one when you don’t.”
The fact that the place had become unbearably hellish and my leaving combined with my taking clients to competition would be the death blow was the part that I left out.
