While this is true, it is also true that ‘bad’ former employees will fabricate reasons they left former employers to make them appear justified. As a prospective employer with no history with the applicant it’s a crap-shoot with who was actually the bad fit in the previous job.
If there are multiple qualified applicants, it’s safe to not roll the dice with this one.
It is a red flag if you have a history of short term jobs. One is definitely not. Many hiring managers probably have been through this. It is just like a layoff used to be a problem, but is no longer.
And most who do know how to phrase it properly. You know you left because the former employer was an idiot, but your prospective employer doesn’t. It might be they were reasonable and you were the jerk. Given someone with similar qualifications, they’ll go with them.
Now, if the OP says something like “there was a change in management between the time I was hired and now,” the employer will get it. It is factual and there could be a change of direction with neither party being in the wrong. Or it could be the disaster the new company seems to be.
I left one place that was a disaster after a year and a quarter and no one ever asked me about it, and I didn’t volunteer any information. It’s usually not a big issue. If, as I said, it is not a habit.
This may be the perfect response to the question. No fault assigned but stating that the current climate is no longer attractive.
“I’m sorry, but I refuse to say bad things my previous employers.”
“When I arrived at my new job, I discovered a pre-existing legal compliance issue that they had not warned me about during interviews. I’m not able to discuss the specifics due to confidentiality concerns. However, please be assured that this issue pre-dated my arrival, and I am not involved with or implicated in any way by the investigation.”
This is good and I agree.
I don’t agree. This comes across as if you’re hiding something. “Culture did not fit” is too vague and can include scenarios such as ‘that company has hard working people and I didn’t want to work that hard’ (basically, a slacker).
It is better to point out that the company did not have good integrity with regards to how they described their stability and retention records that, once you joined, were clearly inconsistent with how they described it.
Basically you say that they lied to you but don’t use that word. Put it in a polite, tactful, professional manner.
What this shows is that you have high integrity and you expect the same from the companies you work with. You have good standards and that’s definitely an attractive characteristic in a potential employee.
When I left a bad job situation after only 9 months, the explanation I gave for leaving was simply that “the job was not as described”. I did not have to gave any additional details.
“The company is undergoing some organizational changes, and is now not a great fit for me.”
It won’t matter much if you’re not a serial job-hopper. Focus on what interests you about the position you’re interviewing for as much as possible.
And I love Ask A Manager. Great blog with some crazy stories and lots of good working-world advice.
“I’m enjoying my time at Acme Corp, and I’ve learned a lot, but one thing I was hoping for was the opportunity to [thing that you’ll be doing in the new job]. This seems like a great opportunity to do that…”
I’ve always used the “why do you want to leave” question as a way to pivot to talk about something positive. It also helps if you give the general impression that you weren’t actively looking to leave your last job, but this jumped out as a “too good to miss” opportunity. The approach above helps with that.
This is my take as well. You don’t want to give the same answer a ‘bad’ candidate would give even if yours is true.
I’ll ask about a short job stint in an interview. I don’t expect to get to the truth. Any short, professional answer is fine. There obviously was an issue at the job, the question is trying to suss out if it was the candidate.
Any company that would be scared off by this is probably also a bunch of liars, so not getting the job would be a positive.
It seems to me that “The job was significantly different from what I was lead to believe, I can’t go into more detail than that.” should be a good answer. A good interviewer will then be able to deduce the reasons when it’s time for you to ask questions and you are particularly interested in their turnover and the experience of any team they intend you to lead.
My bold.
IMHO that phrase is a red flag and often signals that a lie is coming next. That whole sentence is overkill in a cringey way.
My bold.
Wow. That’s interesting. I’ll bet that’s true of many interviewers. The last sentence is the point, i.e., clearly, there was a problem, but was it them or was it you?"
ThankyouthankyouthankyouGod that I’m retired. 
Then why ask? Really, this seems to be the original sin. Don’t ask a question for which you know that you won’t accept an honest answer.
Why ask? To see how the person will handle the question. Duh.
This isn’t a courtroom. The purpose of a job interview isn’t wholly to get at “the facts, ma’am,” it’s to assess the character and personality of the candidate.
I don’t understand this statement. Did @CaveMike say he woudn’t accept an honest answer? I thought he said he didn’t expect an honest answer, which isn’t the same thing. Unless that was a typo on your part/
And you want a person who spouts banal lies to insincere questions?
No, I don’t want a person who “spouts” anything. 
I want to see how someone uses wisdom, maturity, and diplomacy to answer a fraught question. Can they keep their cool and address my question in a way that is morally honest but without resorting to equivocation.*
I wouldn’t call the question “insincere”; I’d call it a curve ball. See how they swing at it or choose not to.
* equivocation- the use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or to avoid committing oneself
The types of answers people say they want fit this definition exactly. So you do want someone who can equivocate.
I’m done with this. I’m retired, after all.
If anything, this discussion just confirms to me that our shared workplace culture is fundamentally corrupt. You expect people to face up to nosy questions, for which they want a mundane answer, knowing all the whole that it is as likely to be a lie as not. But doing it with a straight face without revealing your true feelings about what might be a deep personal trauma is what is important.