Interview question: changing of jobs?

Even during the very first conversation over the phone your interviewer may want to ask you few questions why you’re looking for a job. The simple answer that you are currently unemployed may lead to next question why you left your previous job. If it was a candidate’s personal decision, then what were his or her reasons, if it was a decision of the employer, then what was it caused by?

First of all we’ll mention some typical mistakes that are made when one is asked that tricky intervew qustions:

1. The applicant refuses to explain what his/her reasons to leave were, saying something like “It was due to some circumstances, it’s so complicated, it’s not a subject for a phone conversation, etc”.
2. Job seeker refers only to external factors, which don’t depend on him, for example, crisis on the labor market, “Many are fired currently…”
3. The applicant refers only to money questions, saying he was badly paid, etc.

Now let’s see what answers are advisable for this questions:

1. “I’ve been with the company for 2 years, I managed to do this and that, but now I don’t see any opportunities of further professional development, so I took a decision to find another job, where I could apply my knowledge and expertise to making company flourish.”
2. “The management of the company I was employed by opted to stop its activities in the field I was busy with, my performance was valued and you can get recommendation if you like.”

If you want to be successful with your career you should avoid frequent changes of jobs. If one changes jobs once in 2-3 years, especially in case it’s caused by getting a higher position or moving to a prestigious firm, it’s ok, but if you have a new job every few months it’s rather questionable.

When resumes are estimated the questions about jobs is one of the most important criteria. So, when choosing a job, always try to assess what are your chances to stay with the company for at least 1 year.

To make a conclusion, almost everybody faces the problem of changing jobs sooner or later, so you’d better be ready for a questions about job history and to prepare a suitable answer why you made such a decision.