Why do you want to leave your present job or company ?
Various ways in which this question can be asked are:
- Why are you looking for a new position now?
- Why did you leave your most recent position?
- Why did you leave Position X?
Reason for asking this question is:
- Did you leave for a good reason?
- Did you leave voluntarily?
- Did you leave on good terms?
- What are your work values?
Reasons that are accepted to leave the current job are:
- Desire to take on more responsibility and grow in a career.
- Desire to take on less responsibility.
- Desire to relocate.
- Desire a career change.
- Company reorganization has led to dissatisfaction in the work place.
- Desire a shorter commute to work.
- Desire to improve work/life balance.
Different ways to answer this question are:
- I'm looking for a bigger challenge and to grow my career, but didn’t feel like I could give equal attention both to my job search and to my full-time work responsibilities. It didn’t seem ethical to slack off from my former job in order to conduct my job search, and so I left the company.
- I left my last position in order to spend more time with my family. Circumstances have changed, and I'm more than ready for full-time employment again.
- This position seemed like an excellent match for my skills and experience, which I am not able to fully utilize in my present job.
Sample answers:
- First of all, I would like to say that I don’t have any problems with my current employer. I have worked there for over 7 years and have enjoyed my time there. They have provided me with an opportunity to grow both professionally and personally. And from starting as an analyst, I am now a manager of my own team I am very grateful for the confidence they have shown in me and also the experience that I have gained.
- I have loved my time at XXXX Financial and am really proud of the successful marketing campaigns that I have conceived and managed. However, I think the time has come for a change. We are going through some management changes right now and a lot of projects are on hold.