Job Interview Questions: Why did you leave this job? exercise

Made me aware of a vacancy:
(phrase). When a company is hiring new staff, one of the factors they are looking for is commitment. They don't want to hire somebody who they think would likely leave their company within a couple of years.

If you are explaining in a job interview why you left/resigned from a job to take up another position in a different company, you need to try to convince them that you are not a type of person who likes or wants to change job/company frequently.

One of the ways of doing this is to tell them that you weren't actively looking to change jobs before you left a company. The best way to do this is to tell them that you were made aware of the new job by somebody you know (preferably someone you used to work with).

To do this, you use the phrase 'made me aware of a vacancy'. Before this phrase you say who (e.g. 'an ex-work colleague') and after it where (you should say 'in their company'). For example, 'an ex-work colleague made me aware of a vacancy in their company'.

Even if this is false, you should still use it (there's no way that they can check!).

Made me aware of a vacancy:

I think it was the right decision on their part to take:
(phrase) It may seem strange to say in a job interview that you agree with the decision of a previous company to fire/sack you, but there is a good reason to do it.

It shows that you are not only not bitter or angry about what happened, but that you are pragmatic and take responsibility for your own actions. These are qualities/characteristics which many employers are looking for when interviewing candidates.

If you do say that you agree with a decision to fire/sack you, make sure that you say afterwards that you learnt something important from the experience which has made you a better employee/worker.

I think it was the right decision on their part to take:

I was one of 30 staff who were made redundant:
(phrase) Although saying that you were made redundant from a company won't necessarily be seen as something negative by potential employers, it could be.

Most of the times when people are made redundant, the reason is not because of something the people have done wrong. Normally, it is because a company has financial difficulties or is restructuring. But sometimes, companies use it as an excuse to get rid of people who they don't think are important or necessary.

To convince any potential employers that this wasn't the case for you, you need to first explain why the redundancies took place (e.g. 'the company had financial difficulties and had to close down a number of offices'). Then tell them that you were not the only person made redundant.

To tell them you weren't the only people made redundant, you use the sentence 'I was one of 30 (change the number to what you want) staff who were made redundant'.

I was one of 30 staff who were made redundant:

I was let go:
(phrasal verb) For some reason 'to be let go' sounds better (less negative) than saying 'to be fired' or 'to be sacked'. So if you want to tell an interviewer that you were fired from a previous job, use 'I was let go' and not 'I was fired/sacked'.

I was let go:

I didn't have the necessary skills to perform:
(phrase) If you were fired/sacked from a job, there will have been reason(s) why. The worst thing you can do is to directly blame others or the company for you being fired. You need to admit some personal responsibility for what happened. By doing this, it will make you seem honest. And honesty is a quality that employers are looking for in potential employees.

But you have to be careful in the reason(s) you give. Choose reasons which you think any potential employer can appreciate/understand (e.g. 'I didn't have the skills or experience to run a team of analysts', not 'I had a problem with my manager').

Ideally, the reason should be about some skill or ability that you then didn't have which led to you not being able to do your job well. For example, 'in the new role, I didn't have the necessary technical skills to perform the role as efficiently as it should have been done'.

Later, you can then say that since then you have learnt these skills or abilities.

In addition to taking personal responsibility for being fired, I would recommend that you also partially blame the situation (not the company or an individual) for causing you to be fired. You can say how something was changed in what you did or you were moved into a new position in which you had no experience. For example, 'the roles and responsibilities of the job I was doing dramatically changed'.

I didn't have the necessary skills to perform:

I can appreciate why they had to do it:
(phrase) It may seem strange to say in a job interview that you understand why a previous company made you redundant, but there is a good reason why. It shows that you are not only not bitter or angry about what happened, but that you are a pragmatic and objective type of person.

These are qualities/characteristics which many employers are looking for when interviewing candidates.

If you want to, you can also talk about how you enjoyed and benefited from working at the company.

I can appreciate why they had to do it:

The company I left was excellent to work for:
(phrase) Whenever you are asked in a job interview why you left/resigned from a company to take another job, never be critical of the company you left (it will damage your chances of getting the job). It may have been a terrible company to work for and they treated you badly, but you should never say this.

You should say that the company was good or excellent to work for. Then explain a little why. For example, 'The company I left was excellent to work for. I was in charge of a number of projects and got on very well with my colleagues'.

When you then give reasons why you left, focus on the positives of both the company and job you then went to. For example, more responsibility, improving or diversifying your skills etc...

The company I left was excellent to work for:

The situation taught me a very important lesson:
(phrase) Admitting in a job interview that you were partially to blame for being fired/sacked from a previous job will make you seem honest. This is a good thing, honesty is a quality that employers are looking for in potential employees.

But if you do this, you need to reassure the people interviewing you that you no longer make the same mistakes that caused you to be fired/sacked from the job.

To do this, first of all you should say what you would have done differently (e.g. 'in hindsight, I should have been spending more time with the members of my team'). After doing this, you should then tell them what you learnt from the experience.

This is what the phrase 'the situation taught me a very important lesson' is used to introduce. For example, 'The situation taught me a very important lesson. A leader is more than just somebody who tells their staff to do things'.

After this, you need to say that you have successfully used what you have learnt in the jobs that you've had since.

The situation taught me a very important lesson:

It was too good an opportunity to turn down:
(phrase) This is used as a reason why you left/resigned from one company to move to another. It basically means 'I didn't want to leave the company I was working at, but the job I was offered was so good that it would have been stupid of me not to take it'.

This is a reason for leaving a company which the people interviewing you for the job will be able to appreciate.

If you want to, you can explain a little why it was such a good job for you.

It was too good an opportunity to turn down:

The role of the position I had, changed from:
(phrase) If you were fired/sacked from a job, there will have been reason(s) why. The worst thing you can do is to directly blame others or the company for you being fired (e.g. 'my manager felt threatened by me' or 'the company was badly run' etc...).

But you can partially blame a situation for causing you to be fired. You can say how something was changed in what you did or you were moved into a new position in which you had no experience. For example, 'the roles and responsibilities of the job I was doing dramatically changed'.

The phrase 'the role of the position I had, changed from' is used when you want to blame a change in what you were doing in the job for you being fired/sacked. You would normally follow this by saying what the change in your role was. For example, 'the role of the position I had, changed from directly selling to customers to doing marketing'. You would then explain how you didn't have the skills to do this role well.

In addition to this, you should take some personal responsibility for what happened. Taking responsibility for your own actions is something which potential employers like to see.

The role of the position I had, changed from:

In hindsight, I should have:
(phrase) Admitting in a job interview that you were partially to blame for being fired/sacked from a previous job will make you seem honest. This is a good thing, honesty is a quality that employers are looking for in potential employees. But if you do this, you need to reassure the people interviewing you that you no longer make the same mistakes that caused you to be fired/sacked from the job.

After recognising what you did wrong or didn't do well (e.g. 'although I knew the job perfectly, I didn't really know how to run a team'), you should then say what you would have done differently. To introduce this, you should use the phrase 'in hindsight, I should have'. For example, 'in hindsight, I should have been spending more time with the members of my team'.

After doing this, you should then tell them what you learnt from the experience. For example, 'The situation taught me a very important lesson. A leader is more than just somebody who tells their staff to do things'.

In hindsight, I should have:

A more senior role with more potential for self development:
(phrase) Leaving one job to take another job in a different company is very common these days. It's very likely that the people interviewing you for the job will have done the same themselves a few times.

But when you explain why you left/resigned from one job, there are a few things you shouldn't say. You should never give money as a reason for leaving a job (it will question your commitment). And more importantly, never be critical of the company you left in your explanation. They may have lied, cheated or done something bad to you, but you never give this as one of the reason why you left (no potential employer will like to hear this).

Instead, always focus on the positives of the job you went to. This will vary from job to job, but talking about more responsibility, a higher position, improving or diversifying your skills are good reasons to give (and they are things which most potential employers can appreciate).

A more senior role with more potential for self development: