Transitioning jobs can be stressful. People make moves for a million reasons – layoffs from market downturn, opportunity for salary increase in 2022, BigTech layoffs in 2023. It makes sense that this is not the easiest thing to discuss, especially in an interview! The person interviewing you has likely been laid off, moved quickly, took a chance on an opportunity, etc.
Since 2020 we have seen wild swings in the market between candidate and employer-driven moves. People make moves for any number of reasons. The conversation is inevitable and nothing to be afraid of. It’s all the more reason to prepare more, and practice talking about transitions/reasons for leaving positions.
Here are a few things to keep in mind while speaking through career transitions in interviews:
Steer clear from being defensive. Everyone’s got moves. It is easy and human-nature to get defensive, especially if the move was not your choice. Owning a false step or a ‘jumpy’ background can help you stay in front of any criticism. Acknowledging this can show awareness and personal growth – key characteristics interviewers look for!
Practice your career story. It is always going to come up: “Why did you leave x company? What are you looking for next?” Use your network and take advantage of your WCS recruiter’s expertise for a run down on how to describe your situation. Discuss your career from bottom of the resume up in high-level terms and add concrete details as necessary. Communicating control of your career and narrative is important.
There is no ‘right’ answer. Trying to create a narrative based around your old position and why you just had to get out of there never works – no matter how true it may be. At some point you will misspeak, be inconsistent or come across as untruthful. And trash-talking a company you used to work for shows interviewers you’d rather jump ship or blame someone else than make an effort to improve a bad situation.
Stay positive, but articulate a reason for leaving. We have seen people who are too negative and people who are too positive. There is an area in between. An interviewer will be suspicious of someone who has nothing nice to say about their previous role… but not as suspicious as they are of someone stating they are in a dream job, but looking for something new. The middle ground is being professional about past experiences, positive and negative, and clearly stating what you are lacking in your current position. If unemployed, you can still articulate that you are in control of your career.
Get in touch with a WhiteCap Search recruiter to talk about your next career move!
