It is unlikely you will miss the question ‘why do you need a new job’ as the recruiter seeks the motive in your moving to another job. Without prior preparation for this question, you might realize that you said things that did not go down well with the recruiter. You might also realize, though late, that you failed to give a tangible explanation deemed important to your career ambition and the good of your prospective recruiter.
According to Frida Abuya, a HR consultant at Virtual HR, you should bare yourself to your interviewer when asked why you need to move from your previous job.
“Just be frank. In my profession, I have seen many people come and go from one job to another and I had no grounds to dispute the reasons they gave in needing a new job,” Ms Abuya discloses.
She goes ahead to offer various tips on how you can tackle the question ‘why do you need a new job’ in a way that will leave the recruiter convinced that you actually need a new venture.
3 Ways To Answer The Question ‘Why Do You Need A New Job’
The trick to all this tips is basic. Show that you are not too desperate to move to a new job. You should rather show that given a chance, you would be more comfortable doing a new job. So above everything else, be calm.
1.You need a more challenging job
Show that you are done with your previous level of profession and that you are now ready for more challenging tasks.
According to Ms Abuya, this is perhaps the best answer any recruiter would be glad to hear from you. She goes on to give a typical answer in this case.
“In my previous job as a Customer Service Representative at company XYZ, I was able to handle an average of 20 customers in a day and still had some time left in the day. Since yours is a bigger company, I believe I am now ready to handle an additional number of clients satisfactorily.”
However, this answer should be put in a situation that will convince the recruiter that you have actually left no stone untouched at your previous job. The catch is simple- do you have previous achievements to show?
2.Looking for greener pastures
Saying that you are looking for greener pastures is also an acceptable answer in the job interview scenario when asked the question ‘why do you need a new job’.
“Explain that your responsibilities have grown more and you need a better pay to meet them,” Ms Abuya says.
According to the HR expert, there is nothing wrong in you talking about money to the recruiter as they understand that money is a motivating factor in the job search market. If you have the skills they are looking for, you will definitely land the job with a better package. Here is a typical answer to guide you
“For the three years I have been working at company ABC, my salary has only increased by 10%. This is a little below my expenditure because my responsibilities have also increased. I am therefore looking for a new job that will offer a better pay as compared to my previous job”
This anser can work best for you if the both of you-you and the recruiter have already established ground for salary or if at least you both have an idea of what you are earning and if it is actually higher than your previous pay.
3.In search of conducive environment
According to Ms Abuya, there are two organizational cultures that people run away from and look for new jobs elsewhere: bad politics and unimaginable pressure.
“I have a friend of mine who had to quit a job from a University when she thought she could no longer put up with bad politics at the work place,”
“She said that she was always exposed to negative criticism at the workplace with some of her colleagues, jealous of her success, asking her to her face why she was getting more pay than the rest of them yet she was only new at the institution,” Ms Abuya shares.
She says that placed as a recruiter, this was reason enough for someone to look for a new job. Bad politics at the workplace affect your output.
On pressure at work, the HR expert says that an employee can only perform to a given limit. Going further would bring you to a bursting level, a situation that most people run from to look for a new job.
She gives a typical answer in terms of another friend of hers who had to quit job because from pressure from her manager.
“In her previous job as a HR manager, the CEO asked her to give a job to someone she presumed was their relative. This was difficult for her as there were no opportunities at the moment, but the CEO kept pressing her,” Ms abuya narrates of her friend.
Such an answer is an example of too much pressure to handle at the workplace that you can give to convince the recruiter than you need a new job with a better working environment.
In summary, the HR expert divulges on the importance of first gauging the personality of whoever is interviewing you before going about talking ill of previous companies.
