CAB 15. Why do you want to leave your current job?

Dear friends,

In the last edition of Career Autobahn, I listed the top 10 common interview questions and I gave my guidance on how to answer the first 5 questions.

- Tell me about yourself

- Why are you the best candidate for the job?

- Tell me one big achievement that you are proud of

- Tell me about a project that failed and what did you learn from that?

- Tell me 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses

Now I will give my guide for the rest of the questions

- Why do you want this role?

- What do you want to work for this company?

- Why do you want to leave your current job?

- What’s your 5 year plan?

- Do you have any questions

Why do you want this role?

For this, make sure that you have read the job description properly. Then let the interviewer know which aspects of the job interest you the most and how this is in line with your career aspiration. You can also add how some of the skills that you have now is transferable to the job that you are applying for.

Most importantly, when answering this question is to show your passion. No matter how good your answer is, if you deliver it without any passion then the interviewer is not going to believe your reasons.

Why do you want to work for this company?

You must do your background research on the company. The minimum is to do a simple google search. Even better if you go to the company and read about their mission and vision. You are not expected to remember a lot of things but find one or two things that truly capture your attention and is aligned with your values and then highlight this to the interviewer.

For pharmaceutical companies, find out what is their pipeline and which compound is expected to be launched in the next 2-3 years.

Why do you want to leave your current job?

From the interviewer side, I want to rule out a trouble maker or a low performer. So make sure that you have a credible believable story for why you want to leave your current job. Things like the workload is too much or the boss is not very understanding are not good answers. 

Remember that there are always more than one side of a story so the interviewer might be wondering what would the other side say about you. 

A good answer for this would be something along the line that you have been waiting for a promotion for quite sometime but there is no chance of an opening anytime soon, that’s why you are looking out for a career progression.

What is your 5-year career plan?

For this one, what the interviewer want to hear is that you are ambitious and have plans to grow and climb the career ladder within the company. Hiring and training somebody requires a lot of time and energy, so therefore the interviewer want to make sure that you are not planning to leave the company after just 2 years.

Someone gave me an answer once that he wants to open a cafe in 5 years time. That was not the answer that I was looking for.

Do you have any questions for me?

Please don’t say that you don’t have any questions for the interviewer. It shows that you are not prepared and have not bothered to research any questions. What you can ask are things that are related to the interviewer and the company.

For example, you can ask ‘what is the priority for the team for the rest of the year’. Or could also be ‘how does the company approach learning and development’.

There are many good questions that you can ask at this stage to show that you are really interested in joining the team & company, so don’t waste the chance to ask questions.

In this and the previous edition of the newsletter I have covered the top 10 most common interview questions. This does not cover however the technical questions that will also be asked during the interview. You must do your homework to make sure that you are up to date with the technical knowledge too.

And also for managerial positions, there will be other questions that are specific to that and I will cover it in the next edition of Career Autobahn

Thank you

Doktor Az

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Show your passion during the interview.

Rehearse your interview answers with a close friend and get their honest feedback

Career Autobahn Workshop

To help you take charge of your career, I will be organising a 2-day workshop in January designed specifically for ambitious young professionals like you. 

Divided across 4 modules, I will guide you on how to plan your career, how to improve your current CV, how to excel your interview, how to give a powerful presentation and how to network confidently.

All these are key skills for you to master in order to climb the career ladder.

Here is the outline of the training 

Saturday 6th January 9am-5pm

Module 1 - How to plan your 5 year career goal and how to write an attractive CV

Module 2 - How to be the Best Candidate during an Interview

Saturday 27th January 9am-5pm

Module 3 - How to be an Engaging Presenter

Module 4 - How to Network Like a Pro

Location is at Iconik Co-working Space in Petaling Jaya.

Price is RM50 per module to cover logistical cost. There is a 25% discount if you signed up for all 4 modules. 

The registration link is not ready yet so please email me and I will put you on the registration list