Job Hunt

Explaining Why You Left a Job

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Hiring new employees is expensive for a company. There’s the time and effort involved in attracting candidates, screening them, and conducting interviews. There’s staff time required to set the person up in the human resources and benefit system, plus the expense to onboard and train the new hire. These expenses can add up to hundreds — or even thousands — of dollars. As a result, hiring managers want to ensure the candidate will be a good fit. Questions asked in the interview process will help determine if a prospective employee is a good match for the company and role.

One question you’re likely to be asked in an interview is why you left your last job (or why you want to leave your current position). You need to be ready to answer this question.

The question may be asked in a variety of different ways:

  • Why are you looking for a new position?
  • Why did you leave your most recent position?
  • Why did you leave (a previous job)?
  • Your prospective employer wants to know that you’re going to be successful in your new role, if you’re offered the position. So having an understanding of why you are moving on can be critical. The interviewer is looking for insight into why you may — or may not — be a good fit at this company. Because past performance is often a good indicator of future performance, learning more about how you fit in at a previous job may give insight into your potential for success in this job.

For example:

  • Was there a good reason you left? If you were with your previous company for five years and you left when the company was sold, that’s understandable. However, if you say that your commute was too long, but you’re interviewing in the same area, your employer may wonder if you’re going to stick around for more than a few months as well! (Or they may wonder if there was another reason for your departure from your previous job.)
  • Did you quit, or were you fired? Sometimes, good employees are let go due to no fault of their own — such as when a company eliminates an entire division, or dismisses all employees with a certain job title. However, if that wasn’t the case, the interviewer will want to determine if there were performance or integrity issues that resulted in your departure. The circumstances of your separation from the company can help answer this question: Are you a loyal employee who values work?
  • Are you still on good terms with your previous employer? Employees who burn bridges when they quit may demonstrate their inability to handle conflict. But if you left a company while still maintaining a relationship with your previous boss, that’s a good sign for the prospective employer. If your previous supervisor allowed you to use him or her as a reference for this job, that’s a great sign. The interviewer wants to know if you can exit a situation while remaining on good terms with others.

There are some particular “red flags” that a hiring manager is looking for. These include personality conflicts, a negative attitude, or poor performance.

What Are Some Likely Reasons For Leaving a Job?

While there are many reasons why you might leave a job, here are some common ones:

  • Your position is being eliminated. Whether due to budget cuts, the elimination of a division, loss of a client, or working in a declining industry (such as retail), sometimes job cuts are not personal. Being laid off — particularly when it’s unrelated to performance — can happen to anyone.
  • The company you work for is being acquired. Duplication of positions is not uncommon when one company acquires another. Layoffs and job reductions can often result from a company’s purchase or sale.
  • You are seeking new challenges. If your current role doesn’t offer opportunities for advancement, and you’re looking for new challenges and/or more responsibilities in your next position, be prepared to highlight your accomplishments in your current job and be specific about what about the role you’re seeking meets your desire to take on greater responsibilities.
  • This is your dream job. Almost every jobseeker has a “dream job” in mind — and no matter how much you like your current job, if that position becomes available, you’d be crazy not to apply for it. Let the interviewer know this is that opportunity for you.
  • Expectations changed. Whether because of new management, budget cuts, a shift in company strategy, or something else, your current role may have changed enough to where either you — or the company — decide it’s no longer a fit. If you were let go because you failed to meet your manager’s expectations, make it known that you have learned from the experience (and make sure the questions you ask in the interview are geared towards finding what the expectations and outcomes of the current role would be).
  • You want to make a change. Whether you are seeking a career change — or a life change — make sure you are prepared to discuss why you want to make a change. Specifically, what will be different about your next job that wasn’t true about your previous position (or previous career)?
  • You were fired for cause. Be honest about the fact that you were fired, putting emphasis on why this was an isolated incident (if it was) and the lesson you learned.
  • It was an unplanned departure. Needing to take care of a family member, or having an unexpected health crisis can make it difficult to keep your job. In the interview, emphasize that the situation has resolved itself and what you did to stay current in your field during your absence (i.e., freelance work, volunteering, and/or ongoing training and education).

Should You List the Reason You Left a Job on Your Résumé?

Most of the time, you should not list the reason why you left your current job on your résumé. For previous positions, you may include the reason, if it helps tell the story of your career progression. For example, if your company was acquired or sold, you may include that description. (“Division was sold in 2016 to ABC Brands and position was eliminated.”) Or, if you were recruited away by a competitor, you could disclose that. “Recruited to lead newly-formed department, assembling a team that achieved 14 percent market penetration in first year.”

However, including that type of information on the résumé is not necessary. You may, however, include the reason for your departure — or your reason for pursuing the current role — in your cover letter. It’s not a requirement, however, and because it’s almost guaranteed to be brought up in the interview, you may not want to address it in the cover letter.

Four Tips for Answering The Tough Question About Why You Left a Job

  • Don’t lie. A quick phone call to your previous supervisor can verify — or disprove — the reason you provided. Better to be honest than get caught lying.
  • Never be negative about your previous employer when asked why you left the previous job. You can mention parts of the job that weren’t a good fit for your personality or experience — but only if you are sure those responsibilities are not a part of the new job too. Don’t criticize your previous supervisor or co-workers.
  • Don’t be defensive. Instead, focus on objective reasons for your departure. Avoid negativity or blame. Don’t position yourself as a victim. Stating that the position wasn’t what you expected it to be is a better way to describe the situation than “My boss didn’t give me clear expectations about how to do my job.”
  • Emphasize the positive. Why are you interested in this job? Position yourself as moving forward. If this is your ideal role or dream job, say so!

What Not to Wear…For a Job Interview

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Dressing for interviews has gotten harder as workplace attire has become more casual. But one thing that hasn’t changed in the job search process is that people will judge you based on first impressions.

What you wear to an interview may have changed — in some situations — but the need to dress appropriately for the interview has not. It used to be that a suit (for men) and a dress (for women) was required attire for a job interview. Now, wearing a suit might actually work against you — for example, it might signal to a prospective employer that you don’t understand the organizational culture. (Particularly if the employee dress code leans more towards jeans and sneakers than ties and loafers.)

While it’s important to feel comfortable in what you wear to an interview, you don’t want to look too comfortable. Little details about your attire will likely be noted by the interviewer and can make the difference between getting a second interview (or job offer) or not.

Dressing appropriately for an interview demonstrates that you’ve done your research and that you pay attention to detail. Just like you study the organization’s website ahead of time to be prepared for a job interview, studying the company culture — especially as it relates to employee attire — demonstrates your interest in working for the organization.

The hiring manager can form an impression about you in the first five seconds of meeting you. Dressing appropriately conveys a very different impression than an impression made with poorly hemmed pants and shoes that are falling apart. It’s very difficult to change a first impression.

Even if your interview is a virtual interview (telephone or video — i.e., Skype), you should still “dress to impress.” Don’t make the mistake of only dressing your top half for a video interview either. There are dozens of horror stories about having to stand up suddenly or change positions and your suit-on-top-shorts-on-the-bottom look is revealed.

Interviewing When You’re Currently Employed

If you are job hunting while you are currently employed, you might find yourself wondering what to do if you have a job interview scheduled for a day you have to work. How do you dress for an interview when the interview attire is significantly different from what you wear to work in your existing job? You don’t want to show up for work in a suit when you normally come to work dressed in khaki pants and a button-up shirt.

Instead, plan to change clothes before your interview — but don’t change at your current workplace or at the company where you are interviewing. Instead, change somewhere in between — preferably some place that you will have access to a full-length mirror so you can double-check every detail of your appearance. If you don’t have time to go home, a mall or clothing store can be options. Be sure to allow yourself plenty of time to change and still get to the interview a few minutes early.

Interviewing at a New Organization

First, you need to research the organization’s dress code. How can you do that? Ask someone who works there. If you don’t know anyone who works there, go by the worksite at the beginning or end of the day (or during lunch) and see what people are wearing as they go in and out of the building.

Once you have a general idea of dress code, you need to decide how to apply that information to what you’re actually going to wear. One guideline for interview attire is to “Dress One Step Higher.” Once you know what an employee in the position you’re applying for would normally wear to work, elevate it one notch. So, for example, if the typical employee wears khaki pants and a button-up shirt, you might wear dress slacks, a blazer, and a shirt with a tie. For women, a pair of black dress slacks can be worn with a nice sweater and/or button-up shirt or blouse, or button-up shirt and blazer or jacket, and dress shoes or low-heeled shoes. A modest dress (knee length or longer in an interesting color or a muted pattern) is also an option.

Regardless, don’t let your clothes be a distraction. You want the focus to be on you, not what you’re wearing. Be remembered for your interview answers, not your interview attire.

Getting Back to Work After Vacation: 8 Ideas to Ease Your Stress

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While most of us like going on vacation, many of us dread going back to work. Visions of hundreds of emails to go through, projects dumped on our desks during our break, and just returning to place you don’t love in the first place, are dancing in our heads. In fact, those visions can keep us from taking time off at all! According to one recent study, more than 50% of Americans leave vacation time on the table. Don’t be one of them!

Here are 8 ways to make returning to work less stressful:

Preparing before you leave, helps the return. Be sure to change your voice mail and set your email to out-of-office auto-response. This lets people know that you’re out and hopefully avoids nasty messages about why you haven’t returned their calls! Make a list of pending projects too so you know what needs to be addressed when you return without thinking about it.

  1. Give yourself a day at home before returning to work. Having a day to go through mail (well, some of us still get mail), unpack, do your laundry, and just get organized will help you feel better when you walk through that work door.
  2. Consider returning to work midweek. Airfare is usually cheaper midweek than during the weekend; even better, this will mean your first week back is a short one!
  3. Minimize commitments on your first day back. If possible, try not to schedule meetings and deadlines for your first day back. This will help you ease back into things.
  4. Commit to spending no more than 30 minutes reviewing your emails on your return. Some things will have taken care of themselves during your absence. Some things don’t matter anymore. Focus on triaging your email box. There’s no rule that says you must read every email in chronological order—you could sort them by sender, topic, etc. And, if you’re willing, consider spending a few minutes eyeballing your email before you walk into the office so you know what you’re facing.
  5. Bring a small souvenir to work or go to lunch at a place that serves food that reminds you of your vacation. This is an easy way to remind yourself of your vacation.
  6. Don’t gloat or brag. While you may still be excited about your vacations and others may ask about it, save your photos and detailed stories for your friends during lunch.
  7. Treat yourself your first week back. Perhaps you can schedule lunch with a friend or go to the gym or go see a movie that’s on your list. If you do something fun, that will help ease that transition. Be sure to leave work on time too.

Veterans’ Appointment Authorities; Beyond Preference and Points

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While you may be familiar with veterans’ preference and points, there are other hiring eligibilities for which you may be eligible. In order to be considered for some of these hiring authorities, be sure to check-off your eligibility in your USAJOBS Profile, mark the eligibility(ies) under which you wish be considered when you apply, and include your eligibility(ies) on your resume. While you are not entitled to be hired under these authorities, you can let your network know that you are eligible. Here are some of the more common veterans’ hiring authorities:

• Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA). VRA is a non-competitive appointment authority; this means you can be appointed without competition if you qualified. Qualifications include: serving during a war or being in receipt of a campaign badge; OR are a disabled veteran; OR are in receipt of an Armed Forces Service Medal for participation in a military operation; OR have separated within the past 3 years; AND separated under honorable conditions. VRA can be used for appointments of GS-11 or below.

• 30% or More Compensably Disabled Veteran: this is also a non-competitive appointment authority. To be eligible, you must have a service-connected disability rating of at least 30% from the Department of Veterans Affairs; OR be retired from active military service with a 30% or more disability rating. You do not get “extra credit” for having more than a 30% disability rating. There is no grade level restriction for appointments made under this authority.

• Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA). VEOA applies only when the agency is filling a permanent, competitive service position and has decided to solicit candidates from outside its own workforce. It allows eligible veterans and preference eligibles to apply to announcements that would otherwise be open to so called “status” candidates, i.e., “current competitive service employees and certain prior employees who have earned competitive status.” To qualify, your latest discharge must be under honorable conditions AND you must be a preference eligible OR a veteran who has completed 3 or more years of active duty. You receive no points when you apply under VEOA, nor does VEOA entitle you to be selected ahead of non-preference eligible applicants. Again, there is no grade restriction to this appointment authority.

• Disabled Veterans Enrolled in a VA Training Program. Disabled veterans eligible for training under the VA vocational rehabilitation program may enroll for training or work experience at an agency under the terms of an agreement between the agency and VA. While enrolled in the VA program, the veteran is not a Federal employee for most purposes but is a beneficiary of the VA.

The above is not intended to be a complete discussion of these authorities. In all cases, final determinations of eligibility for these and other appointment authorities is the responsibility of the agency Human Resources (HR) office. Applicants should be sure to include readable copies of their DD-214 and SF-15 (if applicable) when applying for federal positions.

When Veterans’ Preference Doesn’t Apply

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I’m a Veteran, So Why Don’t I Get “Points?” Veterans’ preference, as most of your know, is used in federal hiring. However, not all veterans receive “points” and points to do not apply in all federal hiring situations. Let’s look a couple of situations where veterans’ preference does not count:

  • Veterans’ preference is not applicable for internal promotions, reassignments, and other personnel actions regarding existing federal employees. Veterans preference points apply only in announcements that are open to all citizens / all sources / delegated examining. If you are applying for positions open to status applicants or are being reassigned from one position to another, there is no consideration of veterans’ preference.
  • If you are applying for a position using your Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) eligibility, there is no consideration of veterans’ preference points. When you apply under VEOA, you are applying as a “status” applicant, and as noted above, veterans’ preference points are not considered for status postings.
  • You are not eligible for veterans’ preference points. Former military members at O-4 and above do not receive “points” unless they have been given a disability rating by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
  • You received a dishonorable discharge. Only veterans discharged or released from active duty in the armed forces under honorable conditions are eligible for veterans’ preference. This means you must have an honorable or general discharge.
  • You are a “retired member of the armed forces.” Unless you have a disability rating OR you retired below the rank of major or its equivalent, you are not eligible for points.
  • You are applying for a position in the excepted, rather than the competitive service. Not all positions in the excepted service apply veterans’ preference points (although many do). If you are applying for a position in the excepted service that is exempt from 5 CFR 302, veterans preference does not apply.
  • You did not service during certain designated periods. If you do NOT meet the following, you are eligible for points (unless you have a service connected disability or received a Purple Heart):
    – For more than 180 consecutive days, other than for training, any part of which occurred during the period beginning September 11, 2001, and ending on August 31, 2010, the last day of Operation Iraqi Freedom, OR
    – During the Gulf War, between August 2, 1990 and January 2, 1992, OR
    – For more than 180 consecutive days, other than for training, any part of which occurred after January 31, 1955 and before October 15, 1976, OR
    – Between April 28, 1952 and July 1, 1955 OR
    – In a war, campaign or expedition for which a campaign medal or badge has been authorized.
  • You have 0 Point Preference. If you were released or discharged from a period of active duty from the armed forces, after August 29, 2008, by reason of being the only surviving child in a family in which the father or mother or one or more siblings:
    1. Served in the armed forces, and
    2. Was killed, died as a result of wounds, accident, or disease, is in a captured or missing in action status, or is permanently 100 percent disabled or hospitalized on a continuing basis (and is not employed gainfully because of the disability or hospitalization), where;
    3. The death, status, or disability did not result from the intentional misconduct or willful neglect of the parent or sibling and was not incurred during a period of unauthorized absence.

Still not sure? Use the Department of Labor’s Veteran’s Preference Advisor which can be found at: http://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/vets/vetpref/mservice.htm.