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Loss is inevitable! Relationships, family, friends and jobs; we love ‘em and we lose ‘em! Truly; loss is hard, sad, disruptive, and you can’t help but be affected in some way. Each loss is different and individual, but when someone or something means a great deal to you, their absence from your life is palpable.
When it comes to the loss of a job, one can feel subjected to multiple losses. It’s not just the end of that work you really loved and/or held for many years. It is the loss of the relationships you built on that job. The structure of your day will change (hopefully only temporarily!). Support systems, information, tools and more will disappear. You could find yourself missing the infectious laughter of a coworker, the smells and tastes of that awesome food truck parked outside, the feelings of belonging, the comradery, your identify, and sense of accomplishment both individually and as part of a team.
Or, maybe you won’t miss a thing about the job; particularly the commute, the annoyingly inappropriate laughter or comments of … (continued)
Tough Interview Questions and Answers
Every other week or so we pose a question you might get asked during an interview and a suggestion on how you might formulate your answer.
This week’s question:
What’s wrong with your present firm?
An interviewer that asks this question has already been made aware – either directly from you the applicant or from your online application – that you are looking for a new position with a new employer. It is unlikely this question would be asked of someone who is not presently working. If this question is asked of someone not presently employed, it could be an indicator of the interviewer’s lack of preparation and familiarity with you and your situation.
If you are seeking a position with a competitor of your soon-to-be former employer, your interviewer might be trying to ascertain business intelligence that could be useful at the firm where you are interviewing. This could be a slippery slope if you’ve ever signed non-disclosure agreements discouraging you from discussing your work or your employer. In this scenario, the employer could ask probing questions seeking to uncover if there really are things “wrong” with their competition, and use that information in an effort to gain competitive advantages.
But more likely – especially if you are just looking for a new challenge or change of scenery – your interviewer really doesn’t want to know about wrongs going on where you presently work. The interviewer wants to gage your perspective on what it’s like to work at your current job. The things you say about your current employer, coworkers, working conditions, company goals and activities will say a lot about you and potentially reveal perspectives, attitudes, biases that can work in your favor or against you, depending on how you choose to answer and the information you choose to provide.
My recommendation is for you to keep things simple. Say something along the lines of: “There’s nothing wrong with the firm. I’m just ready for a new challenge and new surroundings.” If pressured by your interviewer, you could add that you believe there were no further opportunities for you. Responses such as these can’t get you into hot water with your current employer, and won’t reveal anything that can be misconstrued or used against you by the interviewer where you hope to be next employed.
To see previous installments of
Tough Interview Questions and Answers,
click here
(Most recent are at the bottom of the list.)
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