“Why have you changed jobs so often?” is a common interview question.
During a job interview, the person who will hire you might ask you about your past jobs. If your resume shows a lot of job changes, they might want to know why. If you know how to answer the interviewer’s question about how often you change jobs, you can put their minds at ease and show how committed you are to the new job. We’ll talk about why employers want to know how often you change jobs and how to answer this question in this article. We’ll also give you some examples to help you figure out what to say. “Why have you changed jobs so often?”
Why employers ask if you want to leave your job so often
Employers often ask about past jobs to make sure that the people they want to hire won’t quit right away. When your work history shows that you’ve switched jobs a lot, an employer may want to know if the job fits with your long-term career goals. They might also ask this to find out how you felt about your last job and if any of the reasons you gave could affect your chances of getting a new job.
Telling the interviewer your opinion in a confident and honest way can help you gain their trust. Use this time to talk about your skills, interests, and abilities, and show that you want to work for the company for a long time. Assure the interviewer that you will fit in well with the company’s culture and that you will be able to work well with your coworkers, clients, and managers.
How to answer a question about how often you change jobs:
Here are some ways to talk about how often you switch jobs:
1. Check what the job requires.
Read the job description to learn what you need to do to get the job. Check out the company to learn more about the people who work there and how they do their jobs. Take note of the exact words and phrases the company uses to describe what it needs. Think about what you’re good at and what skills you have that will help you meet those needs. You can use this information in your answer to show that you are a good fit for the company’s work culture and that you can do well on the job by doing your tasks well.
2. Be aware of why people quit their jobs.
Think about why you originally wanted the job. Get out your resume and see how your work history has changed. Think about the jobs you’ve had in the past, what you liked and didn’t like about them, and why you left them for something else. Try to give a clear reason on your resume for every job you’ve had.
Give reasons that don’t make you or your employers look bad. Some common reasons for leaving a job are the end of a project, company-wide layoffs, or a change in the way the company works. You could also give an outside reason, like moving to a different city, getting a job close to home, starting your own business, or going to college.
3. Put yourself in the shoes of the interviewer.
Think about how the interviewer might see your answer. If they want candidates who want to work there for a long time, make sure your answer shows that you want a long-term job. You could also link the changes to how determined and committed you are. For example, you can say that you change jobs often to take on more responsibilities or move up to a leadership position.
4. Look at the good things about the changes.
Employers might try to find patterns in the answers you give. For example, they might try to find out if you were always negative about your previous jobs or if you switched jobs to make more money. If you say something negative, they might doubt your ability to help the organization in a good way.
Focus on the good things about your new job, like career growth, more challenges, or a better way to learn. Assure the interviewer that you left your last job for the right reasons.
5. Talk about what’s to come.
Talk about what you can bring to the new job and how you can help the business reach its goals. Show how excited and interested you are about the opportunities in the new job. Tell the interviewer what you liked about your past jobs and how they can help you do well in the new role. Refer to specific tasks and responsibilities that fit well with your skills and experience. This can help you move the conversation away from your past jobs and toward what you can do in the future. It also shows that you did enough research about the job before you applied.
Example: “Yesterday, I was looking at your website. I heard that your company is working on a project to make robots that can serve food instead of people in big restaurants and cafes. I’ve always wanted to work on AI, and I have some ideas I could bring to this project.
6. Answer them honestly.
Depending on how you answer, the interviewer may want to know more about your job changes. Be honest and tell them the truth. For instance, you might want to go to college after working for a year, so you’re looking for a temporary job.
7. Show how each change leads to the next one
Tell how the different jobs helped you move forward in your career. Talk about what you learned and how it helped you in each job. Try to show that each new job was more advanced or difficult than the one before it. If your resume shows that you’ve moved from one similar or lateral position to another, such as leaving a sales executive job at one company to become a sales executive at another, explain how each job was different.
What to write in your answer
You might want to include the following in your answer:
- Details about why you left your previous jobs
- References that are good about your past jobs and employers
- Details about how you work with your coworkers and bosses
- Information about how your skills will help you reach your new career goals
- Details about how much you care about and want the new job
- Assure the company that you plan to stay there for a long time.
- Details on what you can do to help the company reach its goals
What not to say in your answer
You might want to leave out the following from your answer:
- Negative comments about past employers or the way you worked
- Information from your past jobs that can’t be shared
- not caring or being interested
- Apologies for your frequent job changes
- Job changes for unclear reasons
- Giving the impression that you quit jobs just to get paid more
- Don’t care about your new job
How to respond
Here are some examples of how to answer the interview question about changing jobs often:
Example 1
“I never thought I would change jobs so often, but it’s been a great way to learn. At my first job, the company I worked for merged with another, and my position was cut from the new organization. In the second case, the office moved six months after I joined the company. The new office was more than 25 kilometers from my house, and it took me more than three hours to get there every day.
Example 2
“I started working as an apprentice for the first company while I was still in college. It gave me a great chance to learn about product research and analyzing the competition. After I finished my Master of Business Association, I wanted to move into a position with more responsibility where I could directly help the company grow its market share. I became a senior sales officer at the second company and oversaw a group of 12 sales executives. I love my job, but I’m more interested in electronics, and I want to use my marketing skills in this field.”
Example 3
“I liked the work I did at my last job. Because it was a new business, I could work in different areas. But it also meant I had to work a lot of late hours. My wife and I were having trouble finding a good balance between work and life. I need an organization that is more stable and gives me more time to take care of my growing family. I’m glad to have found this job opening in your company, which seems like a good fit for my skills.”
