Hiring managers love the ‘Why did you leave your last job' question. As an interviewer, too many people are willing to tell all, and those stories explain a lot about a candidate.
Anthony in Been Fired Lately? says it's not a big deal–everyone's been fired. And for many candidates, I would agree. But here are things I've heard as a hiring manager:
- “Well, I didn't like the work my boss gave me, so I stopped coming in.”
- “I had too much school work, so I stopped working.”
- “I didn't agree with my boss.”
I like asking the question to see what kind of an answer I get, to see if it's something I want to check in the interview or in the reference.
And for the record, I was fired twice and laid off once. The firings were called layoffs, but since I was the only one laid off, I'm pretty sure I was fired. I have not had to fire myself yet 🙂
This is always a question that I prepare for mentally before the interview actually starts. It seems to me as though it is asked at every interview. It goes hand-in-hand with “Why do you want to leave your current job” if your still working and looking for something else. The way I answer that question is to say to myself, no matter what happened with my last job, be as positive as I can because someday this person or company I’m interviewing with will be my last job.