Job Interviews - How to Answer the "Why Do You Want To Leave Your Current Job?" Question

It is common for hiring managers to ask why you want to leave your current job. How you answer that question can have a big impact on your chances of getting the new position. So don't blow it!When answering the "Why do you want to leave your current job?" question, my advice is to be honest (to a point), positive and upbeat.

There are many reasons to leave a job. Most people are looking for career advancement opportunities or new challenges. Sometimes companies get into financial difficulty and have to reduce their work force. Where I live, many people would leave their current job simply to have one with a shorter commute!

Those are pretty straightforward reasons that anyone would understand.

Job Interviews - How to Answer the "Why Do You Want To Leave Your Current Job?" Question

Then there are people who want to leave because they do not like their job or their boss. But NEVER say anything negative about the company or people you are working for. If you do, the interviewer may think of you as a complainer who has a problem with authority or cannot get along with others.

So, even if the reason you want to leave is that you hate your job or do not get along with your boss, give a different reason for wanting to leave. You do not have to lie; just be discreetly selective with your answer.

Sample answers:

"I've worked with ABC Company for five years, and during that time I've achieved all of the goals I set for myself. I enjoy my job, but my advancement opportunities there are limited. I'm looking for new challenges with a larger organization, like yours. With my experience in (whatever), I'm sure I could contribute to your company's mission (be as specific as possible here) and continued success."

OR...

"To be honest, I don't want to leave. I've enjoyed my work at XYZ Company and have had great success there. But the company is going through a tough time and is downsizing its staff, so it's time for me to move on. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. I've admired your company for years and am excited to have this opportunity to interview with you. I feel my experience at XYZ Company will enable me to help you with...(whatever)."

OR...

"I like my current job, but I'm interested in changing career paths. I'd like to broaden my horizons and find new ways to contribute to an organization's goals. This position with your company would allow me to do that by...(whatever)."

Try to include specific information relevant to the company you're interviewing with. For example, if you know the company participates in community environmental events, mention that ("I'm also eager to work for a company that helps the environment.").

KEY: The more you use specific information that shows you are knowledgeable about the job and the company for which you're applying, the sweeter your answer will sound to the interviewer!

Read "The Job Interview Success System" (mentioned below) for more great job interview tips.

Job Interviews - How to Answer the "Why Do You Want To Leave Your Current Job?" Question
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Bonnie Lowe has been helping job seekers get hired for many years, and is author of the book, The Job Interview Success System.

Telephone Interviews - 5 Top Tips for Success

Telephone interviews are used by employers as a means to reduce the number of candidates for a face to face interview in order to make sure the best candidates are seen. A number of employers now ask an external agency to carry out this type of interview, especially in the case of graduate recruitment.

So what do you need to do to be successful in passing a telephone interview and to get put forward for a face to face interview? The tips given in this guide are the ones we give to our career coaching clients. It also incorporates some of the techniques our career coaching clients have told us have worked for them.

Prepare as for an Interview; some people do not see the telephone interview as an interview and treat it like any other telephone call. This is a fatal error you must treat it as an interview. You need to prepare and make sure you are not disturbed during the call. We always suggest to our career coaching clients that they spend at least 15 minutes prior to the call re-reading their notes
Create the Right Environment; make sure that all background noise is turned off eg the radio and music. This is both distracting and will make you appear unprofessional. If possible arrange the interview for when no one else is in the house. There's nothing worse than having the family shouting at each other when you are trying to sell yourself. Telephone interviews normally last for between 30 minutes to an hour; this will depend on the type of job
Your CV; Before the interview practice running through your CV in no more than 3 minutes. Look for the achievements and experience you want to highlight that are relevant to the job. Put your CV by the phone you will be using. You can then use it as a crib sheet during the interview. You may also want to consider putting your achievements on a separate list so you can make sure you highlight them all
What do They Want to Know; this is an interview to filter out the candidates to go forward for a face to face interview. Think about the key things the employer is likely to want to know. Go back to the advert or job specification and look at the items listed as essential - these are the things that are likely to come up in the telephone interview. Employers will not want to waste their time with a face to face interview if candidates do not meet the minimum requirements. Other than specific experience they will be looking for: interpersonal skills, communication skills, evidence that you can work as part of a team. Once you have an idea of what they are going to be looking for find examples from your experience. Write down each example so you can have them by the phone. Make sure you practice them beforehand with a friend or member of the family. Your answers should be no more than 2 minutes long
During the Call; make sure you speak clearly and listen carefully to each question. Do not interrupt the interviewer. Keep a glass of water nearby. But do not chew gum or smoke - an interviewer will hear this and you may get rejected. Take your time answering each question, but if you pause tell the interviewer you are thinking - or they may think you have left the room! Remember to keep your answers short and to the point. Where you are explaining how you have done something in the past make sure you include the result of your action.

Telephone Interviews - 5 Top Tips for Success

If you follow all these tips you will be prepared, confident and relaxed during the interview. This will give you every chance of getting to the face to face interview stage.

Telephone Interviews - 5 Top Tips for Success
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Tony Goddard is the Director of Tony Goddard Consulting, an Executive and Career Coaching Company. Prior to becoming a Coach Tony was a Director of Human Resources and has many years experience of selecting candidates for roles at all levels of seniority and across all functional areas. More information is available about Tony and his Executive and Career Coaching Company at: http://www.tonygoddardconsulting.com/career-coaching/

More free guidance on Interviews and Assessment Centres is available at the Company Blog http://www.tonygoddardconsulting.com/blog/

Write Your Family History - 50 Questions You Must Ask Parents Or Grandparents Before They Die

No one expected it.

While climbing into his hot tub, my healthy 87- year-old father-in-law slipped, fell, and broke a rib. He began internal bleeding that the doctors couldn't stop. In two weeks, Gene was gone.

Fortunately, we had taken time a few months earlier to record Gene's life story, and discovered some amazing facts. He was a semi-pro baseball player, a fine watercolorist, and a US Marine. As a marketing executive for Kaiser and later Del Monte, he worked on national advertising campaigns with mega-stars of his day, including Joan Crawford, Debbie Reynolds, Stan Musial, Lloyd Bridges and others.

Write Your Family History - 50 Questions You Must Ask Parents Or Grandparents Before They Die

We recorded Gene's life story on two occasions: once at a small family dinner, then during a living-room interview a few months later.

We transcribed the audio files of the recordings, added pictures, and then uploaded the whole package to a new free web site that helps people write great personal and family stories. (See resource section,below). Gene's family and friends can view his story and add comments or photos if they wish. The profile that we co-created with Gene is a celebration of his life. It's also a direct, meaningful connection with his daughters and their grandchildren. Anyone can create a life story for themselves or a loved one. It's as simple as setting aside some time and doing some careful listening.

I've helped hundreds of people across the US, Canada, and Mexico capture their life stories. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews, I've boiled down my experience into three key tips, and the 50 most productive questions you can use for success.

Success Tip #1: Pre-Interview Preparation is Key

To get the most from your family history session, be as prepared as possible.

. Inform the subject of the purpose of the interview, who will see it, and how it will be used · Prepare your questions in advance · Set aside a quiet time and place free from interruptions

· It's a good idea to use a voice or video recorder; test all equipment thoroughly before starting

· It's often useful to use a tape or digital recorder and transcribe the dictation

· Photos, mementos, or other visual aids are great memory-joggers. Ask your subject to prepare some in advance

· Listen attentively and gently; ask questions of clarification

· Don't try to force the subject into something they are uncomfortable discussing

Success Tip #2: Be Flexible and Creative

When I first started doing life story interviews, it seemed as if people spent the majority of time talking about their early days. As I got more experience, I began to realize that most people have one, two or possibly three key defining times in their lives. For many, it's childhood. For a lot of men, it's WWII, Korea, or Vietnam. The defining moments emerge like finding a gold nugget in a streambed. Be sensitive to these defining moments and episodes. Listen extra-carefully, and ask questions. Often a deeper portrait of an individual emerges, laden with rich experiences, values, beliefs, and layers of complexity. If you don't complete the interview in one sitting, set a date to resume your conversation later

Success Tip #3: Organize Life Stories into Chapters

Most people (yes, even shy ones) love to be the center of attention and share stories from their lives. There are two challenges for a family historian. The first is to capture the stories in a structured, logical way. The second is to make sure that the stories are as complete as possible and contain facts (names, dates, places), fully-drawn characters, a story line, and perhaps even a finale. The GreatLifeStories web site divides the life experience into 12 "chapters" that follow the progression of many lives. On the web site, each chapter contains anywhere from 10 to 25 questions. (Below, I've selected the 50 questions that usually get the best results). Don't worry; you don't have to ask them all. In fact, after one or two questions, you may not have to ask anymore-the interview takes on a life of its own.

The most important objective is to make sure you cover as many of the chapter headings as possible. The chapter headings are logical and somewhat chronological in order: Beginnings, School Days, Off to Work, Romance and Marriage, and so forth. Feel free to add your own chapters, as well. The 12-chapter system is a great way to organize both the interview, as well as the life story write up, video, or audio recording.

CHAPTER 1: In the Beginning

1. What were your parents and grandparents full names, dates of birth, places of birth.

2. What were the occupations of your parents?

3. How many children were in your family? Where were you in the lineup?

4. Generally speaking, what was your childhood like?

5. What one or two stories do you remember most clearly about your childhood?

6. Are there any particularly happy, funny, sad or instructive lessons you learned while growing up?

CHAPTER 2: In Your Neighborhood

1. What was it like where you grew up?

2. Describe your most important friendships

3. Where and how did "news of your neighborhood" usually flow?

CHAPTER 3 School Days

1. Be sure to capture names and dates attended of grammar, high, colleges, trade or technical schools

2. What are your earliest school day memories?

3. Are there any teachers or subjects you particularly liked or disliked?

4. What did you learn in those first years of school that you would like to pass along to the next generation?

5. Were you involved in sports, music, drama, or other extra-curricular activities?

CHAPTER 4: Off to Work

1. What did you want to be when you grew up?

2. What was your first job, and how did you get it?

3. What was your first boss like? What did you learn from him or her?

4. Did you leave? Quit? Get promoted? Get fired?

5. Were you ever out of work for a long time? If so, how did you handle it?

CHAPTER 5 Romance & Marriage

1. What do you recall about your first date?

2. How did you know you were really in love?

3. Tell me how you "popped the question," or how it was popped to you.

4. Tell me about your wedding ceremony. What year? Where? How many attended? Honeymoon?

5. Tell me about starting your family.

6. Were you married more than once? How often?

CHAPTER 6: Leisure and Travel

1. What were the most memorable family vacations or trips you can recall?

2. What leisure time activities are you involved with?

3. What are your greatest accomplishments in this field?

CHAPTER 7: Places of Worship

1. Do you follow any religious tradition?

2. If so which one, and what is it like?

3. Have you ever changed faiths?

4. What role do your beliefs play in your life today?

5. What would you tell your children about your faith?

CHAPTER 8 War & Peace

1. Were you a volunteer, drafted or a conscientious objector?

2. If you didn't serve, what do you recall about being on the home front during the war?

3. What key moments do you recall about your service?

4. What would you tell today's young soldiers, sailors and fliers?

CHAPTER 9 Triumph and Tragedy

1. What were the most joyous, fulfilling times of your life?

2. Any sad, tragic or difficult times you'd care to share such as losing a loved one, a job, or something you cared about?

3. What lifelong lessons did you learn from these tough times? Joyous times?

4. Were there any moments you recall as true breakthroughs in any area of your life?

5. If you could do one thing differently in your life, what would that be?

CHAPTER 10 Words of Wisdom

1. What have you learned over your lifetime that you'd like to share with the younger generation?

2. People will sometimes repeat aphorisms such as "honesty is the best policy." If they do, be sure to ask how they learned that life lesson.

CHAPTER 11: Funnybones

1. What were your family's favorite jokes or pranks?

2. Who is, or was, the family comedian? "Straight" man?

3. What's the funniest family story you remember?

CHAPTER 12 Thank You

1. What are you most grateful for you your life?

2. How have you taught your children to be grateful?

3. Are there items or places that mark special gratitude for the ones you love? What are they? What are their stories?

In closing, it is always a good idea to ask an open-ended question such as:" Is there anything I haven't asked about that you would care to comment on?" You'll often be surprised and delighted at the answers!

RESOURCES:

For many more tips on how to capture precious family history, visit www.GreatLifeStories.com

Write Your Family History - 50 Questions You Must Ask Parents Or Grandparents Before They Die
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Mike Brozda is one of the founding members of the GreatLifeStories team. A veteran journalist, he has more than 30 years experience writing for national and international publications.

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How To Write A Thank You Letter After An Interview - A Simple Formula for Uniqueness

Sending a thank you letter is as important as interview preparation. But they're tough to write, so people either tell themselves that not sending one doesn't matter, or they procrastinate until it's too late and almost pointless anyway. But anyone who tells themselves that foregoing a fundamental rule of etiquette doesn't matter, not only taints themselves in the mind of the interviewer, but misses two additional opportunities to sell.

A thank you letter is an additional sales piece. As I've said before, you're selling a product and the product is you. So beyond the reason of etiquette, the letter sells you as a polite person who recognizes that the interviewer gave them something valuable: time and consideration.

A fundamental rule of sales is to keep the product in front of the buyer and reinforce its benefits. So beyond the etiquette, the letter gives you ample space to comment on what you liked about the company, why your skills are of benefit to them, and how much you're interested. If something wasn't tied up, or was left unsatisfactorily, you should use the space to further address the issue.

How To Write A Thank You Letter After An Interview - A Simple Formula for Uniqueness

When you miss the opportunity to reinforce your skills and tie them to the job requirements, you miss a chance to sell. When you fail to address a concern or answer a question and leave it to fester in the mind of the interviewer, you've failed to overcome an objection. And if a buyer has an objection to the product, if it isn't addressed, the likelihood of the sale is slim.

The third opportunity missed by skipping the thank you letter is the chance to keep your name in front of the buyer. Read newspapers? Watch TV? See the same ads over and over and over again? It's somewhat the same principle - if you keep your name in front of the hiring authority, they're more likely to remember you.

Thank you letters are one of the reasons it's important to take notes during an interview. Not only does it show good attention to detail, it saves you from having to scrunch your face up trying to remember some of the information you learned about the company and position during the interview. Because if you met with three separate people during one visit to the company, that's three thank you letters....three different thank you letters.

So let's look at how to create one of these so that it becomes a less odious task.
First paragraph Open with the obligatory thank you and include how you enjoyed the meeting. Say why. Maybe the people you met were exceptional. Perhaps their company philosophy was exactly what you had hoped for. Or they need to overhaul a department and you can't wait to sink your teeth into it because that's what you've got a stellar track record of doing. It doesn't matter. Pick something out, and put it down. But make it real. Second paragraph What took place during your interview? Pull out a piece of information that pleased you, say what it was, and tell them why. For instance: I was particularly pleased to find that X company/the opportunity/your management style has/was/is/does whatever. This is exciting because...... . You can expand on whatever it is for a few sentences by elaborating: how it relates to something you've experienced and liked -- or didn't like. Discuss a particular aspect of the job you find appealing and reiterate why you'd be successful at it or how long you've been performing it or how similar it is to something you've done in the past. Third paragraph You can add a similar paragraph if the second was fairly short. Or you can wind it up if it was a bit lengthy. If there was something that came up that needed clarification or about which they were dubious, address it and clear it up here. Fourth paragraph Wind it up. Re-iterate your interest. Be enthusiastic! Leave the job speak behind. If you really want to be hired, let your interest shine through. There's nothing wrong with coming right out and saying, "I'd love to work with X company!"
Caution: Don't start every sentence with "I". It may be the easiest way to write the letter but it's not only repetitive, it's a turn off and egotistical. This process is about you getting a job, but it's about what they get out of it if they hire you.

If you really want the job, the letter will be easy to write because it will contain genuine impressions and sentiments. If you choose to skip the letter, perhaps you don't care if you're hired or not. But make that decision yours and withdraw from the process instead of letting the decision be made for you.

How To Write A Thank You Letter After An Interview - A Simple Formula for Uniqueness
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Prior to starting her firm, VisionQuest, Judi Perkins was a search consultant for 25 years in both the contingency and retained market, including a short stint in the temporary and local permanent placement markets. She has owned her own firm and successfully assisted numerous repeat clients in hiring all levels of management. To sign up for her newsletter and learn thousands of powerful concepts to find your perfect job go to http://www.findtheperfectjob.com.

History of Discrimination

Discrimination has a long history throughout the world.  Most societies, especially the larger ones, have practiced some form and some degree of discrimination.  In fact, a notable trend (though by no means necessarily an always true law) is that larger societies have had a larger propensity to discriminate.  Why?  Because of their achievements.  Larger societies, to reach the size that they were, had to accomplish.  They built extensive and complicated networks.  Their engineering was on a scale and level enough to support a large society.  Their art was complex.  They had a formal language and writing system.  All of these things were--and are--marvelous achievements.  But couple with them the fact that for most of human history, people lived only within their societies and had almost no contact with peoples of different societies, and it becomes easy to see why discrimination occurred.  They saw others as foreign and "backward," not having accomplished as much as they did.

From a list of all of the societies that ever existed, it is easy to pick out societies that discriminated.  Spain used to discriminate heavily against the Jews, who were forced either to convert Catholicism or to leave Spain.  The Spanish also created a body--called the Inquisition--to persecute who were not like them.  So, people were persecuted for being Jews.  If someone was thought to be a witch, the she or he was also persecuted.  Likely, homosexuals were also persecuted.

In South Africa, Australia, and the Untied States, the black and indigenous populations have faced heavy persecution.  Jim Crow laws in the United States, intentionally imitated by South African and Australia, persecuted blacks.  Segregation was prevalent in all of these three countries.  Blacks were illegally prevented from voting.  Violence against blacks was common.  In the Untied States, the native American population faced heavy discrimination.  Their families were broken up, the children were forced to go schools that would eradicate their culture, and families were forced to abandon their original ways of life and live on reservations.

History of Discrimination

Fortunately, the world as a whole is less tolerant of discrimination today than it was in the past.  Most nations have laws barring most, if not all, forms of discrimination (discrimination based on sexual orientation is an exception, though, and still faces a lot discrimination across the world).

One specific barring of discrimination in the U.S. involves employment practices.  Employers are prevented by the law from discriminating against employees or potential employees (during interviews).  If you feel you have been a victim of any sort of work place discrimination, contact the Orange County Employment Discrimination Lawyers of Perry Smith by visiting their website or by calling 888-356-2529.

History of Discrimination
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Joseph Devine