Why Are You Looking For A Job?
Why are you looking for a job? I think that is a valid interview question, but this is not an interview. It’s me, your interview coach asking you why you are looking for a job? What’s going on?
Some of the reasons people change jobs are:
1. They don’t like their boss
2. They don’t like what they are doing
3. They feel burned out
4. They want to do something different
5. They need more money
6. They got fired/Laid Off
These are just a few. I would like to know why YOU are looking for a job.
Here’s another question, did you accomplish everything you were suppose to accomplish in the job? I am not speaking about task. I am speaking about, what brought you to the organization in the first place. Sometimes people think the reason they are working has to do with them. They needed the job and it sounded good. But I want to share a thought. Maybe, just maybe the reason you are working where you are working has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with you. Just maybe it has to do with the people you work with. Maybe the person you find the most difficult to deal with, is the reason you are working where you work. What do you think? Could it be possible that your life’s journey, and the decisions you have made that led you to the place you are today, is more important than your top 5 or 6 reasons for leaving.
What’s my point? I am just wondering why you are looking for a job. Do you know? Have you stopped to think about it? I am just thinking out loud on my blog. Just thinking. But I dare you to stop moving for just a moment and answer the question. Are you running from something or to something? Before you leave your current sitution, make sure you have completed the purpose you went there to complete before you leave. Can you still make a difference. Can you still contribute to the organization? If so, Why Are You Looking For A Job?
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6 opinions for Why Are You Looking For A Job?
Scot Herrick
Aug 19, 2007 at 11:58 pm
Some of us like to actually accomplish something through our work. If we’re not accomplishing, then we aren’t satisfied and will look to a place where we can accomplish something, preferably something close to our goals.
The other reason I’ve looked for a job in the past was that the level of noise (I can’t say the other word on a blog!) got too high and overshadowed the work getting done. Like the accomplishment reason, but different in that you are accomplishing stuff, but it becomes to hard to get past the other stuff to do it.
Jason Alba
Aug 20, 2007 at 9:57 am
In the first few times that I changed jobs, it was because I needed to find that next role that would ultimately help me get to the end goal. I had a vision of where I wanted to end up in 20 years, and in order to get there I could not sit in easy or slow positions.
This brought criticism but in it ensured I was always challenged. I was not a job hopper, and only changed when the time was right for me and the company I was leaving, but I was intent on making sure I was not sitting bored, complacent, or in a role that was a poor fit.
I can’t answer your other question because my roles were too junior, to the point were I was super-easily replaced.
Jason Alba
CEO - JibberJobber.com
:: managing multiple job changes ::
Darlene McDaniel
Aug 20, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Scot - I appreciate your comment. Using your verbiage, “some of us like to accomplish through our work,” I don’t believe that is the norm. I feel the same way. I believe I can make a difference in any organization I have the opportunity to work. But I am not sure that “some of us” is the majority of us. I believe there are more people working for the paycheck and accomplishing something is not at the top of the list.
I also appreciate comment about the noise level in an organization. I call it “mess”. Unfortunately, there is a lot of mess in organizations, which makes the organizational climate difficult to live in. As a result people leave and find new jobs.
Help If You’ve Been Fired
Dec 22, 2007 at 5:29 pm
[...] 5. Why Are You Looking For A Job? [...]
Michael Dabrowski
Jul 20, 2008 at 3:04 pm
What can I do after being unjustly beeing let go from my job or around two years.
Darlene McDaniel
Jul 21, 2008 at 12:02 am
Hi Michael! Thank you for visiting interview Chatter this afternoon. I am going to refer you to another post I wrote that has a continual conversation on it from my readers. Here is the link: http://www.interviewchatter.com/so-youve-been-fired/
I want you to read it and go through the comments. I believe that you will find answers to your question.
Here is another post that may help as well: http://www.interviewchatter.com/how-to-explain-an-unjust-termination/
This is a two-part post. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I am happy to help you with your specific situation. I will definitely need more information to speak into your specific situation. Many of my readers who I coach send me information by email. You are welcome to do tthe same.
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