The job interview is an essential part of the screening process for employers. It helps employers dig deep beyond the resume to find out about: 1) your experience and skills for the job, 2) whether you're a good fit to its workplace culture, and 3) your career goals and outlook to determine how dedicated and loyal you'll be to the job and continued employment with the company.
A prepared job seeker will have thought about questions that will be asked at the job interview. One of them may be: "Why are you leaving your job?" As you think about a response to this question, also consider how the interviewer may interpret that response.
It's important to take caution with how questions are answered at the job interview because when it's not framed properly, it can be interpreted negatively and cost you the job opportunity.
Every time you interview, your main purpose is to convince the employer to hire you. The job search is a sales process. The hiring manager (your future boss) is the "customer," and you are both the sales rep and the product. Why should they choose you over all the other "products" out there?
Prospective employers love to ask you behavioral interview questions (also called situational interview questions). These kinds of questions dig a little deeper into what makes you tick. The answers to behavioral interview questions reveal how you have handled real-world situations in the past, which predict how you will probably behave in similar situations in the future. More importantly, they show an employer how you approach and solve problems—which is a valuable thing to know about a potential employee.
