How should I answer this?

LegacyUser

I left my last job voluntarily because I was learning absolutley nothing there and if I stayed I would become unemployable for anything else after a certain length of time.
There was another reason also;I worked with one other person there and I got wind that he was going to hand in his notice (he was only there ten months). It was a job where we filled in for US-based colleagues until they came online at lunchtime Irish time. I knew they probably wouldn't get a replacement straight away for the guy who was leaving (in fact they may not have replaced him at all and just left me on my own).
If a replacement was hired I would have to train him/her in and do my own work. If things got too busy I wouldn't have any help until lunchtime.
I knew this would be an extremely stressful situation and I didn't fancy it so I handed in my notice (before the other guy handed in his). By my own admission I don't deal well with stress.
I'm not lazy, I just get worried and wound-up. The other guy was also obviously a help to me so if I had nobody or someone new who knew nothing I knew I would crack up because a lot of the time we wouldn't be able to resolve issues because the US guys had all the knowledge (they had been working there a lot longer than us).
When I go for interviews I don't give the second reason when I am asked why I left the job, I just say the first one (I wasn't progressing). I went for an interview recently and I was asked if it would have been better to stay in the job until I found something else.
The interviewer obviously wasn't too impressed that I left a job without a replacement lined up. I didn't give a good answer, I just said I wasn't progressing and I felt I had to leave. I didn't get the job and I think that is why.
I am now thinking it might be better not to give that answer to that question and say the second reason instead. However I am worried they mighht think I was lazy or unwilling to take on responsibility.
I don't know though, they will probably take a dim view whatever I saw so I have to decide what is the lesser of the two evils?
I would appreciate any advice, thanks.

Eoin

That's a tough situation.

I wouldn't be surprised if interviewers think you were let go, but don't want to tell them the real reason.

I'm not sure even the first answer makes sense. I can understand how you might be treading water after a while and not developing your skills, but I don't get how not working at all would be better than that, unless you took a break to learn new skills for a change in your career direction.

The second answer doesn't sound much better.

I think you need to think of a 3rd answer that you can sell in an interview. And, without wanting to get too personal, you might need to look at how you can manage dealing with stressful situations - moving companies to avoid them is not a long term answer.

LegacyUser

Eoin wrote: »

That's a tough situation.

I wouldn't be surprised if interviewers think you were let go, but don't want to tell them the real reason.

Well I can prove to them I wasn't by getting a letter from HR of the company.

Eoin wrote: »

I'm not sure even the first answer makes sense. I can understand how you might be treading water after a while and not developing your skills, but I don't get how not working at all would be better than that, unless you took a break to learn new skills for a change in your career direction.

Yeah I could say that; it is actually true as I have been working on something since I finished. I was trying to work on it in the evenings and weekends while I was in the job but I couldn't find the time due to other commitments.

Eoin wrote: »

The second answer doesn't sound much better.

I think you need to think of a 3rd answer that you can sell in an interview. And, without wanting to get too personal, you might need to look at how you can manage dealing with stressful situations - moving companies to avoid them is not a long term answer.

I don't want to lie in interviews. I'm not very good at it anyway.

cml387

Maybe just say that you felt that the job wasn't for you.


It might be ok if the interview was for a job in a different field.

Eoin

ian_77 wrote: »

Yeah I could say that; it is actually true as I have been working on something since I finished. I was trying to work on it in the evenings and weekends while I was in the job but I couldn't find the time due to other commitments.

I don't want to lie in interviews. I'm not very good at it anyway.

Well, then you have your 3rd option - when I said being able to sell it in an interview; I didn't necessarily mean lie; you just need be convincing in an interview. The first 2 answers are red flags in an interview.

Was this thing on the side a change in direction that you're looking to pursue and would help in a new role, or are you going to say this didn't work out either?

LegacyUser

Eoin wrote: »

Well, then you have your 3rd option - when I said being able to sell it in an interview; I didn't necessarily mean lie; you just need be convincing in an interview. The first 2 answers are red flags in an interview.

Was this thing on the side a change in direction that you're looking to pursue and would help in a new role, or are you going to say this didn't work out either?

It's a change in direction, something more interesting than the job I was in. It's not something that would ever be profitable, just something to put on my CV to help me get into the area I want to. It was hard for me to make much progress on it while I was working 9-5 though.

JimBobPlayer

Could you say something like 'I wasn't progressing and was becoming increasingly demotivated. I therefore handed in my notice, optimistic of receiving a new position by the end of my notice period. Unfortunately, as it transpired, work has not been as plentiful as I had anticipated'.

LegacyUser

JimBobPlayer wrote: »

Could you say something like 'I wasn't progressing and was becoming increasingly demotivated. I therefore handed in my notice, optimistic of receiving a new position by the end of my notice period. Unfortunately, as it transpired, work has not been as plentiful as I had anticipated'.

Yeah that sounds reasonable enough to me. I suppose I will sometimes come up against some guy interviewing me who is of the mind that a person should never leave a job without having another one to go to but there's nothing I can do about people like that.
As it turns out, for the interview I went for recently (that I mentioned in the first post) they have called me back for a second one so it wasn't as I thought at all (I got the impression from the interviewer that he wasn't impressed by me leaving the last job without having another job to go to).
Just shows you how wrong you can be.