Career Insanity – Pivoting your response to where you want to go

In my last post, I asked how you would answer the following question:

Why do you want to leave your current position?

I stated that

“Our goal is have a response that pivots the response from what you are leaving — to –  where you are going!”

It is all about re-framing the question.

You might respond – I am happy in my current position (whether this is true or not) but I am looking for — what this new job can actually provide.

Let’s use Robert as an example. Robert is a Political Science lecturer at a major university in the Midwest.  He had been a energy lobbyist until the 9/11 disaster  and the Enron bankruptcy put him out of work.  He went back to school to get his masters in Political Science and landed a lecturers position at the university where he attended.  The problem is the pay is very low, he has been teaching the same classes for many years and his ego has taken a bruising.

Robert is the kind of guy who really likes the pat on the back from his bosses which he does not get.  He gets lots of love from his students but not from anyone else.

The tedium of teaching the same classes has kind of gotten to him.  He has realized he needs a lot of variety to keep him motivated.

He needs to make more money!  He is married with two kids and the money is just not sufficient.  He is not on a tenure track and therefore, it is somewhat of a dead end job.

He wants a position as a energy lobbyist.

How could Robert respond when posed with the magic question on why he is leaving?

One possible response could be:

I really love my job and students but what I really want is a position where I can get some recognition for my work, where I get to work on wide variety of topics and I can make enough money to support my family.

If the interviewer comes back and asks — Do you not get that from your current position?

Robert could respond

My salary is of public record and you can look that up.  I am focused on where I want to go and your position seems to meet my criteria. Can I ask you about the variety of topics I would be working on at this position?

He pivoted the response to where he was going and when questioned he used it as way to pose a question back.

Robert was focused on what he wanted and was not going to take the bait!

Practice this yourself. Can you be prepared to pivot back with a question?

Check out the Cure for Career Insanity webpage and sign up to get updates on this program.

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Marc Miller Career Design Specialist