Interviewers ask this question to learn about your professionalism, your attitude and to get a sense of whether you will be a cultural fit for the job, says Lori Scherwin, founder of the New York City-based career coaching business Strategize That.
Mention skills that will transfer easily
When discussing what you’ll miss about your last job, try to incorporate skills or challenges that you can apply to the position you’re interviewing for, Scherwin says. Choose something that you learned that will help you in a new role. Say you’ll miss applying the specific management training and experience you got at your prior job. Then mention that you look forward to carrying that skill set over in your new position, she suggests.
“Hard as it may be if the wounds are fresh from a job you couldn’t stand, try to recall what first excited you about that role and talk to that experience,” Scherwin says. “If you simply cannot recall anything positive about working there, consider what you learned about the experience of hating your job and reframe it into a positive, i.e. ‘My role at ABC company gave me a lot of opportunity to balance challenges and taught me about problem solving.’”