What I Took Away From Interviewing at 5 Companies for a Job Change
Over two months, I interviewed at five companies and ended up getting offers from two. While preparing, I realized they asked far more about 'why I wanted to change jobs' than technical questions. At first I was only thinking about salary, but by the third interview my answers had become more organized.
And for coding tests, organizing by problem type turned out to be the answer rather than just grinding through problems. After doing one problem a day for three months, my hands were less stiff during the actual test. Good luck to everyone preparing.
4 answers
True, they really ask a lot about why you want to change jobs. I gave a half-hearted answer at my first interview too, and when things got awkward, I broke out in a cold sweat lol
From an interviewer’s perspective, let me add one thing: the “Why are you leaving?” question is closer to a risk check than a test of the candidate’s motivation. If they badmouth their previous company or their reasons aren’t sharp, I get the sense that they’ll leave again while working with us. So I always frame my answer in two sentences: 1) what my current company can’t give me, and 2) what’s only possible at this company. Just preparing that much makes it much easier to defend against follow-up questions. If you got offers from the final two places, that means your answer structuring really paid off. Congratulations.