This section is a continuation from Mark’s problem about how to answer the question, “Why did you leave your last job?”
This is part III of this three-part question and answer series.
Be sure to check out our BEST ANSWER interview questions Guide. It is specially designed to teach you how to answer job interview questions.
At JobInterviewTools.com, you’ll find real stories about real job hunters with unique problems. Since everyone’s situation is unique, there is no one perfect answer works best for everyone.
Don’s Answer to Mark – Part III:
Unless it’s posted on the front page of cnn.com, don’t worry about the article that circulates the Internet as know one will find it unless they are specifically looking for it and so what if they do.
I recently helped a woman get hired for a new job and her issue was that she lived in a very small town, where everyone knows your name. She worked for the city for 22 years and was fired for misappropriation of funds and sentenced to 6 months in jail. She wondered how she could ever get hired again in her home town.
But she did not let her past stop her and she persisted and got the job she wanted, working with children, a convicted felon no less. Anything is possible if you put your mind to it.
I don’t believe your unfortunate resignation will have near the impact on finding work in the corporate world as it will in public education. But public education is a very small piece of the whole education sector. I would strongly suggest setting everything aside and finding your true hearts desire, which is not always easy, but if it’s truly in education, find out what truly makes you happy about education and then dig deeper and deeper until you discover what it really is about education that you love.
The real answer may not present itself right away, but the deeper you dig and the more you try, you’ll continue to get closer. You can apply this concept to anything you enjoy doing. One of my true passions is helping people solve their problems, and I’ve done this is varying capacities for the past 25 years and I’m still refining this desire.
As far as advising you on a career move based on the contents of your resume, well, leaving it up to the reader or your peers to determine your livelihood is not usually congruent with your true aspirations.
Had I followed the career advice of my parents and peers, I strongly believe I would be very unhappy today. In all honestly, I’m not the type of interview coach who will help you figure out what you are best at doing, but one who will help you get where you want to be. So, I can really only help you if you know what you want.
Generally, teachers make great consultants. I was actually a teacher, but in the private sector, and I taught Microsoft and Cisco technical classes. Teaching was one of the most enjoyable times in my career. If you love teaching, you may try to find a way to cross-over into the private sector and teach custom classes.
People will pay a lot of money for custom training. When you figure out what you think you really want to do, then rewrite your resume and specifically gear it towards your ideal job and go get it.
Regardless of what you have been doing for the past 30 years, you can re-write your resume anyway you like that highlights any specific skills and accomplishments you have and create your ideal job. Having three to four different resumes, with each one honing in on a specific skill and job description will make it much easier to apply for a variety of jobs all while making you look like an expert.
Don’t leave it up to your interviewer to read your resume and figure out what you are good it because they don’t have the time and they won’t do it. You need to know exactly what you want, create a resume that matches exactly that, then start looking for your ideal job.
In this Best Interview Answers section, you have just read a transcript of real problem posed by Mark, who is not sure how to answer why he left his last job. Don is guiding Mark on how best to answer this question.
See: Part I
See: Part II
Best Answer interview questions are in the Complete Interview Answer Guide. Don shows job seekers how to answer interview questions. The 201+ sample answers in the guide will quickly help you craft your own professional answers for ALL types of interview questions for any occupation.
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