Approaching the topic of Career Change in an Interview
There can be many reasons why we choose to get into a given career, equally, there can be many reasons why we decide we want a new one…
Before we even get to the stage of considering how to approach this topic in an interview, we first we need to decide if a career change is something we really want in the first place. There are multitudes of different reasons why people consider changing careers, but at the end of the day, you are the one who is best placed to decide whether or not this is something that is right for you. When making this decision, its important you think long and hard about it, and there are several questions you may want to yourself, such as:
Do you have a job you truly enjoy?
Will a new career give you more opportunities, potentially leading to quicker promotions?
Will a new career give you access to more training that you can use to further enhance your career?
Will a career change give you the opportunity to earn more money?
Will a career change give you the opportunity to achieve a better work life balance?
How will a career change impact family and loved ones?
Is it the right time for you to change careers?
Here are some of the main reasons people consider changing careers today
- They have gone as far as possible and accomplished all that they can in their current roles, but they still they have more to offer
- They have ambitions to progress further, but their current roles don’t offer the kind of upward mobility and opportunities for progression they desire
- They want a more flexible work schedule
- They want a job with less travel involved
- They want to spend more time with family
- They want to earn a higher salary
Having a job you truly enjoy is a lot more than just its own reward, it also has many other types of tangible benefits too. Not only will find you are less stressed overall, but in a more fundamental sense, you’ll have more fun in your role too. It’s been proven that people perform better in jobs they really enjoy, and this can have a hugely positive effect not only on your mental health, but on your physical wellbeing too – giving you increased energy levels and potentially leading to quicker promotions as well
People on earth today lead very finite lifespans, and without access to life extension technology, the jobs we work end up taking up such a huge part of our overall lifespans. (For those working full-time), this can be as much as a third of your lifetime spent at work – that’s why it’s so important to spend that time doing something you enjoy
A career change is a massive event in anyone’s life. Whether circumstances have dictated a new career change is necessary, or whether after thinking about it at length, you’ve made the decision that a career change would be the best forward in your life, approaching it in the interview can be a difficult subject to navigate successfully
At its core, interviewing has always partially been a fickle process – that’s because there is always an element of box checking involved. When you think about it rationally, we all have duties we’re required to perform. The interviewer is looking for the candidate most likely to step into the role and do the duties that are required, simply because that’s the duty they are required to perform by those who employ them
That’s also why, by convincing the interviewer that you are sincere about your desire to change careers, that it will give you the best possible chance of convincing them not only that you are not only the right person for the role, but that you have also thought seriously about your career choices and that it’s the right career move for you – because convincing them of this it is sure to drastically increase your chances and reassure them that you won’t change your mind and leave again in a few year’s time
Preparing for commonly asked questions that you might encounter in the interview is one thing that can help you prepare when it comes to addressing the topic of career change in an interview. While the interviewer will normally follow a strict interviewing schedule, and while these questions will probably not directly relate to the topic of career change itself, some of the follow up questions might based on the answers you give. That’s why considering the types of questions you might encounter and how best respond to them can be a small but useful part of your interview preparation when it comes to the approaching the topic of career change in the interview
You may want to review the following Q and A’s to questions like these:
Can you start by telling us a bit about your past work history?
‘I was born in Detroit where I lived until I was 22. My interests all the way up until the end of high school revolved heavily around Nascar and the Detroit Lions. When I finished high school I wanted to expand my horizons, so I moved to Toledo to get out and see more of the country, but not so far away that I wouldn’t be close to my family. There I attended Owens community college and got an associate degree in automotive technology in 2015. With my passion for automobiles and my vocational background I found it easy to get a job doing what I love. I started out working for TTT Autocare in may the same year, where I worked happily for 4 years, after which time the company sadly closed. I reluctantly had to look for a new job, and after considering several offers went to work for 666 Autorepair in 2019. I spent 3 great years there, and during this time I did everything from diagnostics, alternators, belts and hoses, brakes, engine repair, starters, a/c, radiators, mufflers and exhausts, tune-ups, and anything else you can probably think of. I currently hold, and always have held, a clean driving license, now I’m back in the city that I love and looking for a new challenge, and today I’m ready to show you just what a hard working and reliable employee you’ll get if you hire me’.
What attracted you to apply for a position with us?
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Why should I hire you?
‘The first thing I did before even applying for this job was to study the requirements thoroughly to make sure they were a good fit for me. This role requires someone who can work independently and can use their own initiative. It also requires someone with strong organizational skills as well as excellent problem-solving abilities. You should hire me because I have all the necessary skills and experience you’re looking for in an ideal candidate. In my previous role, I regularly worked with little supervision, using my own initiative to schedule meetings and update distribution timetables. The role also required me to have strong organization skills because I needed to track completed tasks and schedule assignments, as well as manage the department mailbox, which is very similar to some of the duties required in this role. On top of this, I possess an innate ability for problem-solving and had to do this whenever supply chain issues arose. From the time I first started, I was consistently successful in helping my team meet it’s targets, many times even exceeding them, and on several occasions I’ve received praise in my performance reviews for the quality of work I’ve delivered. You should hire me not only because this job is an ideal fit for my skillset, but because I’ve got a proven ability to perform the duties required in this role, and on top of that I’d love nothing more than to seize this opportunity and help your organisation reach its full potential’.
Why did/ are you leaving your last/ current job?
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What interests you about this job?
‘I feel this role will give me the chance to be very proactive when it comes to performing my duties, while at the same time also giving me the freedom and flexibility to perform them to the best of my ability. In particular, I am very excited about using the B-Sync interactive system to help ensure all of your customer’s needs are met. Having previous experience using similar systems means I understand their importance and capabilities very well. I also have sound working knowledge of FCA regulations, and I’m looking forward to applying this knowledge in the most effective way I can to provide your customers with the best service experience possible’.
Why do you want to work here?
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What challenges are you looking for in this role?
‘In my previous role, one of the biggest challenges I faced was finding creative ways to meet our client’s expectations. One of my biggest strengths has always been the ability to listen to people and find creative ways of solving their problems for them, that’s why in my previous role, when it came to my clients, I was always able to meet their expectations by having a firm understanding of what those expectations were and by drawing on my wealth of experience and unique problem-solving abilities to consistently meet those expectations. For me, it was one of the most rewarding aspects of that role. That’s why one of the things I’m most looking forward to in this role is being challenged to collaborate with my colleagues in order to meet the needs of our clients. I believe being challenged in this way will not only ensure a stronger, more enjoyable working environment, but will also ensure greater satisfaction for our clients too’.
In your opinion, what sets you apart from other candidates who are qualified for this role?
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What sort of experience and qualifications do you have?
‘I have strong experience providing effective, high-quality staffing support for various temping agencies. I have over 2 year’s experience in this capacity, which is entirely office based, and aside from having a genuine passion for the work that I do, I have a solid amount of experience when it comes to filing, faxing, answering phones, writing reports, or performing any other miscellaneous office duties that may be required. My longest assignment was 9 months at Eredeish 777 Prospectors, where I supported their administrative department by maintaining and updating their employee records, assisting with Ad hoc office duties, and supporting the company payroll officer. My educational background and qualifications are also very well suited to this role as well. I have 3 higher A levels in math, English, and chemistry, and 2 B level highers in history and geography. On top of this, I also have a bachelor’s degree in office administration; it’s one of my proudest achievements and I find that having this educational background comes in very useful in this line of work which is great’.
Can you tell us about some of the things you liked and disliked about your previous job?
‘There are lots of great things that I liked about my previous job. To begin with, there were tons of great people in my office who were really nice to talk to and who I really enjoyed working with. I worked in an environment that actively promoted team engagement which I thought was wonderful, and they also had a volunteering program to help local community causes which was very noble and worthwhile and I always put my name forward for this whenever the chance arose. I also loved the fact that there were so many opportunities to train and learn additional skills, I always took full advantage of these and I definitely feel they’ve helped me to grow as a professional. One of my favorites was a magic words training course where we spent 3 days learning all about positive word association and the keywords that customers identify with most. There were however some areas I felt the company could have done better in. One of these was the businesses policy towards the raising of and managing of customer complaints. This was something I felt was too politicized, and it sometimes seemed like this was done more to satisfy industry regulators than to create a better customer experience – consequently it felt like we would spend a lot of time logging and managing complaints without being able to provide a meaningful resolution, whereas our time might have perhaps been better utilized providing a more satisfying experience in other areas, and many of my colleagues that I worked with used to express this sentiment too. Happily though, it was a great company to work for, and the business did a great job investing money in its people and infrastructure and I felt that because of this we were not only able to grow our customer base, but that we were able to provide a better experience to our customers overall. I’m proud to say that I have very fond memories of my old employer and you can be sure if I land this role that I’ll give the same 110% commitment to making your company a success that I gave to them’.
In your own words, can you tell me what you think this role entails?
‘This role will require me to act as the first point of contact for claims pertaining to buildings and contents for valued customers residing here in the UK. It includes me being responsible for familiarising myself with how to access policy information to help me correctly identify whether a claim is valid or not. The role also involves me being a friendly and professional voice of the company, valuing attention to detail by correctly logging all aspects of a claim. It involves me being proactive and persistent because in addition to logging claims, I will also be monitoring the progress of these claims and making sure the correct information is updated and passed along to the relevant departments. The other aspect of this role involves me working with fraud investigation and other internal or external departments to help resolve these claims as required. Overall, I feel it requires the ability for me to prioritise my workload, the ability to analyse information, along with an innate ability to communicate effectively with my customers. Having worked in the telecommunications industry for 8 ½ years, I am very confident that all of these are skills I already possess, and I’m also highly eager to adapt and learn new skills as required’.
If you have decided to change careers, the main question you will need to be prepared to answer is why. If you can’t do this, you’ll probably have difficulty convincing anyone else that a career change is right for you. In all fairness though, this usually sounds more difficult than it actually is
A good starting point is to simply ask yourself why you are changing careers
- If its got to do something to do with finances, you’ll need to make your rationale a bit more elaborate than that – so try to come up with something more introspective and constructive. For example, ‘I want a role where I can make more money’ becomes… ‘I want a role where I can make a greater difference for the customers and clients I serve’.
- If your reasons for looking to change roles are somewhat more negative, for example. ‘In my current role I am overworked, under appreciated, and underpaid’, you need to quickly move to repurpose this narrative to make it more appealing to an employer. This instead becomes…’I want a role where I can not only utilise my individual strengths and competencies such as adaptability, accountability, and analytical reasoning, but also one where I will have more opportunity to focus on my professional career development too’.
Whatever the reason, the fact that you are looking to change careers means you already have the experience of at least one prior career field under your belt already – remember that!
Having such experience going into an interview is a big plus, even if it’s in a different career field than the one you are interviewing for. Because of this, you’ll have a big advantage over some of the lesser experienced candidates who may have yet to acquire any experience at all! For that reason, you can go into the interview with your head held high…confident in the knowledge that you at least have this experience to draw on. However, in order to seal the deal and land the role, you’ll need to effectively relate this experience to the job in question – ideally with strong verbal examples that show the interviewer how such experience will add value to the role in question
For this reason, you should ensure you are familiar with the job description so that you know what the role entails, that way, it will make it much easier to link your current experience to the job itself
If you are serious about a career change, remember that it might take time.
For this reason, another sensible tactic is to make an effort to surround yourself with likeminded people by networking with those who are in the same situation and are also looking to change careers too. Social media can be a great medium by which to do this, but it is a two-way street, remember that it gives you a great way to network with others, but being active on social media can also make you visible to others too. Therefore, if you intend to use it as a way to connect with others be careful how you do this – as you may not want to advertise to your current employer that you have designs on leaving just yet! For that reason, strategies like using a separate email address and conversing with other using a pseudonym can be an effective way to network online while staying out of view of your colleagues and employer
Lastly…keep in mind that if you’ve managed to reach the interview stage, the employer must think you have what it takes to do the job anyway! The rest is up to you…