When interviewing at my last company, almost a decade ago, I was anxious that I would be asked this precise question. And, I was, immediately! The first question from the first interviewer. This upset me tremendously. Why did this bother me so much?
- The common wisdom is that you never speak ill of a former or current employer in an interview. «If they feel that way about their previous employer, they might feel that way again, about us. Possible bad attitude. Not worth the risk.»
- My personal hang up about being anything but fully honest and forthcoming.
- The fact in that situation was that I was primarily leaving my previous company because I had some really bad interactions (not abuse) with some folks there, and wasn't able to get the system to handle it. That's a particularly terrible thing to admit. «If they had bad interactions with some people at their previous employer, they could have bad interactions again, with us. Not worth the risk.» or «We want someone who can handle these difficult situations, not just run away.»
The counter-argument here is that these are legitimate concerns with a new hire, and you want to know these things before making a decision. Some people are bad actors. Some people do cause problems. What's more, I know they can and do because I've worked with some of those people.
My counter-counter-argument is that most people will just lie, and won't tell you what you want to know. If someone doesn't lie, you won't have the context to evaluate whether it was really a bad situation, or it actually was the candidate causing a problem. So, by asking this question, you bias towards people willing to lie, without actually getting real information in most cases.
If a candidate does tell you the truth, the truth is going to be complex. You are not going to be able to gather enough information to demonstrate to yourself that the person was in a bad situation out of their control, and wasn't the source of the bad situation. So it is not in your interest, or the candidate's interest, to get into this position. I will say if someone does reveal a complex, challenging story, it probably means they care more about being honest than maximizing their chances of getting that job. I consider that a good sign. (Or, is so emotionally unintelligent as to not have done any calculus whatsoever. But, you should be able to assess that separately.)
No one leaves a job because they are happy. Jobs may suck for different reasons, but most of them suck for some reasons. The rule that you can't complain about your previous job in an interview is one thing. I don't like it, but I get it. But, then, don't try to trap people with a trick question! Unless avoiding traps is the day-to-day experience at your company, in which case I very much do not want to work for you.
Another concern about this question is that some people are leaving because of real abuse happening in their workplace. That's none of your business. If they choose to share it, that's fine, but if someone needs a fresh start, they should have that opportunity. We shouldn't be blacklisting victims, here.
You can try to ask instead, "What are you looking for from this role?" I think it's better — it looks forward and it doesn't explicitly pry into the past. And it more directly gets at what you are actually trying to do: Establish "fit." More on that next time...
My Story
Despite the rules — because I hate those rules so very much — I'm going to try to give a version of my answer to someone if they asked me this question right now. It's still, of course, only a partial truth, but it's much closer to the Platonic ideal truth than I disclosed last time I answered this question.
I joined the most recent company I worked for because I was ambitious. I wanted to be a small fish in a big pond, with room to grow to be a big fish in a big pond. I wanted to prove to myself that I could be effective and a leader in an epically large industry-leading technology-focused organization. I wanted to accomplish, both in deed and in status, what I had accomplished at a medium-sized company before that.
But these huge, prestigious companies are magnets for idiots like me. There's a steady flow of skilled, ambitious people walking in the door, and the company has a lot of freedom to say no to a significant portion of them outright. You add in an oppressive "human capital management" strategy, and everyone is competing with each other for scarce opportunities to look good, get good ratings, and get promoted to a higher level.
All this competition brought out some bad traits in me. Also, everyone else. Different people deal with this sort of relentless stress and pressure differently, but there's always a cost. I always felt like I abandoned my previous situation too quickly, so when I was dealt serious blows in my new role, I swallowed my pride and swore to try harder — start over. Not only were those setbacks traumatic and personal on their own, but being untrue to myself and absorbing all of that negativity as purely my own failings was the really traumatic part. It took me almost a decade to decide that it wasn't just me limiting myself, it was largely the environment I was keeping myself in, and how sick it was making me.
I finally got promoted to a coveted "Staff" role, after having earned it, in my estimation, at least two times over. I was finally in an analogous position to the one I had left, but at a much larger and more respected company. After some initial elation, I found mainly that I resented the path I had had to take to get there. It was too late. It didn't have to have been that tortuous.
That's not to say I didn't grow and accomplish there. Coming to these realizations, and really internalizing them, is one of the biggest self-improvement achievements I could have hoped for. But, it came with scars and suffering that I wouldn't wish on anyone.
Then, there evidenced strong indications that there were more storms on the horizon. At that point, I didn't see a way forward with that company anymore, though it was truly heartbreaking to give up.
Reactions
Having read my story, I invite you to reflect on it as if you heard this in an interview. Is this something that would immediately cause you to reject this person as too risky — maybe they caused their own problems, and/or it shows poor judgement not to lie? Is it neutral — everyone has war stories? Is it positive? Did you get a real signal that helps you make a hiring decision?
In between the lines of my story, you can imagine there were some tough times, bad interactions, and hurt feelings. Not just my own. When my Ego and my Self-loathing wage a years-long war, no one is a winner, and there's significant collateral damage. Yet, people are complicated, and you can't understand everything about someone from a few paragraphs, even if they were written pointedly and honestly.
People are flawed — even effective people that you might generally work very well with. I think many managers and companies are afraid of candidates who could potentially be anything but loyal, dedicated, egoless workers. That's the dream, right? But, there are still many hiring mistakes, because many candidates have an idea of what the company is looking for and make it seem like they are it. And the ones who use that strategy, and are good at it, are, in my experience, ones to worry more about. Could it work for a flawed employer and a flawed employee to work together frankly, and with trust, on creating a mutually-beneficial relationship?