One tricky question that interviewers often ask is, “what did you dislike the most at your old job?” If you don’t prepare for this question in advance, you may unknowingly say something about your company or boss that you shouldn’t. The wrong choice of words, in turn, may badly hurt your chances of selection.
Why do interviewers throw this question at interviewees? Some would say to make life difficult for the interviewees, which may not be entirely untrue. However, the real reason is to assess if you are a good fit for the job for which you’ve applied.
What the interviewer wants to know is whether you will be satisfied with your new job or not. Logic would say that if you were unhappy with certain things in the previous job, you will be dissatisfied with your new job too if the same factors are present there.
What Did You Dislike The Most At Your Old Job Answer Examples
Before we show you how to reply to this question, let’s first see the responses of three candidates and how the interviewer interpreted these responses.
Response 1: “I am not getting any challenges. I love challenges, and find it difficult to keep up my motivation if I’ve to do the same tasks every day.”
How the Interviewer interpreted the answer: The new job also consists of repetitive tasks. He/she is certainly not going to like the new job any better than his/her previous job.
Response 2: “I was transferred to a different process against my wishes. This new process required me to work in the evening shift every once in a while, something that I don’t want to.”
How the Interviewer interpreted the answer: While we work in the day, we sometimes have to put in extra hours and work late. This guy sounds like someone who may have flexibility issues.
Response 3: “My current boss interferes with my work. He doesn’t allow me to work independently, and is constantly giving suggestions, instructions, and feedback.”
How the Interviewer interpreted the answer: How would this candidate react if I gave him any negative feedback? How would he respond if I ask him to do certain things my way? This person appears averse to supervision and feedback.o
These candidates made two big mistakes:
- They centered their response on something lacking with the company, management, or individuals.
- They gave an openly negative response.
How to give an appropriate answer
When answering this question, you must talk about the tasks and not about the company management or politics. You must also choose your words carefully and construct an answer that is not openly negative. In other words, you need to mellow down on the negative aspect. Here’s an example of a good response:
“I’ve given this subject considerable thought and would have to admit that while I was satisfied with my job, it required me to do an excessive amount of paperwork. As my strength is working with people, excessive paperwork, I believe, prevented me from doing what I love most.”
While you mustn’t highlight the negative aspects of your previous job too much, it is also important that you speak the truth. Give this question some thought before you enter the interview room. In this way, you can prevent yourself from saying something that may reduce your chances of selection.
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