Quit your job after less than a year? How to discuss it in interviews

Employers are desperate to hire these days and are more likely to overlook a short stint or even a gap in your work history.

That’s good news for young workers who feel their new jobs were overhyped during the Great Resignation. A recent survey by The Muse found that 80% of millennial and Gen Z job seekers say it’s okay to leave a new job six months in advance if it doesn’t meet your expectations.

If you’re getting ready to jump back into job hunting mode in just a short while, here are some ways to talk about it during the hiring process.

There are ways to be honest and diplomatic about a short tenure if the job or company turns out to be different than you expected, says The Muse founder and CEO Catherine Minshu.

If possible, discuss how the scope of the job changed between the time you were interviewed, when you accepted the job, and when you started work. Have responsibilities changed? Did your hiring manager or colleagues quit? Have there been other organizational changes that have affected how you feel about the company or management?

Minshew suggests saying something like, “Obviously it’s not ideal to have such a short stay at a company. When I interviewed for this position, some of the things I was looking for were XYZ. There was a lot that was communicated to me about the role and the type of work environment that I was really excited about. But when I joined the team, there were some really key differences in what I experienced compared to what was advertised. It wasn’t the right move professionally, so I left.”

If you’ve made an impact even with just a few months on the job, that’s something to highlight, says career coach Chelsea Jay.

Have you started meeting important deadlines for your team? Or redesign a workflow that the company will continue to use going forward? Talk about how quickly you were able to adapt to a new work environment (even though you ended up not liking it) and how you were able to help the business in a short time.

Self-awareness goes a long way, and you can even play it to your strengths. Rely on the fact that you stood up for yourself and what you wanted in a job or company, and that you quickly realized that the other organization wasn’t delivering.

“You can tell them that you have a lot of self-awareness, that you realized the job wasn’t a good fit, and you wanted to get out in time for someone else who would really enjoy it,” says Jay.

Then focus on how the experience has confirmed what you want in a job or company—values ​​like flexibility, innovation, or the ability to help people, for example—and that you know how to look for it in interviews. Instill some confidence by adding these values ​​are “[things] I’m really focused on my next role and I really want to find a company where I can stay for a long time,” Minshu adds.

Job interviews are not a good place to drag out a former employer, even if you feel they let you down in the hiring process. Be honest and professional.

If you want, you can frame a bad experience as something you hope to avoid in the future. For example, if you didn’t like the competitive nature of a previous company, Minshew suggests saying something like, “I thrive best in a truly collaborative environment where I’m given a lot of input about different areas of the company, coworkers want to help each other, and there’s a minimum of politics or gossip.”

You also don’t need to go into every detail about a bad work experience if it doesn’t serve the purpose of the interview, Jay adds. “Your goal in interviews is to take everything you’ve learned and accomplished to reflect on why you’d be perfect for the new company and what you can do for the bottom line,” Jay says.

Keep the conversation simple and focused on the future, she says: The previous work environment was no longer for me, and that’s what I’m looking for going forward.

If you worked on a side business or project while you were at your last job, focus on what you learned while you were alone.

If your side job is directly related to the job you’re applying for, that’s additional experience and skills you can talk about. Even if the skill sets don’t quite match, bring out the soft skills that make you a good employee and leader, like time management or the ability to delegate.