In my former corporate life, and in coaching professionals as well as hiring managers over the years, I’ve seen firsthand how stressful and confusing the interview process can be, including how to answer some of the most common questions hiring managers ask.
Interviewing is often intimidating because we worry how we’ll “come off” and if we’re putting our best foot forward to land the role. But it’s critical to understand that an interview isn’t an “audition.”
It should be a true give-and-take process–a two-way, frank and open conversation where both interviewer and interviewee are posing—and addressing—with honesty, clarity and depth, the critical questions and issues that will help both of you discern the key features and aspects of this job and if you’re a true fit for it.
One of those common questions from interviewers is “What are you looking for in your next job?”
Let’s break that down to understand what the question is essentially getting at, and the best ways to answer it.
During my time in corporate (and later in my own business) when I’ve been engaged in hiring professionals for open jobs on my team, I’d ask various versions of this same question (depending on my particular focus or the needs of the specific role). All the versions were designed to help me understand what the interviewee was hoping to experience and achieve in the next chapter, what they wanted to leverage— in terms of their top skills, talents, experiences, passions and core values going forward—and what they longed to have the chance to focus on and create next. I might ask these different versions below of this same query, “What are you looking for in your next job?”
- “You’ve had some great executive and leadership responsibility in your past jobs. What are looking for in terms of growth opportunities and experiences in your next role?”
- “Where do you see yourself in five years? What do you hope for most in terms of your career progression?”
- “What types of outcomes, projects and teams would you be most excited to support in your next role?”
- “What are the skills and accomplishments you’d most like to leverage from your past jobs, in the next job?”
- “What would make an ideal next role for you, and why?”
- “What type of organization would make you most excited and proud to work for?”
To prepare well for any interview, you’ll want to brainstorm and gain greater self-awareness and clarity about your honest answers to all of the questions above, and work out what you feel is the best way to respond that provides an honest assessment but also sets up you to move forward in the interview, given what you know about the role.
Answers That Will Move The Process Forward
First, give a clear picture of you at your best. Be honest (never lie or embellish in an interview, on your resume, etc.) because lying actually makes us weaker. Lying serves as a strong (damaging) message to ourselves that we’re not talented, experienced or worthy enough to move forward successfully just as we are. Be confident and self-assured—know clearly what your talents and accomplishments are and what you want going forward, and speak of them with assertiveness and strength.
Also be mindful that what you share will be used to help the interviewer evaluate if you’ll be happy, successful and productive in this new role. And that same determination should be your ultimate goal too, in every interview you have.
So before the interview, prepare deeply. Think about all the jobs you’ve had that you loved and what you were doing in those jobs (the skills you used, the collaborative relationships you formed, the talents you developed, the outcomes you loved to support) and think about how you want to leverage all that in the next juncture.
Develop Personalized Responses To These Questions
- What have you been most proud of, in terms of accomplishments, and why?
- How did you stand out and what special abilities helped you make a difference in your former jobs that you want to build on?
- What legacy do you want to leave behind at the end of your career and how will the next role help you build that legacy?
- What are you most excited about in terms of your work and overall career?
And importantly, make sure you can articulate confidently the kinds of contributions you’d like to bring to this organization. What impact would you hope to make there and why?
Key Points, Words And Themes To Include
Depending on the role and its focus, some key helpful themes to include in answering these questions involve:
- Your leadership ability and potential and how that’s been demonstrated
- Your managerial experience, success and impact and how you’d like to apply that in this new role
- You’re ability to work well in teams and be flexible, collaborative and resilient and how that might help in this role
- How you typically handle adversity, challenge, crisis and disagreement
- Your core values, in your work and approach
- Your commitment to DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) in your leadership and managerial approach, and your understanding of the importance of diversity in building thriving organizations and cultures
- Your overall working style and the essential leadership and communication traits you prefer to demonstrate
- The positive impact you ultimately would like to have—on your team and the organization
Why Is This An Important Question?
This question of what you want in the next role is vitally important because it helps hiring managers and interviewees accurately assess how well the open role matches what you want and what your goals for the future are. It helps you both assess what you’re ready to take on next and whether, given what you want and can achieve, you may or may not be the right person for the job.
Once you answer the interviewers questions, you’ll want to follow up and ask, “Does what I’m sharing sound like a strong fit with this role?”
For instance, if the role is too junior, or not rich enough in the types of responsibilities you want, or is too heavily micro-managed, when you crave autonomy, or if the work culture is not supportive of diversity, etc. these areas of inquiry will help you understand if the open role—and this particular work culture—is something you can thrive in.
Experience and talent are not the only key determinants of an individual’s potential job success. It involves many other factors including the person’s true goals, their dominant action style and the way they best operate in the workforce, their vision of an ideal role, their collaborative and leadership abilities, where they dream to go in the future, and more.
In the end, come into the interview with a greater sense of self-mastery, know your key interview style, and bring your most confident, best self to the table. Don’t think about “failing” at the interview. Think about how you can interact in this conversation that demonstrates clearly your strong talents and abilities but also will help you know if this is truly is a role you wish to assume.
Kathy Caprino is a career and leadership coach, author of The Most Powerful You, and trainer helping professionals build their most rewarding careers.
