What Did You Least Like About Your Last Job?

If asked what you hated most at your previous job, think twice before ranting about an old boss who made your life difficult.

I found myself doing that in an interview and I can honesty tell you it ruined my chances of securing the job. I lamented about the work environment and the people I was working with.

“What did you like least about your last job?” can be tricky when it comes to interview questions. If you haven’t given the subject some thought, you may accidentally talk yourself out of a job just like I did.

If you’re asked this question—or its close cousins “What was the worst part of your last job?” or “Why didn’t you like your last job?”—in an interview, you’ll want to keep your answer honest while trying to incorporate a positive angle.

What is an employer looking for in your answer? This question poses an opportunity for the hiring manager to know what type of work you like to do besides how good of a fit you will be if you work for the company.

Here’s how to handle the question;

 Start on the Right Foot

While this is a negative question in search of a negative answer, you want to begin your answer with something upbeat that shows you’re generally not a negative person. You’ll probably want to note your overall satisfaction with your job, and even give one specific thing you’ve found valuable about the job.

You say: “The Company was growing quickly, so it was a bit disorganized and I often had multiple supervisors and senior team members giving me different instructions. However, I think this was a great opportunity to improve my ability to work under pressure and my communication skills. For example, I had to learn to communicate clearly and quickly to clarify with my managers and team if there was a conflict in what I had been asked to do.”

Stay on Tasks

Create a list of those things responsible for your dissatisfaction. Spend some time looking at your list for patterns. Are there some projects that recur on your list? Are there some situations you don’t want to get into again? This exercise will help you identify things to watch for and to ask questions about during the interview.

As you look for the answer to the question you’re being asked, try to focus on an element of the work itself rather than company politics. Try to limit yourself to one issue, such as workload, lack of growth or lack of flexibility.

You say: “ While I liked working at my previous company, there were instances where tasks that I was assigned didn’t give me the chance to expand my skillset and experience. I realized that my full potential wasn’t being reached and that I was needed to focus on personal and professional growth. I’m interested in this role because your company offers professional development seminars, and I’m very eager to participate in the effective communication course being offered next quarter.”

End With a Strength

Use your closing sentence to acknowledge how this particular negative situation hampered you from deploying one of your key skills, so that the interviewer sees you as someone who wants to be able to work to their best potential.

You say: “The paperwork has bogged me down, and prevented me from doing what I do best, which is working with people.”

Ready to get hired?

Practicing the answer to this question can be duly helpful for you: Not only does it get you ready for the interview, it gets you ready to decide whether you’ll want the job. When you can identify the factors that give you job satisfaction, as well as the factors that were unpleasant or tedious for you, you can more easily determine if a job is the right job for you. Remember that this interview goes both ways!

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