How to explain leaving a job for personal reasons

To explain leaving a job for personal reasons you need to be transparent and direct, talk about your decision to leave, and highlight what you learned from the previous job. Here are some details on these tips and others to help you explain this:

• Be transparent and direct

  You need to be honest, transparent, and direct. Let your potential employer know the reasons you left the job, feel free to go into some detail, but don't get too extensive.

• Talk about your decision to leave

  This is important, while you do need to tell your potential employer why you left your last job, ultimately you should focus more on the fact that you made the decision to leave, rather than focusing on the behavior of others or the organization. This shows that you are a proactive and thoughtful professional, and will be viewed favorably by your potential employer.

• Highlight what you learned from the previous job

  You should also highlight your professional experience and detail how it makes you a good fit for the potential position. Use examples, anecdotes, and data-driven references to inform your potential employer on your previous work experience, and to show how the culmination of your knowledge and experience makes you a strong asset for this new job.

• Keep your remarks brief

  While it is important to be transparent and honest about your past employment situation, this does not mean you should linger on the subject. So keep your remarks fact-based, not emotion-based, brief, and concise.

• Don't use negative language

  You should not speak too negatively of your previous employer, the workplace, or ex-colleagues, just emphasize the fact that it ultimately was not a good fit. If you choose to bad mouth your past employer or colleagues, this could negatively impact your current job interview.