this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
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How do you explain your reasons for jumping ship? (self.experienced_devs)
submitted 1 year ago by bcngooner to c/[email protected]
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I got a reply from a recruiter to setup a call later this week. I know one of the inevitable questions will be why am I looking to leave my current role.

Personally I want to leave because:

  • I have a junior role in the company and I don't see a way of reaching a mid level here.
  • The targets for promotion are constantly moving. The managers have changed a few times over the past 4 years and so have the appraisal systems.
  • I haven't been given any real projects since the last manager has started. Mainly whack-a-mole type security tasks. This is especially frustrating as I have worked on larger projects before then.
  • lots of senior engineers have joined, introduced a new product/application, and then left.
  • which leads to lots of firefighting and understanding how things were implemented due to the seniors poor documentation.
  • so I'm learning nothing on the job and I'm not working on anything special to talk about.

So would something like 'looking for new opportunities' be sufficient?

Ps. If you got this far, thanks for reading my rant. It has been locked away in my head for some time now.

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[โ€“] wccrawford 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Every recruiter (and employer) knows you're changing jobs because you think you can do better.

If the recruiter is any good, they want to know what you want to improve so they can find jobs that will help you with that. There's no point in them sending you a job with more flexible PTO when what you really want is more money, or a higher position. Tell them what you're looking for and it'll be fine.

I'd avoid bad-mouthing the company, though. It gives a bad feeling, no matter how true it is. Just say what you want, and avoid talking about how bad the company is.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Totally agree. It's important to remember that good recruiters sell good stories, not resumes. You want your recruiter to say "wow, this kid is ambitious and well spoken. Sounds like he's a prime candidate for this role."

That helps the hiring company too. It signals that they can get tenure from this potential hire and that they'll be eager to start contributing ASAP. I'll take an ambitious, eager professional over a grumpy, grizzled veteran any day.