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I'm going to be interviewing again after only a few months at a new company. I failed to get a good picture of where they were financially before I started, and am now realizing they're in trouble - not "having trouble meeting payroll" yet, but heading in that direction.

How do I answer the inevitable "Why are you leaving your company so soon?" in interviews? Exposing their financial state seems morally wrong (it's definitely not public, and there's always a chance they could recover), but maybe a short direct answer is ok without getting into details? How would I phrase that?

Masked Man
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SeniorFoo
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  • "Exposing their financial state seems morally wrong" It also is legally wrong. Your basically expose confidential information. The fact that you even consider the moral aspect says a lot - there is no moral question here, laws already forbid this. – TomTom Jun 17 '18 at 16:14

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You know that you don't want to leak any information about your previous company's finance. That would be a red flag for your future employer.

You can simply say that your previous engagement terms were not matching your expectations and your market value.

That would be neutral, and a hint that you don't want to be underpay to any potential employer.

If this is the case, and I hope so, you can stress that you quit in good terms, and hopefully your work certificate will prove that.

Pac0
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  • since it's apparently a well known duplicate, should I delete my attempt to answer here ? – Pac0 Jun 15 '18 at 21:32
  • Hehe, definitely not "well known". In any case, any phrasing I could come up with that doesn't talk about finances sounds obscuringly vague, inviting further questions - hence my problem. On a side note, I kinda like the "I have some concerns about the long term future of the company" in one of the linked questions... – SeniorFoo Jun 15 '18 at 21:44
  • your definitely right that it invites further questioning, and that's not a clever move. – Pac0 Jun 15 '18 at 21:46
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    Why would it be a red flag to a future employer? "My current job can't make payroll / doesn't pay me on time" is a completely guilt-free and legitimate reason to leave a job. Can you please explain why you think it would be a negative to just tell the truth? – Tom W Jun 16 '18 at 09:11
  • @TomW I think that it could simply mean, for the employer : "This person has apparently no trouble to criticise its former employer and give us financial details of their bad situation. If we hire him, he could do the same to us!" – Pac0 Jun 18 '18 at 08:29
  • @TomW -- "Can't pay me on time" is very clear-cut and different from "I think their financial difficulty will lead to issues in the future", which is the primary difference here – SeniorFoo Jun 18 '18 at 16:50