Considering a Career Change? How to Prepare for Interviews

A career change is a time of opportunity, excitement, and more than a little trepidation.

Once you have committed to it and found a new career you are interested in, one of the bigger hurdles you will face will be the job interviews as you apply for your new career.

When you’re looking to change your career, it’s fine to be nervous about upcoming interviews and what you may face. Your interviews will still involve the typical things you would expect to face, and will have the same requirements of appropriate dress, punctuality, and politeness that are expected in any interview.

However, in your situation of changing career you will face some unique additional considerations that you would be prudent to prepare for.

Be Prepared to Answer “Why?”

The big questions that will define your interviews revolve around the question “Why?”. Why are you seeking to change careers? Why are you changing into this line of work? Why should we hire you, with no experience of the industry? You may find these are not asked explicitly, but if you look at common interview questions you will see they will arise in many questions naturally.

Answering these questions ties in, to some extent, with the sorts of questions you will face in any interview. Researching the organization and the role is always important, but in this case doubly so – showing a mastery of these things will be particularly impressive if you come from outside the field. Most people will be understanding if your knowledge is imperfect, but the more of

Most people will be understanding if your knowledge is imperfect, but the more of it you demonstrate the stronger your position relative to other candidates who are already established in the field.

Explain Your Career Change, And Why You Chose This Field.

Explaining the reasons for your career change is very important. It would be wise to focus on aspects such as challenging yourself and learning new skills. Also, focus on the strengths of the field; for example, if moving into the public sector or charity work, talk about the potential for making a positive difference in the world.

On the other hand, discussing issues of money or advancement requires more delicacy. They are not entirely outside propriety, however they must be approached with some caution and perhaps some subtlety. Interviewers know people are motivated by money, so making that a priority may make you seem too interested in your own profit over their organization’s success. In the same vein you must be careful when discussing your wishes to advance; ambition is

In the same vein you must be careful when discussing your wishes to advance; ambition is welcome, but do not disparage your previous employer or industry.

What Can You Offer?

Employers want to know what you can give to them and, in the case of people coming from other lines of work, this is your big opportunity to make a strength out of your career change. Prepare for this part of the interview most thoroughly, and be prepared to explain not only why you are changing careers, but what you can bring your prospective new employer from your previous field.

Explain how and why your experience in that sector can strengthen your role in your new one, and ideally demonstrate some ideas you would like to explore as ways to help the company by synthesizing prior experience with the new role.

With proper preparation, the interviews as you change careers can be turned into a particular opportunity to demonstrate why you are the best candidate. Focus on your reasons for choosing your new field and how past experience can aid you, and you will be in a great position. If you wish for more advice about interviews, please do browse the rest of the site or

If you wish for more advice about interviews, please do browse our free information, or contact us for more information.