What they are really asking

This question asks you to imagine not getting the job. In effect it's "If you don't leave, what will you be doing in a few years?" The interviewer wants to see the gap between the future you'd have at your current company and the one you'd have with them. A clear, fair picture of where your current path leads makes your reason for moving believable.

The trap is making your current job sound hopeless. "I'll be stuck doing nothing" is a complaint, and it raises the question of why you haven't left already. A better answer describes a realistic, even decent, future, and then says what's missing from it.

A shape that works

Realistic future, what's missing, why here. Describe what would probably happen if you stayed, using "I'll probably" or "I'd expect to." Be fair; say something good about it. Then name the one thing that path doesn't give you. Finish by showing how this role gives you that thing.

Model answers

Listen to how each answer is built, then make it yours.

Answer 1: an accountant in Toronto
Answer 2: a teacher in Nairobi
Answer 3: a software engineer in Singapore

Check yourself

1Why does the interviewer ask you to imagine staying?
2Why is "I'll be stuck doing nothing" a weak answer?

Practice · 3 min

Write two sentences starting "If I stay, I'll probably..." and "I'd expect to...". Add one sentence on what that path is missing and one on how the new job gives it to you. Record it. Listen for one fair, positive sentence about your current job; if there isn't one, add it.

Your recording stays on this device. Nothing is uploaded.

Say it today

Use it once in a real conversation before tomorrow. Out loud counts, even to yourself.