What Are You Looking For in Your Next Job [7 Example Interview Answers]

It seems like a simple enough question. For many of us, we want money, respect, and some learning opportunities. But saying that may not land us a job offer and coming up with something other than that can be tough.

Sometimes it’s easier to answer what we are not looking for. We don’t want to be micromanaged, a boss who calls and emails us after hours, or someone whose demands require an 80-hour work week for our 40-hour per week salary.

I wish I could tell you there is a one-size-fits-all answer when preparing for this question, but there isn’t. Instead, I’ll leave you with the knowledge you need to make calculated decisions based on limited information to give your best possible answer. This way, you’ll be prepared for any situations that come your way.

Why Interviewers Ask This Question

During an interview you can trace almost any question back to a variation of 4 main questions. This particular question is a variation of “Why are you here?”

The internet will have you believe that this question is about uncovering your motivation, priorities, vision, character, and ambition - all in an attempt to identify how likely the company is to retain you for the long term. And while that’s not entirely false, having sat at the hiring table with hundreds of managers over the years, I don’t think it’s entirely accurate either. Or at the least, it’s not the full picture.

To Assess Alignment

Hiring and retention are about alignment. As long as the employer’s needs and goals align with yours, and vice versa, you will continue a working relationship. But the second that alignment is gone, the employer will lay you off or you’ll start looking for a new job. As you think about this question, I want you to think about the alignment of goals.

On the employer side, the interviewer is trying to predict how long that alignment will last and if it even exists right now. You’ll also want unique interview questions to ask the employer to assess this for yourself.

With that being said, you can see why assuming that an answer that shows ambition may not always be the best one if it doesn’t align with the company’s goals and potential career paths available.

To Assess Motivation

The other reason that interviewers ask this question is to assess your motivation. Don’t confuse that with ambition; they are not the same. Most people want to work with other people who have a purpose or some form of intrinsic motivation.

Think about the last time you hired a contractor to fix something in your home, or a gardener, or a resume writer. Given the option, you would probably hire someone who was passionate about their work and not the person who was just trying to make a buck and took any job.

People follow heroes on a mission. Those people often have intrinsic motivation. They don’t follow people with extrinsic motivators. You want people to want to follow you. You want people to want you on their team.

To Assess Character

I think there are much better questions to ask that provide clues into one’s character. This really isn’t a question about what you can do for us or what it will be like to work with you. You can still take the opportunity to show some of those things by doing research on the company and hiring manager before the interview or referencing items from the job description or company website. And that may not be a bad thing to do. But ultimately, this question is about determining if there is alignment between you and the interviewer.

Variations of This Question

The interview may not ask this question exactly as I’ve written it either. Here are some common variations that all mean the same thing.

1. What are you looking for in your next position?

2. What are you looking for in your next opportunity?

3. What are you looking for in your next role?

4. Why do you want to work here?

5. What attracted you to this job?

6. What are you hoping to learn in your next job?

And remember that the way they ask the question gives you clues about their culture and thought process as well. Words have meaning and the words people choose to use mean something. If someone asks you about learning, that’s a clue that they may value professional development. By asking smart questions, you can use those clues to lead you to the truth.

How Do You Answer What Are You Looking For In Your Next Role

You gotta love the advice out there that says to research the company, talk about your skills, highlight your long-term career goals, and talk about the company’s values. Well, how’s that for an unsophisticated, common, run-of-the-mill approach? I’d like to offer you something of more value today.

Focus on the Underlying Concern

Every interview question is asked because there’s an underlying concern the interviewer is trying to resolve (except in the cases of bad interviews when the interviewer asks questions from a sheet because they have no idea what they are doing).

This question is really about what you are looking for in your next job. It’s about alignment. No one is ever going to be 100% aligned with their personal goals and business goals, but you don’t want to come across as unaligned.

Answer Why You Are Here and Not There

If you focus on answering this question, you’ll fare better. Combine the answers to what you are looking for in your next role with why you are interviewing at this company and not somewhere else. That is a powerful recipe for success. I’ll give you some examples of this later on.

Make It a Story About Us

Stay true to yourself and what you are looking for, but don’t make it a story about yourself. This is what I’m looking for. This is what I want. Me, me, me.

Instead, make it a story about you and them working together and show that alignment of interests. For example, tell them how you are really good at this skill and love doing it and how excited you are that this job is all about using that skill. That’s a story about us.

Focus on Intrinsic Motivation

I talk about this a lot in my interview articles because it’s really important. Extrinsic motivators can wear off quickly. If you’re only motivated by money (extrinsic) then you’ll likely jump ship the second someone offers you more. But if you have intrinsic motivators, you’re more likely to keep the ship steady and persist in the face of obstacles. Finding a job that shares your intrinsic motivators is worth more than gold.

You’ll see some examples of this later in the article.

Tailor Your Answer

While I will give you some examples later, the reason I’m not giving you a talk track to follow is because that doesn’t work.

You can prep for this answer ahead of time by researching the company website, press releases, mission statements, and job descriptions to find clues about their culture and values, and you should. But, you also need to pay attention to what they’ve told you during the interview conversation and think of ways that you can show alignment with their needs.

This is why I’m a huge advocate for spending 80% of your interview preparation time writing down things about yourself more so than about the company. The more in tune you are with yourself, the better equipped you are to navigate the interview in real-time.

Think of it this way. All the information about yourself, what you’ve done, what makes you tick, etc., is the ammunition on the battlefield. If you have all the ammunition you need, then during the interview it’s simply a matter of assessing what ammunition to use. Otherwise, you’re stuck trying to find ammunition in addition to determining if you need to use the artillery or the sniper rifle.

So prepare well and pay attention to what the other person has said to determine how you will answer the question.

Gauge Buy-In With a Question

Don’t forget to bounce the ball back after you’ve answered. The best interviews are the ones where each party does a 50/50 share of the talking and most of the time that’s going to require some prompting on your side.

You’ll see in my examples that I always ask a thoughtful question at the end to get the interviewer to give me clues about how well I showed alignment. While I think unique questions are best, here are a few that work a majority of the time.

1. What are you looking for in this next hire?

2. What are you hoping your next hire will have that the last person didn’t?

3. What does a successful person look like in this role?

Pick Up on Clues in Your Research

This is something that you’ll get better at with practice, but I want to wrap up this section by talking about it - it’s that important. You can find hidden clues everywhere - on websites, job descriptions, and reviews. And remember, if they don’t have a website, that’s a clue in itself.

Let me illustrate this with an example because I think that’s easiest. I was working with a coaching pass client this week. We were preparing for an interview with a competitor of Zendesk. When we reviewed their career site (the place they advertise their jobs) we saw mostly young people in all the team pictures. There were also a lot of team activities including what appeared to be happy hour after work, volunteering, and a lesson on how to make floral arrangements. The leadership team was all female as well.

So what did we infer? For starters, it seemed like a very close-knit team. There would be an expectation to participate in after-work events. Talking about similar interests could indicate some form of cultural alignment. We also noticed that many of the events were what many would consider feminine in nature, so coming in with the opposite probably wasn’t going to be a fit. For this company, part of our answer to “what we are looking for” could easily involve the importance of teamwork, team camaraderie, team building, and similar things.

What Are You Looking For In Your Next Job Answers

Below you’ll find responses to this question that include discussing company culture, projects you enjoy working on, and other items. Remember to use these for inspiration but always tailor your answer to the specific job and the conversation.

Skills Focused

I’m really good at writing compelling marketing copy that gets people to take action. It’s something I’ve always done well with and I was really excited about your job opening because I’ll be able to use my experience with x, y, and z to write copy for your website, emails, and sales collateral. And that’s exactly what I’m looking for in my next job. How important is copywriting in your mind to the success of this role?

Experience Focused

My understanding is that I’ll be working primarily on X project and I’m excited to dive more into these types of projects. In my past jobs where I’ve worked on similar projects, I’ve been very good at it and enjoyed it a lot. This will give me the opportunity to do more of what I love. I’m curious about what type of people have been successful in this role before me.

Company Culture Focused

One thing that stood out to me was the long tenure of everyone on the team. That’s hard to find these days. I’m a believer that the proof is in the pudding and this tells me that you’re all doing something right over here to retain your staff for so long. That’s what excites me the most about your company because I’m looking for somewhere where I too can invest my strengths for the long run. I have to ask, what’s the secret to building such a tenured team?

Situational Focused

I thrive in challenging situations, the ones that push you to the limit. I think that’s how you grow. I could be wrong, but from reading your job description it sounds like you need someone with my skills who isn’t afraid of a good challenge. And that’s why I’m here and that’s what I’m looking for in my next job. I’d love to hear more about some of the goals you have for the department this year and the challenges you foresee having to overcome.

Team Focused

I’m energized by people and I couldn’t help but notice that there seems to be a lot of cross-functional collaboration, both internally and externally with this role. I’m hoping that’s true because that’s where I thrive. Partnering with other department heads to solve problems and provide perspectives keeps me motivated. I’d be happy to share some of my past experiences if you like and I would love to hear more about how you see this role fitting into the bigger picture.

Culture/Interest Focused

This may sound cheesy, but I mountain bike every weekend and I’ve been using your X product for the past 3 years. For a living, I’ve been in procurement for the past 5 years and when I read your job opening, I thought, wow, if I could combine what I’m good at for a living with what I love to do on the weekends, wouldn’t that be the definition of a dream job. I want my work to matter personally and deeply to myself and people who enjoy what I enjoy. And I think that can happen here. While I know mountain biking isn’t a requirement for the job, I have to ask how many of your other employees use your products on a regular basis?

Career Change Focused

I’ve been in education for years and while I’ve loved the planning and teaching aspect of the job, the discipline and lack of parental support is something I don’t think is a good fit for me anymore. And after spending months of reflection and researching potential career paths, I’ve determined that a learning and development role not only suits my skills well but lets me use the skills that I’m most passionate about. I’d love to share some more with you about how those skills translate from the classroom to your business. Have you ever hired a former teacher before?

Things That Don’t Typically Impress Others

Before we wrap up, let’s discuss 4 things that don’t usually impress interviewers so you can avoid them.

Salary

We all know that everyone works for money, but if money is the top thing you’re focused on, how long will your alignment last? Until something else offers you more. The problem with money is that it’s an extrinsic motivator. Avoid this one.

Untruths

Don’t lie to get the job. You’ll be working with these people 8 to 10 hours a day most likely and they’re going to find out the truth eventually. You should never change yourself for someone else. Plus, good interviewers can tell when someone is lying.

Negativity

Avoid speaking negatively about former employees, colleagues, employers, or anyone really. This raises more concerns on the other side and it’s not worth making it harder on yourself to land a job.

Anything Overly Ambitious

Be realistic with whatever you share. If the company has a fast-track career path, then it’s perfectly acceptable to talk about your ambitions to grow into leadership. But telling someone you want to be the CFO in two years when you’re applying for a Staff Accountant role is probably overly ambitious. Keep it real.

What Are You Looking For In Your Next Job Recommended Reading

What Would You Do If You Couldn’t Fail Interview Answers

Unique Interview Questions Employers Told Me They Loved

Excuses to Leave Work Early for an Interview

24 Common Signs You Will Get the Job After an Interview

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Cole Sperry has been a recruiter and resume writer since 2015, working with tens of thousands of job seekers, and hundreds of employers. Today Cole runs a botique advisory firm consulting with dozens of recruiting firms and is the Managing Editor at OptimCareers.com.