Reason for leaving?

[areyouadogperson]

I am currently applying for a new job. I’ve worked in admin and reception for an Accountants for 18 years with the same firm allbeit, via two mergers through which I was kept on.

The first merger went really well. The second merger has been challenging. Originally, full of hope and praise but now the difficult bit has been dealt with, ie clients happy, office set up and rebranding all of which I was a big part of, I have a sense of just not being welcome and the environment is causing anxiety which I have never suffered from before. I just don’t feel myself. My confidence is shattered and the work place which I have loved over many years, isn’t where I want to be anymore. The environment is now toxic and I know several staff members are the same as me.

After 18 years, I want to try something new. Have new challenges and I have been applying for new roles. One at a doctors surgery, one at a vets and one in a solicitors firm.

I am not even sure if I’ll be asked to interview but I wonder if anyone can give me any tips on what to say if I’m asked why I want to leave a job after 18 years.

I am confident in my abilities to do reception and admin but the why do you want to leave question worries me and I’d like to be prepared for it.

Thanks for any help you can give me or any other interview tips that you can suggest for someone who has been going to the same office for 18 years.

Concentrate on the new job not the old job. Don’t say “leaving because x y z at old employer not quite right” frame it as “looking for a new challenge, saw this job and it’s the perfect opportunity, lots of transferable experience and I’m particularly interested in working in your vet/doctor/wherever business because I’m passionate about x y z”.

Op I left a office job similar to yours after 18 years. I went for a few interviews and just said I was looking for a fresh challenge and a different working environment. nobody really questioned that.

Thank you both for answering. This is helpful.

Similar situation here, I left a job I loved due to the changes being made making the atmosphere toxic. As advised above when I was asked my answer was that I felt I had achieved everything I could within the role and it was tome for a new challenge.

Seemed to do ok as new job is a big change from warehouse and logistics admin to project management.

DH was in a very similar situation to you recently, he said he had a very rewarding career at X-COMPANY but needed a new challenge to build on his existing skill set & share what he’d learned from there.