Tough Interview Questions: What do you love most about your current job?

You finally get an interview at your dream company, and you can see the light at the end of the tunnel -- a way out of a job that’s run its course. And then the interviewer asks you the one question you’ve been dreading: “What do you love most about your current job?”

How can you answer this? If you loved your job, you probably wouldn’t want to leave, right? Even in the best case scenario, where you like your job and are just ready for your next step, it’s hard to explain why you love your current job while communicating that you’re even more excited about the potential opportunity. 

The trick is to pick an aspect of your current job that will serve you well in the new role. Think about what drew you to apply for the job at hand and which of your skills will make you an asset to the team. For example, if you’re an assistant at an agency applying for a coordinator job at a production company, instead of thinking about how much you hate your type A boss and the bro culture of the agency, describe how much you love reading clients’ materials, writing coverage, and tracking the industry. That will demonstrate you’re able to do the job and will enjoy coming to work every day.

Remember that the purpose of the interviewer asking this question is to see whether you’d be happy on the team -- and it’s an opportunity for you to suss out the same thing. In the above example, let’s say the interviewer responds by saying that the coordinator role is less about development and more about supporting current shows and securing resources for physical production. If that sounds like something you’d enjoy, you can express that you’re excited about the opportunity to learn more about that part of the process and see if you can thread in an additional related skill you acquired at the agency that will help you succeed. 

But if you learn that a role isn't want you'd hoped for during an interview, it’s okay to express how you feel about it. Continue making a good impression during the rest of the interview. You may decide that the position isn't for you (and the hiring manager might agree), but when the right position pops up at the company, the interviewer might give you a recommendation. After all, you should be looking for a job that you love, one you can easily talk passionately about once you’re in the role.

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-- Angela Silak & Cindy Kaplan