by Kenneth Andrews

Created on: November 22, 2009   Last Updated: March 13, 2011

The concept of a "job for life" belongs firmly in the past. Gone are the days when you could graduate from university, get an entry-level position within a company, and spend the next forty years working your way up the ranks. Now, we all have to be ambitious, career-minded machines, honing our CVs in the evening in constant preparation for that next plunge into the job market. A large number of people tend to move jobs every two to three years now, about the optimum for ensuring a healthy salary increase, without looking too scatty.

However, even though leaving jobs on a semi-regular basis is now almost crucial to ensure a healthy career, one of the trickiest questions you can ever be asked at an interview is: "Why did you leave your last job?" or "Why do you want to leave your current job?" Let's take a look at some of the possible reasons for leaving a current job, and how you might dress them up in an interview situation.

1) Money.

This is almost certainly the real reason why you're looking to move, be honest. Everyone in the world thinks that they're underpaid and deserves a bit more money. But unless you're in a sales job - and most people seem to be, these days - saying this to an interviewer can be very counter-productive. It suggests that you're selfish, and that the money is the only reason you're interested in a new job. Although this is almost certainly the case, interviewers don't like to have their darkest suspicions about humanity confirmed. Try covering your naked financial greed by saying that you're keen for opportunities to have more "responsibility".

2) You didn't get that promotion you wanted.

There's nothing more frustrating than missing out on a promotion for which you've worked hard and put in long hours, only to see a colleague or (even worse) a newcomer to the company sitting in that slightly more comfortable chair, enjoying the extra salary and respect that you feel were yours by right. Being overlooked for promotion, regardless of whether you deserved the job or not, hurts. It's humiliating, and many people in such a situation will look to switch jobs, if further opportunities for promotion are thin on the ground.

Again, it's probably not a great idea to tell your new potential boss this. "There were no opportunities to develop my career" is probably the phrase to use to cover up your bitter resentment.

3) Relocation.

Perhaps your partner has got a job in another part of the country, or on the other side of the world, and you need to

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