I just got asked this on a follow up interview -- for a low-wage contract job with no benefits.

I talked around it, because professionalism is king in a situation where you don't know what else to do, but what's the proper response to something like this?

I mean, the obvious implication is that I will leave the moment something better comes up. I didn't say that of course, but it seems pretty obvious.

All my responses are truthful, no matter what setting. And I see professional as being truthful in a courteous way. I earned enough respect from my superior this way for her to offer me a job as a manager (which i gracefully turned down).

A person who tells the truth is trustworthy, but perhaps they could tell you were talking around it? I mean, they have to know that a person would leave under such circumstances for a better job. So maybe that was the reason for the question.

But my thinking is that no matter what job I have (low or high pay) I am going to do it as best I can, and I am going to be professional about it. I am going to learn it in and out, because who knows if the skills or experience gained from it will pay off later?

I used to work at a car wash. A boring old car wash. But I was offered more pay than others because of my enthusiasm. I started to dance outside of the car wash and wave at passing cars on the freeway. People started to come in saying "hey, I saw you on the freeway, so I pulled over. I need a car wash anyhow."

That same day, a car dealer saw me, and brought half his lot to be washed.

Embarrassing perhaps to dance in front of a store (which is probably what my co-workers were thinking)? To me it wasn't embarrassing, just one way to get the job done.

I just got asked this on a follow up interview -- for a low-wage contract job with no benefits.

I talked around it, because professionalism is king in a situation where you don't know what else to do, but what's the proper response to something like this?

I mean, the obvious implication is that I will leave the moment something better comes up. I didn't say that of course, but it seems pretty obvious.

I'm usually open about these things. There was a reason I got to their interview. If the only reason I go there is to survive for a few months, then probably I woudln't be too sorry if I don't get the job because of being honest, so it doesn't matter if I'm honest. I always think about future jobs, and that there is a possibility that the future employer would ask my now current employer about me. Lying to a potential employer that I'm all about their crappy job then leaving at the first better offer isn't a very good reference.

If I recall correctly, I told my first two employers that the offered job isn't my dream job, but I feel the possibility that it can become that. Plus that I don't like the hassle around switching jobs and I am not very motivated by money if it's enough to pay my pretty low bills (all three statements were true). Eventually I left those jobs for good reasons, and both quitting were very peaceful and my employers offered their help for finding a new job (I didn't leave for better jobs but simply because of boredom and some months off in the summer).

How do I know you won't fire me if I show up late or act incompetent?

If they are so concerned with keeping their employees, maybe they should consider paying better wages or offering benefits. I would have told them that was an absurd question.

I would have told them that was an absurd question.

Thus being truthful. hehe.

How do I know you won't fire me if I show up late or act incompetent?

If they are so concerned with keeping their employees, maybe they should consider paying better wages or offering benefits. I would have told them that was an absurd question.

Not even that, how do I know I won't be laid off in two months? Or when the project is finished, or because funding dries out? Etc.

It's a silly question, but if I really needed the job, I'd just bs it with how I have a sense of professionalism and wanting to see things completed. Which isn't really all that untrue.

If I recall correctly, I told my first two employers that the offered job isn't my dream job, but I feel the possibility that it can become that. Plus that I don't like the hassle around switching jobs and I am not very motivated by money if it's enough to pay my pretty low bills (all three statements were true). Eventually I left those jobs for good reasons, and both quitting were very peaceful and my employers offered their help for finding a new job (I didn't leave for better jobs but simply because of boredom and some months off in the summer).

That's actually the exact same thing I told my first interviewer -- it wasn't my dream job, but it wasn't quite like anything I've done before (as a sum-of-its-parts sort of thing), so I couldn't say how it would look down the road. That's when the second interviewer (I'm assuming a project lead or HR manager) asked me the question a few days later.

How do I know you won't fire me if I show up late or act incompetent?

If they are so concerned with keeping their employees, maybe they should consider paying better wages or offering benefits. I would have told them that was an absurd question.

This is a good point, and with an equivalent offer on the table and a better one (a salaried one, no less) possibly in the pipeline, I can afford to be a little choosy. I think I'm too nice and (as such) easy to walk over. Until now I've tried to be courteous first, honest second. A close second, mind you, I'm not going to lie through my teeth all the time. Maybe I should flip those around though.

"What have you got to offer me that will prevent it?"

It needn't be money, it needn't be perks, it can be just the satisfaction of working on something interesting, or having appreciative customers and managers.

Because an interview is a two-way sale. You're selling yourself to them and that's the obvious bit, but they also have to sell themselves to you.

To be honest, if anyone asked me that question I'd say "thanks for your time but I think this job isn't for me" and leave. If they're really that worried about me leaving then it shows that they don't intend offering me much to keep me there. In other words, and leaving aside the money/reward stuff, it's likely a shitty place to work in.

I would answer the truth: you don't, in the same way I don't know you won't send me away in two months. We will work together for as long as it is good for both of us.

It is very import that you are in the same page, the recruiter must undertand that you are there for a business contract not a mariage promise. If I receive an offer that I find better I will leave, as anyone else should. If they want people to stay, it is their job to keep an environment that people find good to work on, in the same way that if you don't want to get fired, you must keep you work at a good quality level.

As the others said, it is a job. You do it as long as both of you are satisfied. If either person becomes dissatisfied the relationship can end.

Now, the industry itself is rather small and news travels fast. Those employers that 'turn and burn' quickly get a bad reputation, and employees who have been fired or quit at several places quickly find themselves unemployable within the industry. I've seen and also heard of many people who leave at one studio and then run into each other at other studios. There are people I know who I can say "I worked with them at studio a, and at studio b, and I'd love to work with them again."


If I were asked that question, I think I would answer this way:

Q: How do I know you won't leave in two months?
A: <pause><laugh> You don't know that about anyone. How do you know your secretary won't quit tomorrow? How do you know your top developer won't suddenly get headhunted? Nobody knows what the future holds. You pay me to do a job, and I will do that job professionally.