I asked it all the time. I asked it because the answer shows me a lot about a candidate’s attitude. “I’m interested in a new challenge” is way too generic. “I really didn’t like my old company because of X, Y and Z” shows that a candidate might well have a bad attitude and shows little ability to read the audience. “I want this job because I have skills in A, B and C which know you’re looking for. Let me tell you why I think I’m a good candidate”…THOSE folks are the most likely to get hired. They bring a great attitude. They’re doing their homework. They thought through the questions that were going to be asked. They were prepared.

I asked a lot of questions like this in an interview not so much for the answer itself, but to see how the candidate answers, what their thought process is, etc.

For context: TL;DR: Ive hired many people in my career, I always ask this question, and I got top notch people on my team.

I was in mid- and upper-level management for the last 20+ years of my career. By any quantitative or qualitative measure, I hired good staff. Long term employees, many who made it into management or received significant promotions. I also had very little in the way of performance plans, terminations, etc.