It’s best to be honest, so it’s best if you liked your last job so much there was nothing to dislike. That leads to an excellent answer.
“I hated having to leave, but they had to downsize so a lot of key people were released.”
Most people can find something they don’t like about a job, but now isn’t the time to expound on it, or even to mention it. Honesty includes steering the answer towards positives rather than negatives which reflect badly during an interview.
Good boss:
“I really can’t say I disliked anything about the job enough to talk about it, but I really learned a lot from my boss. I see the person I’d be working for here is a real pro too.”
Liked Coworkers:
“I never really thought about bad things there. It was an enjoyable experience to work with the people at that job. Everyone got along, knew their jobs, helped each other when someone needed help. I look forward to a similar experience here.
The best answer to this question has a number of key elements:
• Avoid negatives, mention dislikes to acknowledge the question while giving a reasonable explanation for not expounding on a dislike.
• Include something positive in the answer.
• Tie in the positive to the new potential job – research helps.
If the last job was so bad that there’s nothing positive about it, look harder. Unless you worked under the whip, literally, every day, there must be something good, or at least not so bad about the job.
Boss was a jerk, so spin it to having learned about management through observing what not to do.
“I don’t take time to dwell about bad things, but I have to say I learned a lot about management at the last job. I intend to apply those lessons here.”
Pay was too low, and often not on time. Spin it to lessons about the importance of enjoying work.
“I can’t say there were a lot of negatives, at least nothing that stands out now that I think about it. What I do know is that the job taught me how important it is to enjoy work. Sure it’s a job to collect a check, but I can’t work for just money. One of the reasons I’m interested in this job is it’s something I’ll enjoy.”
This answer, recently given at a job interview, is an example of what not to say. “I hate work in general, but a pay check is a pay check.”