When I fill out a job application, what should my reason for quitting be (read details below)?

The stock answer is “I decided to seek opportunities elsewhere.” Everyone knows that is BS but most interviewers at least appreciate the effort to be discrete. If the interviewer presses you can be more candid but frame it to put you in a more positive light. You might say that you left because your coworkers were so negative and your boss so apathetic that you found it difficult to do a good job and rather than stay and learn bad habits you decided that you needed to move on.

You could always say you wanted something more challenging. Even though the “closing cartpusher” (we call trolley boy in Australia) was a nice job, you wanted something that could allow you to learn more on the job and the cartpusher position was not giving you opportunity to learn more tasks or take on more duties. You do not have to tell them you left in the middle of your shift. Best to find a co-worker you get along well with and ask that person if they can be your Walmart referee so when a potential employer does a reference check, your co-worker can give you a positive review other than getting a bad reference from your supervisor….To be honest, I find it crazy interviewers would ask why someone left their current job or thinking of leaving their current job to another firm when the interviewer/s know perfectly well if employees are happy where they are, people wouldn’t be looking for another job so to ask the job applicant that question is plain dumb.

I like this answer a lot, thank you.

In two of the three interviews I had, they asked and I didn’t get the job, in part probably due to a wrong way to put my answer.