Reasons for leaving my last, and only employer, are stated on my resume. Most companies have been satisfied with them and people within the prospective employer were satisfied. Few want 50% travel and 60-90 hour weeks during those periods, especially without compensation on any level.

I agree that prospective employers have a right to know why I left and what I am looking for. I can articulate it but that VP really pushed on the issue of my resignation. He wanted reporting hierarchies, which really began to open pandora's box in the last position. They needed to restructure, still do. I may have been OK, if he'd not wanted reporting heirarchies. He pushed on those issues, too, almost felt as though he was holding me responsible for why things weren't addressed with the reporting structure in the last position. My chain of command in that position was not one to question and they made it very clear. They wanted unquestioning submission and were very clear about it.

This VP was not going to be placated with any innocuous reason for leaving. I was too tired from riding lots of miles and not sleeping enough, wanted to explore the area. So I stupidly fell into his trap. If I had known prior to talking with him there were no management opportunities for me with them, I would have walked out. I am not perfect, don't know everything about human nature but want to learn and be developed. Maybe I don't deserve to be developed and promoted. If that's true, so be it. The plant people wanted me. I was their top pick by a large margin so I was very surprised to run into such an antagonistic VP of HR.

The recruiter was surprised, too, because I have a strong resume and come across well on the phone and in person. He was surprised by the VP's path. The recruiter sent lots of other engineers for another position in the same plant. None were chosen although they have great resumes and come across well verbally, too. They have been seeking to fill that position for months. They are working with multiple recruiters, too. They are indecisive or looking for even better talent than us to relocate to a non-primo area, i.e., the largest nearby town has a population around 4,000. Never the twain shall meet.....

The VP had already been very offensive with the "aggressive" tactic. It was a bad sequence of events. However, after interviewing with him, I did not want the position. I thought him a bad representative of a company especially talking to an engineer of my background as he did.

I have interviewed with other companies wanting 15 years experience but I have too much depth in my years. They think I would get bored and move on. Who knows? There are no guarantees in this life. Seems management now wants loyalty from its employees but they've created the monster of loyalty to self with "right sizing" over the last two decades. They don't even ask so I don't know who really gets cheated in that situation.

Tricky waters to navigate.