How to Answer “Why Should I Hire You?” – Sample answers inside
How to Answer “Why Should I Hire You?” – Sample answers inside
At some point throughout your career, you will almost assuredly be asked the interview question,
“With so many skilled aspirants, Why should we hire you?”
This question is ridiculous because there is no earthly way you could possibly know why they should hire you over any other candidate. But we can’t blame interviewers for asking it because they know their business inside out, you don’t!
An Interviewer’s responsibility is to hire the best person for the job. Most of the candidates that make it to the interview panel are qualified for the job. The winning candidate must be more than qualified, especially in a very competing job market.
Every hire is a risk for the company. Your interviewer will also be taking a personal risk in suggesting a particular candidate.
If the candidate works well, Mr Interviewer looks ingenious and gets a pat on the back.
If the candidate turns out to be a dud, the interviewer looks like a dummy and his professional reputation suffers.
With the question, “Why Should We Hire You?” – your interviewer is inviting you to sell him on you and your status as the best candidate for the role.
Why should we hire you? – In the Interviewer’s perspective
The worst way to reply to the question “Why should we hire you?” is to say “I’m clever, I’m hard-working and I need the job.” Every candidate will say that! You have to change things up.
You have to shift the script. That’s the only way you will outlive in the interviewer’s mind after the discussion is over.
In the interviewer’s view, he is NOT asking for your life chronicle. They’re interested most in your knowledge and skills which apply right to the position, and the company’s goals.
It’s all about selecting a good long-term fit for the company, and that they see you also recognize that working at the company will be fulfilling to you for your own professional goals.
Make his job easier by convincing him that:
- You can do the task and deliver excellent outcomes
- You will fit in ideally and be a great wing to the team
- You possess an aggregate of skills and experience that make you stand out from the group
- Hiring you will make him look ingenious and make his life easier
How to Answer the Question?
The Employers take this question very seriously, and you should, too.
While answering, do double-time by selling yourself and by demonstrating your knowledge of the company.
Start by doing your preparation on the employer before the interview, even if it is “only” a telephone interview.
That analysis will likely include sensing their website, Googling their name, and performing an advanced search on LinkedIn long before you ever discover yourself in the interview!
Discern that you may have the same skill set as other applicants, but much of job interview success revolves around who does the best job at communicating their expertise in the interview!
So, spend some time doing the following:
- Listing your skills and strengths.
- Write about the Challenges, Actions, and Results accomplishments for each of your jobs.
- Documenting your accomplishments.
- Revealing what makes you special by examining letters of recommendation and/or other credentials you may have from work, school, and volunteering.
- Writing down accurate answers to questions like this that give a detailed example to prove you fit the bill!
Embrace this question as an opportunity to emphasize your value and to demonstrate your knowledge as they work together to show how well you could do the job.
Focus on them, not on You!
Your response to this question should focus on them, not on you! You are the marketer in this situation, not the customer. So, you need to focus on the benefits (more than one!) to this customer.
Prepare for about two minutes of content
At a minimum, aim for about a 90-second script for your answer will seem too compact. At the other extreme, giving an answer which takes more than three minutes will start to assume quite lengthy.
If you think you’ve already spelled out your talents and experience many times, possibly a better approach for you is to tell what you have to contribute that others don’t.
Considering you’re racing against other similarly qualified candidates, a great thing to highlight at this point is your devotion to the role.
To do that, show a deep knowledge of the profession and an understanding of how you might fit in. This, of course, demands a good bit of company analysis, so you can address the uniqueness, the antiquity, the eternity, and your own personal investment.
Write it out, and practice
Writing and composing about two passages of text, and then tape yourself reading the text at a conversational, storytelling pace, will give you somewhere between 90 seconds and two minutes of content.
Other forms of this question:
The question can take a variety of forms such as,
- Why are you a suitable candidate for the job?
- Why are you the suitable candidate for this job?
- What would you bring to the position?
- How will you provide value to the company?
For a better understanding of the question, you can rephrase it for yourself like this:
“Tell me about your journey. How did you get involved in coding, and why was software development a great fit for you? How is that relevant to our _____ role or company goals?”
However, these questions are framed to get the same answers. To close the opportunity on a job offer, you MUST be equipped with a brief summary of the top minds to choose you. Even if your interviewer doesn’t ask one of these questions in so many terms, you should have a response prepared and be looking for ways to deliver your top reasons throughout the interview.
Bad Answers to This Question
A response that concentrates on the goods to you is a bad answer. So, answers like:
- I need money.
- I need a job.
- This location is very near to my place
- I’ve always been interested in (whatever they do).
- I don’t know, It sounds like a good job.
- I’m the best one for the job. I am great with people.
- I think you should select me because I am a hard worker, and I have practice in the field, and I’m active, and I have the knowledge, and I am a good fit for your company.
- I have great speaking skills.
As important as those reasons are to you, they are not the reasons the employer will hire you. Don’t just state blind things that anyone can tell. Frankly, nice as they might be, they actually don’t care about the advantages to you if they hire you.
Good Responses for – “Why should I hire you?”
Answer 1:
“This is a wonderful opportunity for me to get interviewed at such a renowned company. Your company will surely prove to be an exceptional platform for me to discover my skills and knowledge in the corporate environment. Even though I am a fresher, I pledge you that I will deliver my best and run to my full potential so that I can offer as much as I can towards the growth and prosperity of this great brand.”
Answer 2:
“Over the years, I have acquired relevant skills and knowledge, which I shall bring to your organization. I have also worked tirelessly on my communication abilities and teamwork skills, which I will put to use in my future career, which would be in your organization if I am selected for the position. I have given my 100% effort in my academics, and this has enabled me to recognize my capabilities and limitations. If I channelize them further, they will bring fruitful results to me and also to your esteemed organization.”
Answer 3 :
“I feel that I should be hired by you given my excellent academic background along with the skills and experience the company is looking for. I have the knowledge and the approach to excel. If given a chance, I will surely work towards building my expertise, which would prove beneficial for me as well as your organization.”
Bottom Line
By making getting hired your job and putting in the time to prepare, you can triumphantly and confidently reply to an employer when they ask, “Why should we hire you?” Go get ‘em!
Also Read,
6 Guaranteed ways to stand out in a job interview | Make Your Own Way
