How to Answer The Question ‘Why Should We Hire You’?

In an interview, applicants are sometimes asked professionally unrelated questions. For example, what animal would you be Or what superpower would you want. One can argue about the meaningfulness of such questions. But one of the most typical questions in an interview is: Why should we hire you? This question means, Why you, compared to the many other qualified candidates, should be hired? The question sounds rhetoric, but it’s actually not. There are a lot of sub-questions in the question. It is something that applicants should ask themselves anyway.

Whenever HR managers ask such open questions, they want to get as much information as possible about the applicant in the shortest period. There are a few more hidden questions that need to be answered when you are asked, ‘why should we hire you.’

1. What makes you the best candidate for the position?

2. Why do you think you would fit perfectly into our work culture?

3. Why do you think you have the best experience for this position?

4. What added value can you offer that others do not bring?

The HR manager may also ask one of these questions instead of ‘why should we hire you.’ In some cases, you may be asked the exact opposite question, which is ‘Why shouldn’t we hire you?’

Ultimately, all variations of the question always point towards the question, How are you different from the rest? What makes you suitable for the company? You should prepare yourself well to answer any variant of the question in any case because an intelligent answer to it, is essential to get the job in the end.

Why they ask, ‘why should we hire you’?

HR managers ask the question because they are looking for the best candidate for the vacant position. However, this is easier said than done. Especially when the last five candidates in the race have all the necessary qualifications, in this case, such a question helps to differentiate the applicants.

The answer that a candidate gives reveals a thing or two about cleverness, eloquence, and personality of the candidate. Based on the details and depth of the answer, HR managers can get a pretty good idea of how the candidate will behave in the future and will the candidate work analytically and systematically.

Therefore, you should essentially convince HR about the following.

1. You can master any challenges and deliver above-average results.

2. You can benefit from extensive and practical experience.

3. You can fully integrate into existing teams and processes.

4. You will bring new impulses to the company.

5. You will work reliably and carefully.

The answer to why should we hire you

You can probably give all this information through a long and broad speech in a good 20 minutes, but it will be a huge mistake. It is much more convincing if you don’t elaborate your answer during the conversation, but evaporate it down to the essence. Six to eight minutes are sufficient for the answer, and it shouldn’t be more.

To do this, it is necessary to concentrate on a maximum of three to four strong reasons and also to prepare three or four convincing examples from the previous Resume, which you then describe briefly and concisely.

Most candidates make a crucial mistake answering why should we hire you.

They talk about their training, their qualifications and garnish the whole thing with a few adjectives and soft skills like “I can work in a team, I am resilient and loyal …”. It is a huge mistake because this is a first-person perspective and doesn’t convince anyone.

A good salesperson knows that the only thing that gets the interviewer excited is a candidate who takes the interviewer’s perspective and explains the benefits and added value they gain after hiring him.

Do not sell yourself, instead, sell the interviewer a solution with you playing the key role, a benefit and the extra features that your attitude brings. Your qualifications and competencies are only the basis that makes this possible and credible.

Don’t just scroll down like a catalog of strengths, but look for conclusive and impressive success that underlines why you possess the critical factors for this job and position and how you will use them.

You can discuss the following to portray the benefits of hiring you.

1. Industry Experience

2. Industry Contacts

3. Problem-Solving Skills

4. Technical Skills

5. Management Experience

6. Training In the Specific Area

This is not a complete list but only serves as a suggestion. You can discuss your related professional experiences and also discuss your competencies for the particular position that you are being interviewed for. 

An example: Many programmers try to impress the HR specialist by listing all programming languages that they know. But it would be much better if you can combine that with experience in team leadership and organizational talent.

This way, you can appear as a potential team leader. You don’t even have to say that the combination alone shows your development potential and thus the added value that you bring with you.

Suggested Read: How to Make an Appealing Resume

How do you find the perfect answer to why should we hire you?

You can answer the question by doing a little brainstorming in advance. Ask yourself these questions but always from the company’s perspective. Try and judge your answer according to whether you would hire yourself for the position listening to it.

1. What are my primary qualifications for this job?

2. What can I do with it?

3. In which areas can I perform particularly well?

4. What have been my impressive successes so far?

5. What experience does no other applicant have?

In the second step, you should structure these points, as mentioned above. Concentrate on a maximum of four of the above questions and support them with practical examples. The trick is not to answer in general, but to be as specific as possible.

Answer to one of these points should not take longer than two minutes. Your correct and efficient response to why should we hire you may very well prove to be the deciding factor in your selection among other candidates.