“What can you bring to the company?” is an interview question that cuts to the core of what you’re doing in any job interview. The goal is simple: convince your interviewer that they want you to work there. And why does any employer want you to work for them? “Hiring managers and interviewers are [interested] in one thing above all else: Can you add value to the company?” says Muse career coach and executive coach
When you’re interviewing for a job, of course you care about what the job means for you, but interviews (and employment) are a two-way street. When she interviewed candidates for IT and higher education positions, Muse career coach Tara Goodfellow, owner of Athena Consultants, asked this question to find out, “What’s in it for me/the company?” Recruiters and hiring managers “want to see if you ‘get it’”—the “it” being what the person who gets hired for this role needs to accomplish. They want you to use this question to “connect the dots from your experience to the job requirements,” Goodfellow says.
So what sort of answer should you give? “Interviewers are looking for specificity, creativity, and authenticity,” Raman says. Make sure your answer is truthful and specific to the job and company you’re interviewing for—and not the same answer the interviewer has heard three times already.
The first thing you have to figure out before you can answer, “What can you bring to the company?” (and the narrower, “What can you bring to the team?”) is what the company (or team) wants and needs. Then you’ll try to show them you’re a match. Here’s how you can do that:
Do Your Research
Take the time to do some research ahead of your interview to gain a deeper understanding of the job responsibilities and company culture, Goodfellow says. You want to figure out the main problems you’re being hired to solve and any areas where the company or team is struggling or constantly running into issues.
Your first stop for research will be the job posting. Are they looking for someone to wear many hats, help launch a specific new program, or analyze and report on large amounts of data quickly? Next, look at the company’s website and social media (and their Muse profile. Explore the mission and values of the company, Raman suggests. Does the company stress teamwork or innovation? Does the sales team you’d be joining have a strong sense of friendly competition? To dig deeper and get a sense beyond the image the company puts forward online, you might also conduct informational interviews with people already working at the company, Goodfellow says.