Job interviews can be daunting. You will find yourself sitting in a room with the hiring manager, having to answer tough questions about your experience and qualifications for the position you are seeking with the company.
Throughout the interview, it’s important to deliver specific examples as often as you can. The more concrete examples you can give, the better you will be able to showcase your value to the hiring manager.
That brings me to one of the most challenging interview questions you could potentially face: Why should we hire you?
During the interview process, it is nearly inevitable that you will be asked to answer the question, “Why should we hire you?” At this moment, you need to proceed with caution.
After all, you are comparing yourself to other candidates and trying to set yourself apart from these unknown personas without seeming too boastful. You don’t want to risk derailing the interview process by talking too much and sounding like a show-off.
The hiring manager is gauging your response to determine if you are the perfect person for this job. When asked, “why should we hire you?”, tread lightly and have a few different answers prepared in advance.
While the question might be archaic and intimidating, it is a favorite question among hiring managers, so it’s important to be well-prepared.
Read the full job description in detail and think of a few skills that make you uniquely qualified to perform the job duties. While you cannot possibly know the qualifications of other applicants, now is the time to sell yourself and state the things that make you the best fit for the job.
Before showing you how to answer: “why should we hire you?”, let’s explore some possible pitfalls and things to avoid when describing why you should be hired for a position.
Don’t just respond with a generic answer like, “I’m smart, qualified and I want this job.” Of course, you do, or you wouldn’t be sitting in this interview. It’s almost certain that every other candidate is going to be saying nearly the same thing.
You need to be unique and separate yourself from the talent pool. Otherwise, you risk falling into the same category as everyone else, which is what you’re trying to avoid in the interview.
While you don’t want to sound like an overconfident show-off, now is the time to brag about your skills and experiences humbly. It’s great to list some bullet points that you will want to emphasize in advance and prepare a few responses to this question. Don’t memorize a script but proper preparation will set you apart.