How to answer the “Why should we hire you?” question?
Another common question that causes people to stumble on their answers and lose confidence in themselves is the “why should we hire you?” question. However, with the right understanding and preparation, you can use this question to showcase your abilities and interest in the job even further.
Many people struggle with this question because they do not know what a good answer for this question looks like. With this question, interviewers simply want to know what, in your opinion, makes you think you would be an ideal fit for this role. Therefore, you can discuss your expertise and skills through talking about projects or problems you worked on in past roles that are relevant to the role in question.
Here are three tips to help you come with a good answer in advance:
Identify 2-3 skills that you think are critical for this role (go through the job description to identify this information)
Identify 2-3 past experiences that show your ability in these skills
Give them examples of how you had similar experiences and used skills that are similar to the role
Here is an example you can model after:
Interviewer asks: “Why should we hire you?”
“It looks like having project management experience and Agile Methodology is crucial in order to be successful in this role. Let me tell you about how I developed and used those skills in my previous jobs.
“When I was working at Oracle, I was responsible for initiating and managing projects for new features on our software products. I managed a team of eight developers. In this role, I scoped, planned, budgeted, and executed ten projects from beginning to end. Also, in order to keep ourselves accountable and organized, we used the Jira project management software. This is where I developed my project management expertise and skill extensively.
“Also, when I was working at Lenovo, I was responsible for launching new marketing campaigns for our laptop computers. I managed a team of 15 developers and marketers. I had to be pretty agile in the role, as the requirements would often change at the last minute. As a result, I used the Agile Methodology extensively to successfully initiate and complete projects in this role. I used software tools such as Asana to keep my team and myself organized. This is where I really learned the ins and outs of Agile Methodology.
“These experiences are the reason why I believe I would be an ideal fit for your company and culture.
“Let me know if you want to know further specifics or details about responsibilities in my past roles.”
Use the above example to come up with your own answer and practice it at least three times before the actual interview.
