HOW TO ANSWER: Why Do You Want To Work Here?

If you’ve been to a few job interviews, you just know that this question is bound to crop up during the interview: “Why do you want to work here?” It’s direct yet it’s one of the most challenging questions you can be asked.

Your answer can tell your interviewer so much about your intention to work with the company and whether you are the right fit or not. For starters, your interviewer is looking for assurance that you’re familiar with the company and the role, and that you’re not just blankly applying to whatever open positions out there. It also shows that you truly are interested to work for the company if you answer this correctly; answer it wrongly and it shows that maybe you’re not as enthusiastic as your cover letter may note.

How do you even begin to craft the right answer to this? Here are a few tips on how to prepare your answer:

#1 Research the company
Obviously, you need to be specific in your answer! The interviewer isn’t asking why you’re looking for a job; he or she is asking why you’re looking for a job with this particular company. Which is why you need to do some research about the company before you even attend the interview. If you’re truly excited about the prospect of working for Company A, you would be familiar with the company – its background, history, mission, some projects and achievements – all of which you can subtly include in your answer. A great start would be the company website to get the basic information then scouring news articles or even the company’s blog to get to know the company better.

#2 Study the job description
In addition to knowing the company well, you also need to understand the role for which you’re interviewing and all its key responsibilities. This will help you better craft your answer, giving the interviewer assurance that not only do you know about the company but you’re also well versed with the role and what’s expected of you. To begin, list all the keywords about the job. Then match it with your experience and skills as well as your career objectives to look for ways how the position matches you.

Ready to answer the question? Here are some bad ones.. and how to fix your answer!

❌ “I think this job would be a good stepping stone in my career.”
Stop – no one wants to hear how working for their company is a short-term gig for you to add to your resume, allowing you to jump ship to a bigger, better company when the opportunity comes along. Companies are looking for new employees they can groom to make them more efficient and competitive, ultimately bring in benefits for the company – not to equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge only for them to work for a competitor later on.

How to answer instead: “I believe that this company is the right step for me in my career now to gain the expertise and knowledge I need to be better in my role, allowing me to grow with the opportunities the company offers. With the guidance I will receive here, I will be able to equip myself better in terms of knowledge that in turn I can use to perform more efficiently in my role within the company.

❌ “I am very interested to work for this company and the role seems like a good fit for me.”
This doesn’t say much about what you can offer or what you hope to gain with a career with Company X. Instead, it tells the interviewer that you’re looking for any job with any company, as long as you get hired. There’s no personal element to it on what you hope to gain if hired and how you can contribute.

How to answer instead: “I’ve known about the company for a long time and love all its products and services. In fact, I have been a user for some of these for a while now. When the opportunity arose for a position that I believe I am well suited for, I knew I had to apply and at the very least, talk to a representative of the company to share how I might be able to contribute not only as a loyal user but also with my work experience and skills I’ve gathered over the years within the industry. I believe my values are perfectly aligned with the companies and I look forward to see how far I can go within the company. I am also excited to be mentored by the very people who developed the products and services I’ve long admired.”

❌ “I really enjoy what I do now and think I can do more if hired by your company.”
It’s not exactly a bad answer… it just needs more details. Share what it is that you love about the industry and make a connection between the satisfaction you get from it and how you believe a role with Company X will further fuel your desire to learn and do more within the industry.

How to answer instead: “I want to work here because I can see myself succeeding in this position with your company. I absolutely love being part of this dynamic industry and already possess the skills you’re looking for – to give you an example, at my last job I managed to improve return on an ad spent by 20% within five months of taking over the account. Knowing that I will be able to expand more on my experience and skills with your company makes me very excited and I look forward to a meaningful career here.

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash.