“Why should we take you?”: what to answer in an interview

It would seem that nothing complicated, but it is precisely this wording of the question that puts the applicant into a stupor. The person is lost, begins to speak in stereotyped phrases, or, conversely, behaves aggressively. We analyze how best to answer and what words can, on the contrary, ruin everything.

How do they usually respond?

Most often, candidates begin to list their professional competencies, achievements or personal qualities: “I am punctual, responsible, purposeful.” This, of course, is important, but the HR manager hears these words several times a day, and for him such an answer sounds unconvincing. 

Someone formulates it like this: “I studied at Moscow State University, took many courses, read and improve myself.” But where is the guarantee that a person has taken advantage of all the opportunities of a top university, and not just sat out for 6 years at the last desk? What is the knowledge gained from courses and books learned and will be applied in practice? If applicants were selected according to this criterion, then graduates and students of regional universities would be left without work, but the opposite happens more often.

What recruiters want to hear

When a new employee is hired, the company is interested not only in his qualifications, but also in the benefits that he can bring. The university, the number of courses taken and punctuality are good, but what can a person give in practice? If, for example, the future position is a lawyer in a consulting company, then the employer will be interested in: 

  • a large percentage of cases won;

  • growth of successful transactions;

  • the ability to communicate with customers and attract new ones.

This is the most necessary minimum for this job. Therefore, it is worth giving an example of digitized cases from a previous place of work and voicing what kind of experience you have will be useful in a new place. 

At the same time, it is better to avoid cliché phrases like “I work hard” or “I am the one who is more suitable than others.” It is necessary to give examples of specific situations, figures and facts. The challenge is to show why this collaboration will be mutually beneficial and demonstrate your communication skills.  

So what is the answer?

The correct answer will sound like this: “Because at the previous place of work I won 38 lawsuits out of 40 and collected such and such an amount for the company’s clients. Working for you, I will show the same results. I also have a large client base and customer acquisition channels, and I can bring about ten solvent people to the company every month.”

That is, the answer sounds according to the formula: a fact about yourself + what benefits the employer will receive

By using it, you will immediately stand apart from most competitors and take a step up. But you should not mention cases that are not related to the vacancy, even if they seem worthy to you. 

In addition

Achievements such as your media exposure, events in which the applicant participated, a proactive position at the previous place of work, not only on work issues, can also play into your hands. But it should also be appropriate for a particular job. 

As a rule, the question “why should we take you?” asked at the end of the interview and quite unexpectedly — you can forget everything you wanted to say. A qualitative answer only to this question already gives 50% success. Therefore, you need to prepare the answer in advance and rehearse your speech so that it sounds free and confident.  

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