How To Answer the Question, “Why Should We Hire You?”

A. Check out the Human Workplace blog and listen to The Truth about Work Podcast where I give lots of advice on how to answer interview questions.

We also offer courses and eBooks on interviewing. You are right – everything has changed!

For instance, people used to be taught to answer the horrendous interview question, “Why should we hire you?” by listing their attributes: “I’m smart. I’m hard-working. I’m thrifty and a great team player.”

Many of us were taught to grovel on a job interview. That’s degrading and it also doesn’t work. Every candidate ends up saying basically the same things. Here’s a better way to answer the question, “Why should we hire you?”:

“Let me tell you what I’ve heard so far – what you’re dealing with and what you’re looking for in a new hire. You can tell me whether I’m on the mark or not. I heard you’re looking to switch your membership model from subscription to a fee-for-service approach. I heard you need someone to…”