Answering the Job Interview Question: “Why are you interested in working for our company?”

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When a hiring manager asks the question, “Why are you interested in working for this company?” you might be tempted to just mention all of the things you like about the company. However, if you do this, you may be passing up an opportunity to continue selling your skills. In this post, we will show you how to give an excellent answer that ensures the interviewer that you not only have the passion but are also the best fit for the job.

Variations of this question

“What has interested you in this company?” · “Why do you want this position?” · “Why do you want to work here?” · “Why do you want to work for us?”

What the hiring manager is looking for

Hiring managers want someone who can do the job well AND are excited to contribute to the company’s mission. They ask this question to better understand your values, skills and passions and whether they align with those of the company, which generally makes better employees.

What your goal should be

You should be able to genuinely state at least three things that you admire about the company and clearly demonstrate how they align with your values, skills, and goals. Ideally, this answer will reassure the hiring manager you are a good fit for the company and role.

Preparing for this question

The goal of your preparation is to find 3–5 values or qualities of the company that align with your values, passions, and skills. As you review the below list of resources, write down what stands out to you. Be sure to consider the company’s mission, culture, products or services, leaders, growth, and awards.

Company resources to review:

• Company’s website, especially the ‘About us’ section.
• Latest news of the company (Google news is an easy way to do this).
• Social media pages — Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
• Your network. Talk to anyone in your network who have worked there what they liked about working at the company.

After you have your list of company admirations, pick the three that resonate with you the most and can easily relate to. Then write down why these are important to you. Remember, don’t just pick things you like, but things that you care about or are good at so that you can show you are really the best candidate.

Answer Structure

Your answer should be no longer than 2 minutes and should contain the following structure:

1. Start by naming three things that you admire about the company. This tells the interviewer that you have thought about the question and have done your research. This should take no longer than 10 seconds.
   
   Example: “There are three main reasons I want to work for Paladin — I believe in its mission, it’s the first-to-market product of its kind, and I am inspired by Felicity Conrad and Kristen Sonday.”
2. Next, go through each of your reasons one by one and explain why you chose this as an interest to you. Remember, tie each of these reasons to a value, a passion or a skill you have. This step only takes 90–120 seconds.
   
   Example: “Paladin’s vision to help connect lawyers to pro-bono work is really important to me. Both of my parents and one of my siblings are lawyers and heavily involved in pro-bono work. They have been able to ensure many people throughout the US who can’t afford the help keep their rights. To be able to help connect these people to great lawyers like my family would be deeply gratifying. Paladin also excites me because its the first of its kind. I have been working on software products for several years and the part that I’m best at and most passionate about is working on new projects that no one has ever worked on. Last, I’ve read a lot about Felicity and Kristen. I think it’s awesome that they were able to co-found this startup that is now starting to take off. I find them inspiring and want to learn from them as much as I can.”

Extra tips

• If moving to another state or even country talk about why moving there is important to you. Companies don’t want to relocate employees unless they are sure they will stay. It costs a lot of money to relocate someone, so reassuring them you have a lot of interest in the area is a good thing.
• Do not mention generic things like free food and free massages, etc. These are not the culture of the company. These will not motivate you when the job gets hard. Company culture is the mission, value or expectations. That you can mention.
• Check out our related articles: Answering the Job Interview Question: “Tell me about yourself.” and Answering the Job Interview Question: “Where do you see yourself in five (or ten) years.”

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