How to Answer: Why do you want to work for this Company?
Well you have applied for a job and you got the interview call. Now the interviewer comes up with this question of “Why you want to work for the company?”
“P.S. Job interviews need not be difficult as long as you do your background research on the company, the role you have applied for and why you fit for it.”
Your primary goal is to turn out to be the perfect candidate for the position applied, this includes ensuring your skills, and qualities align with the values and needs of the organization. Even though you want to tie your job skills with the culture and mission of the company, do not exaggerate. You should never attempt to answer this question with a blunt or a thoughtless response like, “Well, the pay is attractive, and better than the current job/other offer I already have.” The hiring managers will not want to hire someone who is simply up for it for the paycheck.
Your answers should have layers to it. After all, this is your chance to be honest and genuine about the opportunity. In addition, it is also your moment to show off how much you know and what you bring to the table to give you an advantage and an edge over the competition. The layers includes the following:
Ø Core Values
Ø Authenticity
Ø Personal Goal
The “Why do you want to work here?” question is important to hiring managers and recruiters for numerous reasons. It is not just about boosting their egos, either. Hiring managers generally ask this question to help get a clarity on how you would fit in with the culture at their company, or to understand your motivations in applying for a particular job and whether you’re likely to stay in the role for a while. The employer wants to get this confidence about why they should hire you over your competitor.
With that in mind, constructing your response, you will want your answer to be custom according to the company you are interviewed by.
Planning your response is generally simple as it involves two main steps:
1. Why are you interested in the company?
2. Why are you interested in the job?
To ace your interview, one must be able to answer both of these questions effectively.
“Tip of the Article: The interviewer is looking for similar things whether asking about company or position.”
The hiring manager or the recruiter wants to:
Ø Learn about the career goals you aspire and how the position fits into your aspiration plan
Ø That you demonstrate the sincerity in the job and will be motivated to perform if hired
Ø To figure out what you know about the company, industry, position (and if you took the time to research) to analyse the level of interest in getting into organisation
Ø Understand your preferences and priorities — which aspects of the organisation and/or job are appealing to you and why?
Approach to mastering the preparation for this question,
“Tie in the company values to your own values and this interview question will never trip you up.”
Step 1. To Research about the Company
Besides sharing more about your own career goals, aspirations and motivations, your answer to the question will need to show that you are familiar with the company in terms of its culture, values and products and services.
Step 2. Answering, “What do you like about this company?” creatively
A good answer should demonstrate a knowledge of the company and industry it works in. That means you must do your homework so that you can provide specific reasons for wanting to work for the firm.
These reasons could include one or several from the list:
Ø Company reputation in general
Ø Reputation of key stakeholders of the organisation
Ø Admiration of products/services offered by the organisation
Ø Company culture and its values
Ø Company growth/success over the period of time
Step 3. Answering, “Why are you interested in the job?” passionately
You love the company and you can prove this during the interview. You think you are all set. Not yet. You must also be in a position to speak for the role you are applying. You must prove that you have the perfect candidature for THIS JOB at THIS COMPANY.
Ask yourself: What is appealing about this job to you? Why did you respond to this job description in the 1st place? While the hiring manager will be curious to know why you are attracted to the job, he will be even more interested in hearing about why your experiences, which has prepared you to excel for the position, applied.
“Ensure you clearly communicate both your interest and ability.”
Bottom Line
Play the game with complete preparation, and realize that even if you are not the right match for this job, if they like you and want to hire you, they may find the right place for you in the end. As long as you have done your homework in advance and demonstrated.
