How to answer : " Why should I hire you?"

More often than not, “Why Should I Hire You” will typically be the last question at your job interview. Believe it or not, this question is really your make or break moment. If you feel like you’re in a position in which you haven’t done well throughout your overall job interview, without a doubt, this is your chance to redeem yourself. If you prepare properly, there is no reason why you shouldn’t nail this question and increase your chances of landing the job over your competitors. The goal of this article is to break down how to answer this job interview question. A lot of people cringe when they hear this questions because they tend to overthink the answer.

Why Do Interviewers Ask why should I hire you?

Simply put, the hiring manager is looking to determine if you're the best person for this position. They typically want to see what distinguishes you from the other candidates and why should you get the job over them. In a nutshell, they want to know why you are the best person for the job. The interviewer is pretty much saying "Hey, I am giving you $50,000 a year in order to fulfill this job opportunity, why in the world should I give you this $50,000 over the rest of the 10 candidates I previously interviewed", why should I invest in training you?

How to NOT Answer this Question?

It is important to know how you shouldn’t answer this question in order to avoid knocking yourself from the list of top candidates. You should not answer this question by saying that you need a job, you need the money, or because you simply want the job. Although this may be true, it is not convincing to an interviewer and it comes off as being selfish while adding little value. The main answer pertaining to this job interview question should not be based around you! To be honest with you, the employer can care less about you. The employer only wants to know what you can professionally and can you fulfill the needs of the position at hand.

How to Answer the Question?

When answering this question, it is important to let your interviewer know that you are the best person for the job (don’t be afraid to say so). Of course, you will have to back your answer up with why this is true. Think about what makes you unique, what special skills do you have, and what kind of traits you possess that the company will admire. Make sure that your answer corresponds to the details of the job and the company as a whole.

To answer this question correctly you have to let the interviewer know how THEY will benefit from hiring you. Now, you may be thinking, “what if I don’t know what makes me special”, “what if I don’t have any special skills”? If this is you, that is completely fine, the point is just to find another avenue in which to approach this question. You can always use your work ethic as a way to make up for your lack of experience. It is always important to refer back to the actual job description itself and ask yourself “what is it that this company is looking for”, “why should they hire me over anyone else they interviewed”, “what makes you unique from your counterparts”.

Keep in mind, when you’re preparing for the interview, it is important to take a second to make an in depth list of all-important requirements for the position. It is important to not only focus on your professional skills, be sure to include personality traits, skills, and qualifications as well. After you found those skills and listed them, be sure to match those against the actual job description itself.

Now that you have your list in front of you, the goal is to go line by line and recall a specific time in which you utilized that trait to achieve a particular goal. Give that the job description is your baseline for the interview, it is important to relate to the actual job description as much as possible. Now, although we discussed the actual job description, it is important to not ONLY focus on it. In order to stand out, you have to think beyond the job description and take into account, which of your accomplishments

SAMPLE ANSWER:

It is extremely important to

Answer: Great question. You should hire me because I am the best person for this job. I bring a passion for achieving positive results. I also realize that your company is founded on commitment, excellence, and a high sense of integrity, I share those same values. You should also hire me because the specifics of this job correspond to my key strengths, such as __________, __________ and __________. I know that the team and the company will benefit from these skills that I possess. I also understand your need for a ___________ (insert position name) who has additional skills and characteristics (grab these skills and characteristics from the actual job posting) such as __________ and __________ and Ive developed these skills throughout my college matriculation and previous internship experience. If need be, I can provide you specific details in which I've demonstrated these skills.

In this answer, it is clear that I was not afraid to demonstrate to the interviewer that I am, in fact, the best person for this job. I then went on to say that I share the same values as the company and that I will easily fit in. I also went on by letting the interviewer know that the specifics of the job are up my alley and I will prevail in my position, I ended it by letting them know that I understand the need for this position and the skills and characteristics that it takes to be successful (this is a chance to sneak in some more of your core strengths). Covering these points will make you look like a superstar, ending your interview on a strong note.

Have you ever come across this question?

If so, please leave a comment below so we can hear about your experiences.

This article was written by Dayvon Goddard and ownership of this article belongs to the domain owner of www.thejobsdigest.com. If there are any queries, please feel free to email me at kelvin@thejobsdigest.com and I will provide the necessary proof of ownership.

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