Interview Questions – ‘Why are you applying?’

For Service-leavers who haven’t got recent interview experience, the prospect can seem daunting. Here, we dissect another of the more common but no less difficult interview questions so that you can show your best side to interviewers and land your next post-Services role.

‘Why are you applying?’

The first thing to mention is that this question gives an interviewer the opportunity to assess your perspective on what the job actually is. So, for example, if you’re applying for a job as a gardener – they can be sure that you’ve got the right type of ‘nursey’ in mind.

Any job…
The employer will also have an aversion to a person who’s applied for every single job available. Even if you have, you need to show them that you are clued up, if not passionate about, the job spec of this particular role – as well as about the hiring company.

Reflect the job spec
As in previous interview question scenarios it’s crucial to remember that the focus of the interview must remain your ability to match with the job specifications. One of the difficulties with this question is that there are so many answers to it that it would be easy to get confused – or at least sound confusing to the interviewer.

Prepare and practise your answer based around three principal points: skills, experience and your professional motivation for the role.

Don’t say
“I hate my current job and want another one.” 

Better to say
“I’ve got a lot out of my current (or former) job. When I read the job spec for this vacancy I could see that my current role has given me the skills and experience to equip me to succeed at it, in that I have recent experience of X.”

More money
Plenty of people apply for a new job because they’ll make more money. This, however, is not what the interviewer wants to hear – even though they might guess. Making more money might be an exciting thing right now but that feeling will start to fade very soon if the job does not align properly with your values. The interviewer will realise this and it’ll lead to doubts over your real conviction to the role and perhaps inevitably to dissatisfaction. Values and interests tend to be more stable over the years.

The same could be said about factors concerning a shorter journey to work and so on. 

Other reasons
Again, reflecting on the job spec, suggest in your answer that this is an excellent place to do more of X, which has always been an interest of yours, etc. There is also an opportunity here to show them you’ve really read up on the company by picking out a smaller detail that attracts you.

In short, you understand the job, you fit with the necessary criteria, and you have the values to be a success at it.