Interview Questions – ‘Why should we hire you?’ 

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 should we hire you?’

As with the most cunning interview questions, this one is again deceptively straightforward looking. On closer examination, it is clearly multi-faceted, though the upside is that because of that, there are options as to how to approach it.

Don’t say…
‘Because I’m the best’ or ‘because I’m a hard worker’ or ‘because I’m passionate’. These are at best, baseless answers and at worst, meaningless clichés.

It’s not all about you
Here, you need to focus on the needs of the organisation, rather than your own.

This is your chance to reiterate the matches between your CV and the job description that got you into the interview in the first place. 

To give a first-rate answer, you’ll need to have done some research. Look at the company website as well as any facts and figures, news stories or press releases you can dig up. From these you’ll be able to spot potential company strengths, weaknesses and ambitions, that can help to give depth to your answer. 

Evidence
The job description is clearly what the company is looking for from the candidate. Select several key skills and formulate an answer based on how you’ve demonstrated them in the past. Your answer might be something like: “I know that communication skills are important to the role. Let me give you a few examples of how I’ve applied these skills in my career.”

Spot keywords
Throughout the job description and company profile you’ll see keywords that help to describe the kind of organisation they are – or want to be. Aim to stitch in a few of these keywords specifically into your answers.

Use the keywords (and evidence) when talking about yourself as adding value to an organisation. For instance, “I’ve got the communication and leadership you’re looking for with an eye for detail and efficiency as well”.

What sets you apart from the competition?
This could be an angle that Service-leavers could really benefit from using. Perhaps only a few, if any, of the other candidates have the opportunity to show how the quality of their Military training sets them apart. Match the job description to your transferable skills – describing how you’ve applied them.

Culture
Companies and organisations have individual cultures or environments. The question is also about how you’ll fit in. Again, researching the organisation may bring out clues as to how they see themselves, that you can model your answers on, for example: traditional, innovative, expanding, dynamic and so on. 

Psychology
Don’t take the question personally. It does not mean: ‘What were you even thinking about, applying for the job?’ On a good day, it might be a wrapping up question used by the interviewer to confirm their positive thoughts about your application.