There are several job opportunities in any locality. Generally, individuals tend to clear the qualifying entrance exams for a job, but fail to progress in the interview rounds.
The interview round is one of the main obstacles standing in between the job and the applicant.
To tackle these interviews in a successful manner, it becomes really essential for an individual to find some really common questions.
Only finding questions is not sufficient, the answers should also be found. One such question asked is ‘Why do you want this job?’
This question brings in a lot of thoughts and finding the right answer might be a little difficult.
Why Do You Want This Job? What the interviewer wants to know through this question?
The interviewer is a lot busier than us. He has many applicants to handle and he does not ask questions for time pass.
Thus, it is important to realize the objective or reason behind asking such a question.
The objective or reason can actually lead us closer to the most probable answers that are appropriate to the question.
1. Understanding the applicant:
The key reason for asking such a question is to understand the status of the applicant. Status here suggests the thoughts going on in the minds of the applicant.
The applicant has different goals, ambitions and thoughts clustered in his/her mind. The goal of the interviewer is to decode these thoughts to evaluate the applicant.
2. Requirement or need:
This generally is a very important factor, which every interviewer wants to realize irrespective of the job position or pay package.
The need or requirement of the job or the importance of the job to the applicant, can be decoded through the answer given by him.
The answer is quite sufficient for the interviewer to predict the level of participation a candidate would feature in the organization in the future.
3. Interest and seriousness:
With ample job opportunities, casual applicants who are just experimenting with their luck in almost all companies are growing in number.
To minimize selection of employees, which keep changing companies based on their whims and fancies, this question is a powerful tool to the interviewers.
The cost involved in recruitment drives, selection etc., increase, when such employees are selected. They have a direct impact of employee turnover ratio. High employee turnover ratio impacts the status of the company.
Hence, this question can help give a rough idea about the amount of interest and seriousness of the applicant towards this job.
4. Association factors:
Predicting the association of the applicant with the organization is an essential part of interviewing.
These questions can actually decide whether the candidate is looking to link with the organization for a long term or for a short term.
5. Salary decisions:
Sometimes, recruiters or interviewers tend to fix salary on the basis of answers provided to this question.
In case, a person is too desperate for a job, a salary package slightly lower than the deserved one is offered to the candidate. This type of strategy is used in significantly rare cases. This strategy may be used in recruitment drives of less important positions.
6. Assumptions or views about the organization:
Many people tend to feature their personal views and assumptions about the organization while answering this question. This question can help in realizing those thoughts and also evaluating the thoughts of the candidate for the organization.
Positive thoughts feature better commitment and negative thoughts predict short term or forced association.
7. Job profiles relevance and confidence:
It helps the recruiter, realize the gap between the job profile and the applicant profile. The answer also tests the level of confidence of the applicant on his/her skills and ability.
This is a crucial aspect, which is to be realized compulsorily in every interview. This is what makes it a compulsory question in all interviews, irrespective of the position or pay package.
Tips on How to Answer This Question:
Why do you want this job? interview question is a tricky type question asked in interviews to assess the motive of the candidate.
Also, the question can be rephrased in different words,
- Why do you want this particular job?
- Why are you interested in this particular job?
- Why do you want to work here?
Now though there are many ways to answer this question, you need to craft an answer according to the job role and the reason why did you choose it. Make sure that your answer contains a few good things about the company and which impresses the interviewer.
Here Are The Answers:
- Your company is known to be the best in the market to award the employees who are good at their work.
- The job role which your company is providing will help me improve and develop my skills.
- The main reason is the organization’s success strategies, good reputation and value it maintains.
- This job role would help me work in the research and development team and provide great experience that could help me grow in my career
- The job role would add to my professional experience
- Wish to work for an organization which is already successful in the market
- The job role requirement perfectly matches my skills and work experience
- The job role would help me grow to the next level in this sector and aid me in delivering the best results
- At this stage of my career, professional experience is what I feel more important and this company helps me gain it.
- The experience which I would gain by working in this job role would perfectly suit my skill set and that could buff up my resume.
- Your company is known for its great work environment and mentoring that help employees grow professionally and that is the reason why I wanted to work in this company.
- At this stage of my career, I would like to settle for long term career development with a reputable company like this.
- This job role helps me improve my skills for gaining a better experience wherein I could work for the success of the company.
- The job position helps me be updated with the top technologies as it shoots challenges at every stage.
- The company provides a sense of importance and respect in the company for both the job role and the employee. This is something very essential to boost the employee work performance and make them feel valued.
What should the answer of an applicant emphasize on?
After realizing the importance of the answer to this question, from the interviewer point of view, it is essential to realize some key elements which need to be conveyed or emphasized, while answering this question.
These key elements actually convey your thoughts and ideologies properly.
Incorporating these elements in the applicant’s reply can enhance the chances of selection.
1. Praise for the organization:
Image: Corus Quay – Toronto, Canada
Everybody has a dream organization. Generally, candidates tend to aspire getting into their dream companies.
Recruiters identify that person, who admire the company on the whole tend to feature additional efforts and longer associated with the organization/company.
Thus, even if you hate the organization and are joining the organization because of lack of choice or other reasons, you shall consider making praises for the recruiting organization.
This builds a better relationship between the interviewer and the applicant. It also develops confidence amongst the interviewers or recruiters to hire the applicant expecting better participation in future.
2. Desperation:
It is always necessary to show desperation, when you answer this question. An applicant has to convey to the recruiter that, he/she is reasonably desperate for the job openings in the organization.
He should convey a message that, no other options have been thought of yet.
It is essential to make the interviewers realize that, you are striving hard to claim a seat in the organization.
A research suggests people who strive hard for their jobs tend to perform extremely well on a consistent basis, for a longer period of time. Many interviewers tend to grant jobs based on desperation of a candidate or an applicant, based on this principle.
3. Competitive zeal:
An individual has to have confidence and trust in his abilities. The applicant should convey the recruiters that he/she is quite competitive and is eligible for the position.
He should describe the job portfolio and his skills and relate them to help interviewers realize the potential of the applicant, as an ideal candidate.
An applicant has to portray competitiveness to indicate he/she is amongst the best available for the job.
4. True and genuine reasons:
It is not always about making false talks in an interview. On a long term perspective, false information could harm the applicant’s professional career.
It is important to answer this question with some true and genuine reasons. The reasons may be identified as-
Interest:
Every individual develops some or the other interest in life. Many of us genuinely work, out of interest in distinguishing fields.
Many ‘C’ programmers, app developers, etc., tend to work in different companies out of genuine interest.
While answering to the question, we can notify our interest or inclination towards that particular field, to which the job is being facilitated. This conveyance provides an applicant edge over other individuals, competing for the same job.
Transportation feasibility:
Some silly reasons like, ‘This Company is near my home and it will be feasible, transportation wise’ can also create a thought in the recruiter’s mind.
Especially, for the uncertain jobs wherein, shift changes quickly and immediate availability may be necessary.
For posts in relation to Doctors or other posts, wherein time is an essential factor, this could be a genuine reason for availing jobs.
Salary factor:
In case, the applicant or the candidate is aware about the approximate salary package, he/she can express a reason suggesting the salary facilitated by the company is satisfying his/her expectations.
This reason is self sufficient for the recruiter to identify your commitment levels towards the job, in the future.
Other perks and benefits:
An individual can also mention other perks and benefits that are being offered by the company, which have compelled him/her towards the company.
By citing this again, the applicant is justifying his satisfaction with the company offerings. This might facilitate an assurance to the recruiter about 100% work commitment.
Role and job responsibility/position:
Many a times, especially in high position job recruitments, an applicant might be extremely satisfied with the post he/she is being offered.
In spite of other constrains like salary, location, etc., the applicant really loves the designation, the role and responsibility of the job.
The candidate can convey the same to the interviewer and the chances of selection are enhanced in the case, such points are specified in answer to the question.
Life problems:
Though, interviewers are least interested in personal problems or personal aspects of the candidate, expressing some genuine concerns to the interviewers may help in portraying the desperation and the need for the job of the interviewer.
Realizing this, the interviewer may grant the job to the needy applicant expecting quality performance in the future, for the sustenance of the job.
Mention of recommendations:
This question can be a mode to specify or emphasize some recommendations. No matter, how powerful association or recommendation you have, the right moment and right question is essential to represent the same.
To answer this question, one can use the name of a friend or a relative working in the same company and tell the interviewer that this vacancy or job was recommended by him/her.
This indirect conveyance helps the interviewer realize that, the applicant has a rough idea of the proceedings of the organization and has collected a good amount of information through research or networking.
This shows that, the applicant is ready to work in the organization with full commitment.
Best Replies to the question Why Do You Want This Job:
There can be many replies to the same question. But realizing the most professional reply, which could convey all parameters correctly, is essential.
Analyzing some of the best replies helps us relate them with our thoughts and put forward them to the interviewer, when asked.
However, the replies shouldn’t be selected based on how it sounds. It should be selected based on the relevance of the reply to the individual, speaking it out.
- ‘The job profile of the company and my skill sets match each other and hence I want this job.’
- ‘I have a strong interest towards this field and I believe I can do justice to the job.’
- ‘I have always wanted to be a part of this company, hence I have applied for this job.’
- ‘From the feedback I have received from the existing employees, I can’t wait to work with your company.’
- ‘I have the desired skill set to execute this work professionally; hence, I have applied for this job.’
- ‘I am in need of the job due to the financial crunch and other problems, thus, I require this job badly.’
- ‘This job post is something of a challenge to me and I want to take it up.’
Key Suggestions when Answering Why Do You Want This Job?:
Every interview has a formal code, which needs to be followed. The questions need to be answered according to this formal code.
Understanding some key suggestions when answering the questions can be extremely helpful in making a positive impact on the interviewer.
1. Keep it short and to the point:
Interviewers post with a lot of questions which are to be answered in a short span of 3 to 5 minutes. It becomes essential for an individual to keep the answers short and to the point.
Answering one paragraph for any question can actually drag the interview unnecessarily.
The interviewer might sometimes be very annoyed listening to long explanations for a straight forward question. Hence, convey your message in one long sentence.
2. Do not mention your failures:
It is essential not to mention the failures in the life unless and until precisely asked. By telling them, how you were disqualified in the previous organization can give them a negative impression, no matter, what the reason for the failure was.
Hence, it is essential not to mention past or prospective future failures to the interviewer.
3. Prepare your resume yourself:
It is essential to mention these answers in the resume itself. The answer has to be brief but should leave a long lasting positive impression.
When individuals tend to prepare their resumes themselves, they tend to add these descriptions based on the company.
This actually forces the recruiters or interviewers to skip the question and focus on other aspects. They might instead ask more explanation of the said answer in the resume. This actually makes a little easier for the candidate .
4. Do not overshadow your ability:
There are many ways of telling that you are eligible for the job offered by the company. But, candidates tend to reply some really negative answers, which tend to ponder a thought in the interviewer’s mind.
Many individuals tell, ‘I am not fit to do anything else and hence, I have applied to this job’. These replies are pretty common in lower level jobs.
This gives a suspicion about the ability of the candidate. Thus, such negative answers which overshadow the ability of an individual should be avoided.
5. Be aware of facts and stats:
Use of facts and stats when answering the question creates a significant amount of impact on the recruiter. They actually portray the effort made by the applicant or the candidate for doing research and study about the organization.
The replies can be as ‘Your company is achieving 25% growth every year, the employee turnover ratio is just 1:1000, these factors have attracted me towards applying for a job in your esteemed company’.
Here two facts in terms of percentage and ratio were used. This answer can be made without facts also conveying the same meaning. But, including facts can help in, making it more attractive and attention seeking.
6. Portray truth and nothing else:
In order to ensure long term benefits and relationship with the organization, it is essential to portray truth to the interviewers. This truth has to be presented in the right form.
Often, people who give out answers based on truth, tend to portray it in an undesirable form. They need to construct their truth in such sentences wherein, it can be acceptable for the listener.
However, revealing irrelevant true stories can make the interview a mess. Portraying the truth suggests answering of questions on three lines.
7. Restrict personal stories:
Every answer might have some or the other personal life connection.
It is essential to answer the question on professional lines and reduce any mention of personal stories, as it can not only annoy the interviewer but, also consume the time allotted for the interview.
8. Practice to perfection:
Preparation and practice are quite necessary to manage interview questions. Questions like ‘Why do you want this job’ are repetitive by nature. It is essential to note down some essential points, which you want to mention when asked such questions.
Creating an answer of own after collaborating, all the noted points can be the most appropriate answer to the question.
9. Politeness and smile:
Conveying the message with utmost humbleness and politeness is essential. You can be assertive for an issue, but, being rude is certainly not the right way to begin or end a professional relationship.
Keeping a smile when answering such questions can give an indication of the positive characteristics of a person.
