An interview is always tricky. The interviewer asks a wide range of questions that constantly threaten the comfort zone of the candidate. One such question that catches almost all candidates off guard is “why should we hire you”. This is the most common and intriguing question asked in almost every interview. The asking of this question sends the candidate on a self-assessing expedition. Some get lost in their self-analysis abyss, barely returning with a credible answer. While a few do manage to come back, they spill out only a few droplets about self.
Yes, we spend hours observing the world and people around us, but we spend very little time analysing ourselves. Therefore, the moment when we are asked this question, our mind runs in a tizzy trying to figure out the best possible answer.
Well, this is not the way to tackle this question. The best way to answer it is with preparation and practice. The fact is, the question will certainly arrive at some point during the interview; mostly during the second half of the interview after all your knowledge and skills have been analysed by the interviewer.
What this question essentially means to convey is that the candidate should evaluate themselves and highlight their unique qualities to the interviewer and influence their chances of getting hired.
The best way to score a cent per cent in this question is by creating a two-minute engaging monologue about your skills and experience. This is the only question where you can score full marks as it is the only one for which you can write, prepare and practise in advance before the interview.
Before you move further to read more about how do you answer why should we hire you, let us also explore the possible pitfalls that you should avoid while telling the interviewer why you are the best person for this job.
Stay away from generic answers: Usually, generic answers like I am qualified and smart are the first answers that will enter your mind when the interviewer asks why they should hire you. But you should strictly stay away from answering the obvious. You have already landed the interview only because they know that you are qualified and smart. Nearly every other competitor will have the same response, so there is nothing in this answer that will separate you from the rest or make you more suitable for the job.
Be as unique as you can with your response: This opportunity is the best one to show your uniqueness to the interviewer. Show what differentiates you from the rest — your skills, your qualities, your work experience and the skills you have learned while on the job. Showcase all the attributes that make you the most suitable for the position. Make it a point to stand out or else you will be one among the many, lost amidst the crowd of candidates.
Show off your skills: While on some other days, showing off or bragging about your skills and experience may seem a little over the top, but in an interview, especially when the interviewer has asked you, ‘Why should we hire you?’, it is the only way to highlight your strengths and what makes you the fittest for the position.
Be mindful of your tone: Don’t sound overconfident. Be humble and to the point, but ensure you have covered all that you ought to. It is a good option to prepare bullet points about what you want to say and prepare in advance on how you would respond to the question.
Avoid too much talk: Even if the interviewer is listening keenly, it doesn’t mean you should go on and on with this stuff. After a point, you will lose track of yourself and end up in no man’s land. So start your answer with specifics and end it once you have covered all you ought to. Do not slip off the track or divert from the topic; you are more likely to lose the attention of the interviewer and jeopardise your chances of getting hired.
The answer to ‘why should we hire you’ is your elevator pitch that will help you influence yourself on the interviewer. Be clear about your pitch or the answer, and prepare it well to make the most out of the opportunity. So, let us check out how to answer why should we hire you with different why should we hire you examples.
Your response to Why should we hire you for this position?
Thank you for asking this question. The skills and extensive experience that I possess are best suited for the requirements of the organisation. Moreover, I have immense experience in applying my knowledge and skills in producing active solutions for a particular project.
My expertise can certainly help the organisation achieve its desired objectives. Not just that, I also possess excellent people skills, which means that I am a team player and can work cohesively towards achieving the collective goal of the team.
Moreover, I am immensely self-motivated and a go-getter — it is what differentiates me from the rest, and these skills are extremely important for a start-up company like yours, right? (Wait for response). So, I will perfectly fit into the job role and work tirelessly to the best of my abilities to ensure the growth and development of the company.
Explanation: Gratitude and acknowledgement is the best way to start the answer. It restores the interviewer’s position, and thus, makes them feel at ease. It gives you some precious few seconds to think and start your actual answer. It is better to acknowledge the question with gratitude than to start answering straightaway. Jumping straight on to the answering bandwagon will give you less time to think and reflect. As a result, you will fumble while answering or your answer will have intermittent pauses, both of which are no signs of a confident candidate.
Answer to — Why would you be a good fit for this position?
Based on your job description and the information provided by you, I understand that the company is searching for an experienced sales manager to handle the daily sales responsibilities. I have appropriate sales skills and experience in selling similar products in my previous organisation. This experience will greatly help boost your sales performance and your esteemed company’s standing in the industry.
I had played an instrumental role in increasing the sales numbers in my previous organisation. When I had joined, the sales number was low and uninspiring at 12% of the total business. Over the years, I managed to take it to 24% of the total business. I did this by implementing innovative and unique sales strategies.
This experience was immense learning for me, and I am sure that if I get selected, I will apply all my knowledge as well as innovation to achieve the sales objectives of the company.
Explanation: Read the answer carefully so that it doesn’t just reflect the skills and experience of the candidate, but also demonstrates the skills with a relevant example and statistics. Examples and statistics are a great way to lend credibility to your answers. When you speak about your real experience, the interviewer is bound to listen with intent. It helps you put across an effective message to the interviewer.
Examples and stats will also make you stand out from the rest, as you are highlighting your skills with real examples, which means that you have already been there and done that. It builds your case immensely, and the interviewer will not forget you for a long time after the interview. And you may even land yourself the job.
Why should we hire you best answer sample for freshers.
Thank you for providing me with this wonderful opportunity to get interviewed for such a renowned company. I have come this far, which means that the company is in cognisant of my skills and abilities and would like to evaluate me further via the interview.
I would like to take this opportunity to ascertain that I would truly be an asset for the organisation. Apart from the basic skills required, I also possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills, along with intangible skills that make me a highly efficient salesperson as well. So I can even double up for sales apart from project development. This way, I will be able to deliver two-fold benefits for the company. And this is what separates me from others.
I may be a fresher with limited or no on-field experience, but let me assure you that I will give my best at work every time and strive to reach the goal assigned to me by the company. I am a self-motivated and goal-oriented person. I have many attributes I gained as a sportsperson while in school, which will certainly help me survive and thrive in the highly competitive and professional setup of this company.
Explanation: This answer is one of the powerful examples of why should we hire you answers for freshers. This is how freshers should respond to this question. It may be easy for an experienced candidate to answer this question, as they have the required skills and work experience to bank on. But for a fresher, it is a blank sheet, which can be both a boon or a bane; it all depends on how they answer this question.
Therefore, freshers should make the fullest of this opportunity to market themselves and prove how they are different and stand out from the rest. It is what you answer and how you answer this question that determines your chances at getting selected for the job. And the best way you can help yourself stand out is by adding value to yourself.
Start by accepting that you are inexperienced. Your transparency will shift the focus away from what you don’t have to what skills and qualities can you bring to this position. In the example above, the candidate explains that they possess excellent sales skills which can be leveraged by the company as and when required. By displaying this facet, they are adding more value to themselves than what is mentioned in the resumé. The extra X-factor helps them sell themselves to the interviewer and improve their prospects in getting hired.
Answer to — Why are you the right fit for this position?
Thank you for asking this question. I have a proven track record of commissioning and executing projects in this particular domain. I also possess extensive experience in problem-solving through innovation. Apart from these core domain skills, I also have ample experience in handling the marketing and advertising aspects of a product or service.
I gained this experience during my stint at my previous company. Being a small enterprise, we had to multitask to achieve the most favourable outcomes with less capital investment. It compelled me to think of innovative and radical new ways and means of solving a problem. This has immensely improved my analytical skills, which is an essential prerequisite for this job.
Plus, the experience has made me focused and goal-oriented despite the external situations. In a small enterprise, every day isn’t the same, and we have to deal with highs and lows regularly. The skills that I acquired will certainly prove handy while executing a project with your company. And I will put all my knowledge and skills to practice if selected for the job.
Explanation: If you get questions like ‘why should we hire you for this position’ or ‘why are you the best person for this job’ thrown at you during the interview. Then, the best way to tackle them is by unravelling your ‘bonus skills’.
These are the skills that you have acquired additionally or are not directly relevant to the job role but can influence the outcome of the given task. ‘Bonus skills’ are like the trump card, which has to be used at the right moment. Usually, they are there in the resumé, but not many interviewers may not notice it, for they are not one of the core requirements. But when used properly, these skills can add great value to your answers.
Displaying that you possess bonus skills which can supplement your core skills and experience helps you stand out from the rest. The interviewer sees you as an asset for the company, and this may improve your prospects of landing the job.
Answer to — Why should we hire you despite your limited experience?
I understand that the job role requires individuals with specific exposure to marketing experience, which I may not match up to. But I would like to bring it to your notice that I hold extensive years of direct sales experience, which involved making cold calls from the call sheet, scheduling appointments with prospects, meeting them and explaining the product, and ensuring that the meeting ended in a sale.
As you can see, these activities require immense people skills and sales skills apart from good communication. Also, being in sales, I had to use power-packed, attractive and engaging words or sentences regularly to influence the decision of the customer. Marketing is an activity which involves getting people interested in a product or service. Since I have extensive sales experience, I know what tactics to apply to incite a favourable reaction from the audience. I firmly believe that these sales skills will certainly prove an asset to the marketing efforts of the organisation. And being from a sales background which is a highly target-oriented environment, I know how to work doubly hard to achieve the goals of the organisation.
Explanation: When one doesn’t possess ample experience in the required field, then it helps to focus on your experience and achievements in the allied fields, which can supplement your purpose in this field.
In the above answer, the candidate possesses insufficient experience in the marketing field but possesses good work experience in sales, which can eventually supplement the marketing efforts of the company. Plus, the candidate elaborates their daily activities in sales to explain how these skills can be extremely handy in marketing.
A candidate can use this strategy to explain how they can match to the insufficient experience with their ample experience in allied fields. Apart from making a strong case, it will highlight your enthusiasm to learn and develop your skills and activities. Plus, it will provide the interviewer with a credible reason to view you as the most suitable fit for the job position.
One of the best ‘why should we hire you’ answers
In all honesty, I do not know about the abilities and skills of other candidates who have also applied for the job. All I can talk about and elaborate on are my qualifications and why I am the perfect fit for the position. As a manager, I possess more than eight years of experience in successfully managing a team of 10 sales professionals. The company was a medium-scale enterprise in comparison to your entity. Therefore, I had to multitask and handle sales as well as marketing responsibilities.
In a medium-scale enterprise, sales is a roller coaster ride. Some days you end on a high, on other days you just manage a handful. In such a work environment, the manager has to be doubly energetic and motivated to pump in some much-needed confidence and motivation in the team. My exemplary work is evident from the fact that when I joined the organisation, the sales performance was at a dismal 10%. In the eight years, I strived hard and scaled it to a respectable 35%, which was a multifold increase in exposure and performance.
I was driven by a true passion for sales. And this passion continues to drive me to achieve the best. That is why I intend to join a bigger company like yours in the same role to feed my passion for what I love doing.
Explanation: This is one of the most credible why we should hire you answer examples. Starting your response by accepting your inability to comment on the experience and capabilities of your competitors is a great way to show that you are transparent in your views and approach. In return, you earn credibility, and it helps to shift the focus of the interviewer from unknown territory to your home turf where you know your every move. It becomes easier to explain why would you be a good fit for the position when you shift the discussion from your weakness onto your strengths.
Also, demonstrate your achievements and the reasons that drive you to continue in this field and the same role but with a bigger company with a larger capacity. The more clear you are about your thoughts and views, the better you will be able to convince the interviewer why you fit the bill better than the rest.
Answer to — Why should we hire you?
I am happy you asked. I understand that for me it is not just a change of company but a change of the industry altogether. But I bring more than 12 years of effective leadership experience at a medium level entity. I also bring in my experience of conceptualising, commissioning, and executing strategic, motivational and creative sales and marketing activities to drive the numbers for the business. While I may not have direct corporate work experience, I have the distinction of achieving the set targets and answering beyond the call of duty to ensure a favourable outcome of the company. I am confident that with these skills and my vast experience, I will be able to lead my new team to success.
Explanation: This is ‘why should we hire you’ best answer example for a candidate. A candidate with considerable management experience who wishes to change the industry will certainly have a lesser advantage if they talk more about an unfamiliar industry they wish to enter. It may render them vulnerable due to their limited experience of the industry and will shift the focus from their immense experience and leadership skills. Such candidates should focus on their vast experience in the leadership role and their managerial skills rather than talk about the new industry. Highlight your loyalty by demonstrating your allegiance with a single company for many years. Or, highlight your leadership achievements and skills that will help you flourish in the new industry.
Why should we hire you? This question will be inevitably asked in an interview, no matter how technical the interview is. At some point or the other, the interviewer or the HR manager would want to know what makes you different from the rest, what enhances your hiring ability more than others. For the interviewer, it is more about finding the answers to the questions running in their mind, and the way you answer will enable them to take the decision. So make sure that the decision goes in your favour by giving the most effective answer that the interviewer intends to hear. After all, your answer influences your chances of getting hired.