How To Answer The Interview Question- “Why Are You Interested In This Job?”

Why are you interested in this job is a common and important interview question. Let us understand why is it important from the interviewer’s point of view? Following are the 2 key reasons :

1] Interest level: It helps the interviewer to know of the level of interest of a candidate. Unless a candidate can give the interviewer a solid reason of his / her interest level, the interviewer will always wonder – how long will this candidate stick round? It will leave the interviewer with a doubt.

2] Suitability: The interviewer can get an idea of the level of suitability of the candidate. What are the candidate’s priorities and whether they match with what the employer can offer becomes clearer in the response of the candidate to this question.

So what is the approach to answer this question effectively?

You’ll would have heard this saying – “ There is one thing that is more contagious than enthusiasm and that is the lack of it ”. According to me the enthusiasm reflected by you as a candidate will have a great positive impact on the interviewer. So you need to build up your motivation levels for the job.

The following 5 pointers will help you:

1] Research based:

Your response has to be on the basis of in depth research that you have done regarding both the industry and the company. Just giving some impromptu answers won’t cut any ice. It impresses the interviewer when you come across as a candidate who has applied serious thought to your career and also to the contribution that you will make. Because it indicates to the interviewer that chances are you will be happy and build a long term career.

2] Matching of skills:

Focus on your excitement because of the matching of your skills and expertise with the requirements of the job. Give examples of success stories related to what is specifically needed to perform the new role successfully. It reflects that you will contribute measurably.

3] Work culture match:

Present some aspects of the work culture of the company which really impresses you. Here again demonstrate with examples that you have similar values and personality traits which will help in developing a win win relationship. It gives confidence to the interviewer that you will contribute in building a happy environment.

4] Opportunity to learn:

Present your interest level as high since it offers an opportunity to learn something new and use of your skills and expertise to apply it to a different platform and environment. It reflects that you love to learn and evolve, an important trait.

5] Feedback from employees, customers and products:

You can talk about the positive feedback you have received from employees about the work culture, about the quality of experience from customers and talk about your liking of the products that the company offers (maybe you personally have been using it for long). This helps in building up a case for yourself that it will be easy to form a bond for you with the company and importantly contribute.

It is important to remember that while answering the question, you need to come across as genuine and not with some canned responses.

It may interest you to read another article of mine – How To Brand Yourself While Answering “Why Should We Hire You?”

Best wishes for your career progress

Sarabjeet Sachar

Founder & CEO

Aspiration