People say that the job interview question "With all the talented candidates we will meet, why should we hire you?" is just another way of asking "Why do you think you're a good fit for this job?" but I disagree.
The minute the interviewer throws the other candidates into the question, it becomes ugly. It's a way of asking a job-seeker to grovel, and that's why I hate this brainless and lazy question.
The interviewer will meet the other candidates, but you won't.
You couldn't possibly compare yourself to the other candidates your interviewer will meet -- and why would you want to? You are looking for a job working with people who want someone like you.
You haven't dry-cleaned your interview clothes and traveled across town to go to a job interview and beg and whine for a job the way your dog whines when she wants a biscuit.
It's a horrible feeling - one of the worst feelings you can have without actually injuring yourself -- to get home from a job interview and realize that you danced and pranced and contorted yourself into pretzel shapes on the interview, because that's what the interviewer seemed to want you to do.
Don't do that! Stay in your power. If they like you, cool -- they can make you an offer. If they don't like you, they can hire someone else.
Here are a few ideas for answering the interview question "Why should we hire you?"
"So, we have a lot of talented people to meet this week. Why should we hire you for this job?"
That's a great question. I'm still learning about the job so I'd hate to say that there's one reason or one talent of mine that suits me perfectly for this job. The fact is that we are both learning about one another.
I'm listening hard to everything you're saying about this role and so far, I've heard that you need help getting your new sales leads from the trade show floor out to the field where your salespeople can follow up on them. That seems to be the bottleneck. I've solved that problem before and I'd be excited to come in here and solve it for you. Did I get that right -- is that the biggest issue right now?
This approach is called re-direction. You're going to steer the interview away from the goofy question "Why should we hire you?" toward a substantive discussion of the real business issues.
Here's another approach.
"So, we have a lot of talented people to meet this week. Why should we hire you for this job?"
Fantastic question! I get excited about a new job when it seems to hold a challenge that is close to what I've done before, but a step forward -- otherwise I'd be repeating what I've already done before. My take based on our conversation so far is that your sales leads are getting stuck somewhere between the trade show floor, where prospects are excited, and the live call from a sales rep to the prospect - and that blockage is costing you money and potentially losing you customers to other vendors.
I see the challenge in solving that puzzle and it's a natural follow-on from the work I've been doing in sales lead generation at my current job at Angry Chocolates. Did I identify the correct problem? What's your take?"
Now that you are over age 21 you cannot answer a job interview question and fall silent. That is what our children and grandchildren do when they are asked questions by their teachers in school.
You are out of school and working in the grown-up world. When you ask a question at the end of each answer you give to a job interview question, you gently turn the discussion from an obnoxious oral exam into a real conversation, and that is your goal.
Here's one more take. This is a high-mojo approach called Frame-Shifting.
The question "Why should we hire you, instead of one of the other candidates?" comes from an ugly and not-very-human place. It comes from the frame "I, as the interviewer, am sitting in judgment on you, the lowly job-seeker!"
I wouldn't blame you if you answered the question bluntly a la "You got me - am I running your company now?" or "Look here, Slick, I don't have time to play games with you -- if you didn't think I was qualified for the job, why did you bring me down here?" but of course, if you answer that way, the interview will be over.
You can use a high-mojo, frame-shifting approach to back out of the frame "We are the employer, and we are mighty -- so get down on your knees and grovel, knave!" and into human conversation. Try this when you're on a job interview one day and your flame is high:
"So, we have a lot of talented people to meet this week. Why should we hire you for this job?"
Great question! That is the very question I think you and I are here to explore -- am I the right person for this job, and are you the right organization and the right boss for me? I wouldn't presume to compare myself to the other candidates of course, since I haven't met them and I won't meet them whereas you have met them or you will -- but I have complete confidence in you to make the decision about who is best-suited to the job. As for the other side of the equation -- is this the right place for me? -- I trust that if you and I are meant to work together, we'll both know it. What's your take?
