7 ms·
Assuming they ask this at the end of the interview after you've shown your skills and discussed your experience: "I believe I've demonstrated that I'll deliver
by rpeden 10y ago
Assuming they ask this at the end of the interview after you've shown your skills and discussed your experience:
"I believe I've demonstrated that I'll deliver significantly more value with my work than I'll cost you in salary and benefits."
That's pretty much the reason anyone should hire you, for any role, in any industry.
Most interviews are really about demonstrating the value you'll deliver. Keep that in mind with every question you answer. When talking about your skills and experience, describe how you'd use them to help the company your're interviewing with.
If you're being interviewed by the hiring manager, ask them questions to determine what his or her specific problems are, and talk about how you'll help solve those problems. If you've done that, you should probably skip the equivocating and just say:
"You'll make more money from my work than I'll cost in salary and benefits."
Because if you haven't already convinced your interviewer of that by the time you're asked the "why should I hire you?" question, you probably don't have a chance regardless of your answer.
EDIT: I like the points some people have replied with! Answer #2 would probably work best if you're a short term contractor who has to deliver cold, hard value quickly.
My initial responses were probably a bit of a grumpy off-the-cuff response to an interview question I think is a bit pointless. The general sentiment is true, but if the interview has been conducted with minimal competency by the interviewer, then you'll have already spent the whole interview talking about why they should hire you and the value you deliver.
If instead they open with "why should I hire you?", that's probably not a sign that the interview is going to go well either.
- iamben 10y agoYeah. "If you can't make considerably more money from my work for than the amount you're paying me, you have problems that I can't solve." That said, I'd judge the audience before I phrased it like that... (and you'd have to _actually_ be good)
- rpeden 10y agoYes, this is predicated on actually being able to deliver. If you're looking to edge your way into a BigCo role where you can look busy without actually doing much (hey, I'm not going to judge you if that's your cup of tea), you're more likely to succeed with equivocation, pontification, and bloviation (though not necessarily in that order).
- mosselman 10y agoThis is solid. Not purely the phrase, but more so what you say about explaining how you'd add value. Thanks
- rpeden 10y agoYou're absolutely right; the specific phrasing should definitely be tailored to the person or people you're addressing. I decided to err on the side of bluntness because blunt, to-the-point statements are probably easier for people take and adapt to their own circumstances.
- kohanz 10y agoYour reasoning makes perfect sense, but the answer is a bit dry and, I don't know how to describe it, robotic? As someone who has sat in the hiring chair, if I heard "You'll make more money from my work than I'll cost in salary and benefits.", I'd get the impression of that person someone who maybe views themselves as a profit-generating widget in the grand scheme of the company. I'd wonder a bit what enjoyment/passion that person gets from their work. I know that's completely unfair, but it's just not a very natural-sounding response. I just think there are, I don't know, "warmer" ways to phrase it? Keep in mind, the person deciding to hire you is often somewhat removed from the bottom line of the company's financials. Even though the end-goal is to make the company more money, the hiring manager is often not primarily motivated by that. They're looking for someone who will deliver quality work while fitting in well with the rest of the team (this part is so important). So my advice would be to add a tinge of enthusiasm and a display of personality that you believe would mesh well with the "vibe" of the existing team. Something like "Given that you're working on projects A, B, and C, I think my experience with X, Y, and Z can really help improve both the velocity of the team, as well as the quality of our output". You're saying basically the same thing, but more in manager-speak (depends on the manager, of course). I know these are all qualitative/subjective things whereas your statement is very objective, but that's because I don't believe the hiring process is all about technical merit and productivity. As much as we might dislike it, it's about "fit", whatever that means.
- awfgylbcxhrey 10y agoI'd wonder a bit what enjoyment/passion that person gets from their work. Why can't someone just be a professional who generates value?
- in_cahoots 10y agoThere may be multiple candidates who fit this criteria. How do you set yourself apart?
- mlmlmasd 10y agoBy being good at what you do, not by giving cute answers to retarded questions.
- neurobot 10y agoYes, there are a multiple candidate, 8 peoples including me. I'm the only one from my country that apply for this position (how do I know? they tell me). This interview process, is not the first process. before the interview, there is a "skills assessment" session, that I am passed.
- djkrudy 10y agoThis is not an answer to the question. The question is actually "Why should we hire you, INSTEAD of the next person in the door. I'd be weary about working for a company that fell for the "You give me money I give you work worth more money" answer. This question is asked to discern why or how you cannot be generalized into being just another grunt who will be the first to be laid off. What qualities, morals, connections, skills, perspectives do you bring? This is your chance to not be a piece of paper. Speaking to your resume is very dry, this is an opportunity to show your intrinsic value. Warren Buffet is just an investor, right? Elon Musk is just a business magnate, right? NO, these leaders have qualities that don't fit into work experience. The hiring process is 2 things really: 1, finding grunts to create slightly more value than they are paid(as told in above answer), and 2, a lot like venture capitalism. A good company is looking for people with high potential to pay back 10x, 100x, etc in innovation, or as leaders. If they hire the first 50 people in the door, they have a 1 in 50 chance (for example) but if they vet and press people to explain why a company should bet on them, instead of a random selection of "qualified applicants", they can improve those odds considerably. If you think the job search is literally luck of the draw in a pool of people with similar experience, or a comparison of who has the most degrees, you won't succeed in face-to-face interviews. I'll provide my stock response, paraphrased, but your answer should be true for you, this is an answer that MUST be truthful, because they're asking for your identity. "Why should we hire you" "Because of my dogged commitment to "right". I'm someone who will not be happy with the answer I get in the typical 9-5 if I know I can get a better one. I'm not content biting my tongue on a new idea, even if it creates more work for me. I will stand up for fair treatment of ALL of my coworkers, and I will gladly accept, and seek out criticism about my work and behavior. Integrity is the most important moral I have, and that means it stands above profit, job security, etc etc etc." Do you have a life experience that armed you with incredible empathy? This is when to break that out, without sounding whiny. Do you have skills that don't fit within the scope of experience, but provide you with an edge in day to day tasks, etc?
- rpeden 10y agoYou make good and fair points. The first answer I wrote assume you've already described your unique qualities, skills, perspectives earlier in the interview. Because all of those non-monetary contributions absolutely provide value. And they definitely can be, and often are, the difference between success and failure for teams and companies. I think if you've spent the interview gently highlighting all of the ways you provide value, then when you're hit with a closing question like "Why should I hire you?", you likely won't need to spend too much time describing what that value is. Reiterating a few of the points would often be a good idea, though. The second, more blunt answer I wrote is probably most appropriate if you're a contractor who has to come in, deliver something valuable very quickly, and then go away.
- mbrock 10y agoIf you're delivering so much more than you cost, it sounds like you should negotiate for a higher salary, no?
- Tactic 10y agoI have been in position to hire about 20 people in my career and have asked this question. While I would accept your response and judge accordingly you seem to miss the point of why I would ask it. It isn't to be told that you are a good value proposition. That is obvious. Just as it is obvious that the reason you want the job is to pay your bills. The point of the question (like many of such generic questions) is to learn more about you than your skills. You response would tell me that you are business-oriented. Tend to prefer to work with facts. Strive to be technically correct. Probably don't BS a lot and may have some issues working in teams that are sensitive to such types. Of course I would integrate that with other indicators during the interview. Be aware though, many of these soft questions aren't really about what they are asking.
- Tactic 10y agoI have been in position to hire about 20 people in my career and have asked this question. While I would accept your response and judge accordingly you seem to miss the point of why I would ask it. It isn't to be told that you are a good value proposition. That is obvious. Just as it is obvious that the reason you want the job is to pay your bills. The point of the question (like many of such generic questions) is to learn more about you than your skills. You response would tell me that you are business-oriented. Tend to prefer to work with facts. Strive to be technically correct. Probably don't BS a lot and may have some issues working in teams that are sensitive to such types. Of course I would integrate that with other indicators during the interview. Be aware though, many of these soft questions aren't really about what they are asking.