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Ask HN: What's your 'Why should i hire you?' response?

• AnimalMuppet 9y ago
  "Because I can help you make money". Anything else is irrelevant. However, you next are going to have to be able to supply some detail on how you can help them make money...
  • twblalock 9y ago
    In most industries that would come across as crass.
    • deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    • lucisferre 9y ago
      Well or just vague at least.
    • kabdib 9y ago
      Most of the projects I've worked on have had making money as a root motivation. "By doing X, Y and Z you'll make more money", with evidence and a reasonable plan, is a decent argument. I've made these pitches as a leaf node in large companies and it's generally gone over well. It's the answers like "I will empower your organization to..." or "We'll leverage synergy and..." that you should avoid. I imagine the "make money" pitch will sound bad to a research group, or a governmental or quasi-governmental organization. But for many other places, assuming you're not blowing smoke, it seems pretty reasonable.
    • booleandilemma 9y ago
      So would take-home projects, group interviews, whiteboard interviews, pre-interview online tests...
  • aetherson 9y ago
    Implicitly, they're asking, "How will you make us more money than other people who are applying for this position."
• rmbryan 9y ago
  "This is the kind of work I'm passionate about. It's what I want to be doing." (It helps if that's authentic)
  • paulcole 9y ago
    This is one of the few good, non-snarky responses here. I'd expand on it a little bit and make sure to say something specific about the work or the company and how your experience fits into that.
• paulgrimes1 9y ago
  “If you don’t know that already, let’s end this chat now” is my go-to. Companies and recruiters should know the qualities and capabilities of the person on the other side of the table, gleaned from background material. If they don’t, everyone’s time is being wasted, and somewhere, a puppy gets a slap
  • curiousgal 9y ago
    >somewhere, a puppy gets a slap Wat
    • verbify 9y ago
      It's a play on an English idiom. The standard idiom is 'if you do x then a kitten dies' (where x is something you want the person to avoid doing) - the idea is by linking it to the death of a kitten, you discourage the behaviour.
  • busterarm 9y ago
    I like this response and agree with you. Another option is "Because the rest of your candidate pool won't generate the value that I will and it's a business risk to allow a competitor to hire me." I wouldn't use this answer fresh out of college though. Instead I might go with "Because I'm more capable than my graduating peers for X, Y & Z. I'll give you better bang-for-buck over time than other new grads and mid-level candidates in your pipeline and you don't have to pay anyone a recruiter fee." Go for the throat. Also nobody gets this level of confidence/honesty/awareness in response to these questions, so at the very least you will stick out. Make sure it's a check you can cash though.
    • cgb223 9y ago
      This is definitely my favorite in this thread
      • busterarm 9y ago
        Thanks. People just don't get it though, in general. This is the only reason anyone gets hired, period. If you can simply demonstrate that you understand how to provide the business with value then you're miles ahead of 99% of other candidates. If anyone doubts this, go ask people who do sales how they answer this question. Great sales people in interviewes will already have a calculated dollar amount in new revenue that they're going to bring to the business. My whole resume is presented as projects I've done that generated real value for the business. My interview and offer rate is above 50%. It's not rocket science.
• jomkr 9y ago
  I would never ask a candidate this, and I'd never dignify it with a response.
  • speedplane 9y ago
    Why not? You're partnering up with someone you barely know, don't think it's unfair to allow them to state their case.
• marssaxman 9y ago
  It's hard to imagine how a recruiter could ask me that question without failing the interview. They should already know the answer before inviting me in, so are they wasting my time, or just fucking with me? Either way, I probably don't want to work there.
  • taberiand 9y ago
    The question, to me, means "why should we hire you over this other equally qualified candidate?". In that context, even if they know everything about you - that you've made public to them - there still might be some unique unknown standout reason why they should choose you over the other person. Having an attitude about that would be an immediate disqualifier.
    • marssaxman 9y ago
      If that's the question they want me to answer, then that's the question they should ask. "Why should I hire you" is a power play, reframing the interview as a test I should be trying to pass in order to meet their approval, instead of a mutual exploration of potential compatibility. I sure hope my attitude about that kind of power imbalance disqualifies me, because egalitarianism is one of my fundamental values, and I don't want to work with people who would see it as a problem.
• pasbesoin 9y ago
  Speaking generally with respect to interviews: You should know something about the company. Tell them how you can help solve their problems. If the question comes at the start of the interview, and you don't yet know enough about what the specific department is facing, respond, 'Why don't we discuss some of the problems you're facing, and I'll tell you how I can help with them.' History's fine for backing up your claims. But people usually want to know what you can do for them. P.S. Don't just paint yourself as a patsy problem mule (i.e. no boundaries and self-respect). Indicate also what you expect to get out of the deal and how you anticipate growing in the role). Also, I guess job fairs are probably more of a "meat market". Nonetheless, if the person's really interested in recruiting, they should be interested in describing what they are trying to accomplish.
• seorphates 9y ago
  Well, A) A recruiter is not going to be hiring you (but tread carefully because they're a foot that can be used in many doors) B) You primary object is to formulate the answer to that question from what you can harvest throughout the interview C) A positive, direct and clear answer should do nicely, almost always. D) No puppies will be harmed unless you swing and miss and end up kicking your own puppy when you go home because you blew the question. So, B. I can do many things in many ways. You should end up knowing exactly why they should hire you before they even ask. Oh, and E) Learn to recognize the ones you don't want to be hired for and quickly. Interviews can be stressful. You don't want to waste good energy on something you want to get away from as far and as quickly as possible. I've had exactly two of these.
• ChuckMcM 9y ago
  I once answered that question with "Well if I could give you an objective answer for that then it would suggest I know your business better than you do. But as I don't know you business that well I don't feel qualified to answer." I agree with most that it is not a good question. That said, being able to consider a question that is irrelevant or poorly specified can demonstrate a certain amount of 'quickness' or ability to think on your feet.
• badrequest 9y ago
  The ad said you needed a developer, and I am one.
• gord1anknot 9y ago
  I actually got asked this once, right out of college, by a consulting-focused subsidiary of a certain publicly traded company that dealt with open source operating systems that shall go unnamed. IIRC I said something about being smart and well motivated, and being excited about the projects they were talking about... I didn't get an offer. Ultimately this is a "Rorschach test" question. Because it's completely and entirely open ended, it isn't measuring anything other than the interviewee's ability to say what the interviewer wants to hear. An interviewer that asks this question is probably not that good of an interviewer, because, with very few exceptions, being very good at fast talking isn't a skill needed to do the job. If you're asked this and willing to forgive the company for giving you an interviewer that would ask this, the other answers have good suggestions.
• heavenlyblue 9y ago
  As it is usually the last question to be asked: take into account all of the cultural qualities they mention during the interview, then appeal to them: "I had always found I wanted to work in an open space because I believe that an atmosphere where people are forced to collaborate is exciting". Then wait for their offer and use it to get hired by another company.
  • wvlia5 9y ago
    How can an offer be useful for getting hired by another company? I don't get it
    • srathi 9y ago
      Probably by asking to match the offer in hand.
    • gord1anknot 9y ago
      In some job markets (afaik Silicon Valley, and most high-prestige medical or legal positions) you can get multiple offers within a few days of each other, and this matters for driving up compensation, particularly the signing bonus when present. edit for clarification: This works by keeping all interested companies/firms/hospitals in the loop on where you are in the interview process with the other prospective employers. If they don't ask, you, the prospective employee, volunteer this information. Prospective employers adjust their interview schedules accordingly. Sometimes, volunteering information that you're in demand and about to leave the job market because you have an offer in hand is enough information to get an offer when another prospective employer would otherwise would just keep looking, hoping somebody better might become available in the next couple weeks.
• seajosh 9y ago
  I simply ask "Why should I work for you?"
• cryptozeus 9y ago
  On phone interview, I once said "I do what I do and I do it the best". Didn't get a reply.
• jarsin 9y ago
  You don't want me as an enemy!
  • m1n1 9y ago
    You sound vindictive. I'd pass. The team doesn't need the drama, and the team can compete.
• makmanalp 9y ago
  It's a silly question designed to throw people off balance. I dislike it. But if you look at it the other way, it's an easy opportunity for you to nicely package your value proposition (ideally in comparison to your competitors) in a few sentences e.g. "I'm a rare candidate that has experience in X but ALSO Y" or "I'm a new grad but I have X internships under my belt" or "I'm switching careers so I'm a junior engineer now, but I've functioned as a responsible adult in some other job before, which your other candidates haven't" etc etc. It's also something that they'll end up using if they have to justify your hiring to other people, so there's value in making it good.
  • burntrelish1273 9y ago
    It's important to see how people will react under pressure, especially in consulting / client-facing gigs. You don't want to hire people whom are thin-skinned, dramatic, insecure or otherwise volatile. Think of these sort of gambits like shittests for candidates.
• ken 9y ago
  I'm hearing two common yet contradictory themes here. One is that it requires the interviewee to think of an answer on the spot. The other is that the interviewer should already know the answer, from reading your background material. But there's always more material that I can learn ahead of time about your company than you can learn about me as an individual. If the interviewer should know the answer already, then the interviewee should know an answer, too. I will admit that it's probably not a good question for medium/large companies, where there's a specific role to fill, but for small companies I kind of like it. There's 10 different things we need to hire for, and you've got 100 different skills, so which ones do you have that align with our needs, and which ones do you want to apply here? You can't fit everything on a resume. I confess I've asked this once myself, at the very start of an interview. I was exhausted from interviewing 10 other candidates, and this guy's resume wasn't very impressive, and I just wanted the guy to say something that would make me feel it wasn't going to be a waste of time. (Unfortunately, he was very junior, like "just learned to code last month", and his answer only reinforced that. I'd have loved to have hired him, but we really weren't in a position to hire junior developers yet.) It wasn't my best interview question, but it definitely wasn't my worst, either. The trouble with simply shooting this down as a bad interview question is that nobody has ever been able to tell me what a universally good interview question is. This one is open-ended and gets them talking, at least.
  • gord1anknot 9y ago
    I agree that the interviewee should know a answer. I don't like the spite/table flip answers suggested elsewhere for sure - I expect a prospective employee to be cooperative and marginally helpful no matter what. However, speaking as somebody that has been asked this question, and someone who has considered asking it, a part of what a good answer to it means involves knowing about what the other applicants are like - compare and contrast is the real substantive bit of the answer here. It might be possible to avoid that implication by phrasing the question differently, but I can't think of a way off the top of my head. The backgrounds and capabilities of the other candidates applying isn't likely to be something a prospective employee has the ability to find out about. Just having some basic research done about all the problems the prospective employee might be asked to solve on the job is a reasonable ask of a candidate. As a candidate I demonstrate that by reading as much about the company online as I can an incorporating that into other answers. As long as the interviewer understands the limitation around knowing what the competition pool is like and interprets the answer to this question in that context I'm sympathetic.
• iuguy 9y ago
  In that situation I'd say, "You probably shouldn't and perhaps we shouldn't waste each other's time by continuing this conversation". Then again I'm not fresh out of college.
• kat 9y ago
  I have a unique background, I have experience with A and with B which means I can navigate ambiguous/conflicting situations etc Usually A and B are opposing skills, like "I can code" and "I enjoy talking to people" or "I know backend programming" and "I have experience doing HTML design work"
• Silhouette 9y ago
  The best response I've got is probably "Well, hiring me will be expensive, but not as expensive as hiring the wrong applicant instead". However, for obvious reasons I wouldn't recommend actually using that one under most circumstances! Being serious, anyone asking something like this is probably just expecting you to kiss ass without being too obvious about it. If you really could make an exceptional contribution, perhaps because it's a field you genuinely want to work in after doing some related research or project during your course, by all means mention that. Otherwise the best thing you can do with a question like this is be polite and constructive. It might help to pick up on specific things you could offer that have been touched on earlier in the interview or at least mentioned in the job spec. If it's still early in the interview and you haven't got to that sort of discussion yet, try to turn the conversation around and discuss what they're looking for and then how you could help.
  • sgdread 9y ago
    You don't have to kiss ass. Instead, you can deflect and let interviewer answer the question. Something like this "I saw that X corp has an open position. This is an opportunity for me because ... , so I reached you. I assume, you are looking for is a qualified candidate who can do the job described. I saw the requirements and, I believe, I am qualified candidate. If you are not convinced yet, how can I change your mind?"...
• mattsfrey 9y ago
  People have actually encountered this question in interviews?
  • TwoNineFive 9y ago
    I have actually had this asked of me. It was at a finance info-tech security company in the USA. The guy who was interviewing me was a total as*le and I regret not just walking out on him. He also asked me several questions which were probing of my marital status and family history/racial background. I might have been asked this other times but that's the one I remember.
• deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
• sparkzilla 9y ago
  Actually, the best question for a recruiter to ask is "Why wouldn't we hire you?" You'll be amazed what people say.
• chapill 9y ago
  Funny how all the responses here are so offended when that's a perfectly reasonable question at a career fair sort of event for someone fresh out of college. The answer is also very easy. "I'm just out of college, so I work for entry level wages. I don't have bad habits to unlearn yet. I studied x, y, and z which are specifically related to this job opening." Three things. Cheap, clean slate, hit the ground stumbling as opposed to falling on your face. You might also mention your attendance record and punctuality if that's something to brag about.
• dboreham 9y ago
  Honestly I find this question weird and creepy. I think that must be because it breaches some psychological boundary. I've never asked it as an interviewer and never been asked it as a candidate. Perhaps someone has been watching too much "The Apprentice"? That said I'm not sure what I'd recommend. Tempted to say I'd terminate the interview but that also feels weird and creepy. Perhaps just chuckle playfully and hope they don't press for an answer?
• alexryan 9y ago
  Walk away. If they use that specific phrase, they are playing dominance games with you. If you choose to sacrifice your self respect and enter into a relationship with an immature petty tyrant like that, you’re in for a world of pain.
• redsable 9y ago
  I think that the best way to answer this is with a story. Explain that you (the recruiter) already know a lot about me by way of my (applicant's) application but this (story) is what you don't know about me and that it may be important. Make the story memorable and truthful. Make it something that couldn't have fit into the interview otherwise and end by saying that now you know a little bit more about my character and I hope it helps you remember me.
• jupiter90000 9y ago
  It may be an opportunity for the interviewer to see your sales skills and ability to advocate for yourself. As much as that may make some people uncomfortable to do, I'd say those can be valuable skills to demonstrate. My response would depend on specifics to the scenario. My suggestion would be learn about convincing ways to sell and to advocate for yourself. Not being able to do those things will be a significant detriment, and not just in finding a job.
• ethiclub 9y ago
  At a glance, the product I provide as a contractor / consultant is 'professional services automation'for MSPs and other industries (e.g Kaseya-Connectwise-ITGlue-Brightguage stack) My answer is that the value I provide is far more strategic and macro level than just systems implementation. I don't implement systems, I design processes, procedures and work instructions and map the entire org - Creating a living, breathing business manual. I automate and streamline the processes, provide reporting for transparency, continuous improvement and risk mitigation. I provide 'train the trainer' knowledge transfer (integrated with the system itself). You purchase extensive strategic knowledge regarding the industry and company, which manifests as a future-proofed system that encourages as well as facilitates growth. For every 10k you spend on my services, ROI will be > an order of magnitude. My work brings firms up to ISO9001 standards, provides a quality management system, and implements as, customer satisfaction, team engagement, client retention and a host of procedures that SMEs haven't been able to think about or implement effectively. Point being that (unlike many in this thread) I want to be asked this question from a prospective client, to show exactly what I can bring to the table. It allows me to show the true opportunity cost of not hiring me (I.e., stagnation and hundreds of thousands of dollars in following years).
• coffeemug 9y ago
  Remember, you don't have to answer the question as posed. An interview is a ritual. The information being exchanged overtly is a small tip of the iceberg; most of the exchange is covert. You can choose to follow the ritual as prescribed by the interviewee/cultural context, or you can occasionally choose to invent your own steps to create the right kind of tension. This specific question implies that there is a power imbalance between you and the recruiter. Implying such a thing is slightly rude (even if the power imbalance is there, the social convention is to ignore it). So, how do you want to handle someone being slightly rude? You could play the game on their terms, and just list your skills/characteristics. Of course the recruiter already knows them, so the signal you're sending is obedience in the face of slight rudeness. You could be a little more forceful and (politely) say something like this: "before we talk about that I'd like to better understand which problems you need me to see if there is a fit between my skills and the needs of your organization." You could be even more forceful and respond to slight etiquette transgression with a follow up transgression. For example, "I don't quite think this is the right framing, I'd like to first understand why I should work for you." It's just a game, a dance. Don't think about it literally and play with the steps.
• dedalus 9y ago
  I would turn it around and ask "why should you NOT hire me?"
• louithethrid 9y ago
  Never said this one, but always dreamed of dishing it out, to particular clueless interviewers. Because if left unchecked, i may write software that will allow me to buy your company, seeing us sitting in this very same room ten years in the future. And i dont think you would have a convincing answer, if i would ask you the very same question.
• TwoNineFive 9y ago
  "Why should we hire you?" is up there with Donald Trump style handshakes, group interviews, and other petty, controlling, derogatory, disrespectful, arrogant, insulting, pretentious, and abusively bureaucratic hiring techniques that are regrettably common. The abusiveness in the question lies in it's asymmetry. It's like playing a catch/throw ball game with somebody and they intentionally throw the ball far enough to the side to where they know you can't catch it, but they want to see you try. The best move, of course, is to not subject yourself to the indignity, not to try, and to make them go pick up the ball. You should probably also stop playing ball with that morally deranged person. The only reason, short of ignorance, I can imagine a hiring manager being motivated to ask a question like this is to find out if they can abuse you and get away with it. The willingness to be subjected to abuse is sometimes something that managers want in their employees.