Why do you want to work here?
Have you ever been asked this in an interview?
If you have, and you want to know the exact formula and way to answer this interview question
with examples, you are in the right place.
My name is Cindy Makita Dodd.
And in today's video, I am going to walk you through exactly how to answer the, why do
you want to work here?
Interview question so that you can nail your next interview and ultimately land the job.
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Why do employers ask the, why do you want to work here?
Question in an interview?
Well, let's get into the mind of a hiring manager when they ask this specific question.
What they ultimately want to know is if there is alignment between you, the candidates and
the company and the best way for them to find out if there is true alignment is through
this question and they want to know it from your perspective, not just what they see through
your resume and through your LinkedIn profile.
They want to hear from you how you see the alignment between the company and you as a
candidate to put it plainly.
They want you to connect the dots for them.
They want to understand from your perspective, out of the thousands of roles and companies
that you could have applied for why you chose them, they want to see if you have a genuine
interest for the company and for the role, because the truth is, if it comes down to
two identical candidates, maybe they the same skills and they fit the requirements for the
role.
The employer will choose the one that shows the most interest, excitement, and enthusiasm
for the role and for the company.
And this question helps him to determine your sincere interest.
Now that you know, the reason why employers ask this question in an interview, let's get
into the exact formula you could use to craft your answer for your next interview.
Tip number one, start by mentioning how you resonate with the mission and the values of
the company.
According to Built In 91% of managers in the US say a candidate's alignment with the company,
culture is equal to, or more in important than skills and experience.
This means that through this answer, you need to demonstrate that you are aligned with the
company's culture.
What makes up the culture of a company, its mission and its values.
So do your research prior to the interview to dive deep into what is the mission and
the ultimate goal of this company and what are their values as well?
What are some good examples of mission and values from popular companies that we know
let's have a look Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally
accessible and useful.
Nike's mission is to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.
L'Oreal's values are passion, innovation, entrepreneurial spirit, open-mindedness quest
for excellence and responsibility.
So when you are researching the company prior to your interview, make sure that you dive
deep and find out what is the mission of the company and what are their values and pick
just one thing that stands out to you that you can align as to why you want to apply
for the company.
Here's an example that I would say if I was applying for L'Oreal specifically relating
to their values, your values of passion, innovation and quest for excellence, really resonate
with me.
I see how your company lives out those values.
And growing up as a consumer, I saw that there were more than just words on paper.
Those are three values I live by in my personal life.
I strive to be passionate in my work to bring new ideas to the table and not to be satisfied
with the status quo and more than that, even to do the little things with excellence.
So as you can see, I was able to demonstrate how I personally resonated with the values
of the company.
And that's why I wanted to apply that.
Number two, show how the role fits in with your long term career progression and growth.
Is this role a natural step in your career progression, or would it help you to reach
your career goals, express that employers want to know that you have been strategic
about the role that you pick next in your career, because it shows that you have a career
plan and you are very clear about what you want and you are going for it.
So you want to show that the role that you're applying to fits in with your career roadmap
and your goals, this demonstrates that you are extremely intentional about the roles
that you apply for and pick, and that the company naturally fits in with your career
progression employers really value that, and it will help you stand out as a candidate.
Let's have a look at an example.
My long term career goal is to be a VP for a company that values innovation and growth.
And this role as a director is a natural step in my career path.
And that's one of the reasons why I wanted to apply.
And last but not least, you want to show that your skills can add value to the company.
Every company has its own goals and strategic vision that they are working towards.
And every new hire that they bring into the company contributes to that vision.
So as a candidate, you want to express how you can add value to the company, through
your skills and past experience based on the job description and the specific skills and
responsibilities that are listed show that you can add value to the company and ultimately
help them hit their goals.
The truth is that employers only hire people that can add value.
So you want to demonstrate that in this interview answer, here's an example in action, based
on my skills and experience working as a project manager for million dollar projects across
functions, I am confident I can bring this experience to your team, to cut costs, boost
revenue, and ultimately help the team.
And more importantly, the company hits its goals.
And so to recap, the exact formula and the three points that you want to hit when answering
the interview question, why do you want to work here?
Number one, show that you align with the company's mission and values, ultimately their culture.
Number two show that this role is a natural fit in your career progression and long term
career goals.
And number three, show that you can add value to the company to help them reach their goals.
Let's put it all together.
Here is an example of how I would answer this interview question specifically for project
manager role at L'Oréal.
So Cindy, why do you want to work here?
Great question.
Well, there's really three main reasons I apply to your company.
The first is alignment with values, your values of passion, innovation and quest for excellence
really resonate with me.
I see how your company lives out those values and growing up as a consumer, I saw that there
were more than just words on paper.
Those are three values I live by in my personal life.
I strive to be passionate in my work to bring new ideas to the table and not to be satisfied
with the status quo, to even do things with excellence, even the little things.
Second, my long term career goal is to be a VP for a company that values innovation
and growth.
And this role as director is a natural step in my career path.
Lastly, based on my skills and experience working as a project manager for million dollar
projects across functions, I'm confident I can bring this experience to your team, to
cut costs first revenue and ultimately help the team.
And more importantly, the company hit its goals and there you have it.
That was my exact formula with examples on how to answer the, why do you want to work
here?
Interview question.
I hope that you found it useful.
The next video that I highly encourage you to watch is my video on what not to say in
an in interview so that you can avoid those key buzzword that employers don't want to
hear, and that are ultimately costing you an offer.
Click the link next door right here to make sure that you watch that video right after
this.
I know it's gonna be super helpful for you.
Also click the link below this video to download my free standout candidate toolkit that you
can know the exact steps to stand out among the masses of candidates that flood online
applications, ultimately land your next offer.
I'll see you on the other side.
Bye for now.