3 Steps for Answering: Why Do You Want This Job?

Ordinarily, answering interview questions can be daunting. But, there are some interview questions that are more dreadful. Chief among these dreadful interview questions is: “why do you want this job?”

Just like the “tell me about yourself” interview question, answering “why do you want this job?” question, during an interview session, can be fearsome as well as heart wrenching. Yet, you can’t do without encountering one or two of these questions in your job interviews.

Therefore, the onus is on you to practice your responses to the question about why you want this job beforehand. This will give you the opportunity to adequately prepare your answers before going to face the interview panel.

Thus, in order to make your response to the question super easy, Bossjob presents you a 3-step process to answering the question “why do you want this job?” Take your time, study the steps, and use them to your advantage:

Step 1: Show your understanding of the company’s operations

The best way to impress the interviewers is to kick-start your discussion with enthusiasms about the company’s management, operations and teams. Express your knowledge about the company’s products or services, and how you have wanted to be a part of its operations. You can end the first step of your discussion with the motivation you felt on seeing the company’s advertisement for the position to which you have applied. The interviewers, especially if you’re dealing with a smaller company, will feel highly impressed seeing that you know one or two things about what is going on at the company.

Step 2: Tailor your skills and experiences to the role

The next step would be to tell the team of interviewers about why exactly you want this job. This also includes an expression of how and why you’re the right candidate for the vacant role. To do this effectively, you should inform the recruitment officers about how your level of experience as well as your expertise are perfect for the job. Explain how your experiences and skills will come handy in helping you to perform essential roles in your job description if given the opportunity to work in their establishment. Keep it short! Just make sure you provide sufficient explanations on how your experience and skills can be of benefit to increasing the company’s bottom line.

Step 3: Explain how the job Is connected to your career path

And lastly, you should provide a convincing explanation on how the vacant position (if given the opportunity to fill it) can be a driving force to help you reach your career destination later in life. This will give the recruitment team an inclination that there’s a possibility you’re going to be with them for long. Of course, every company wants to maximize the return on their investments. A wrong recruit would amount to a waste of time and effort.  

If you can seamlessly transit from step 1 to 3, you would have provided the perfect answer to the dreaded interview question: “why do you want this job?” You don’t need to panic. All you need to do is to break your responses in three steps.

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Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash