Every job interview has its own unique questions. But there are some questions you can expect at nearly every interview. By far, one of the most common is “why do you want to work for this company?” as every company is looking to hire people that know about their business and genuinely want to work there – not just those that are there to get a pay check.
The problem is that answering this question can be challenging. It seems like such a simple interview question, yet it is important to make sure you’re prepared with an excellent and impressive answer. You can only achieve this if you have really done your homework.
Thorough Company Research
See Posts:
- How To Thoroughly Research Any Company Before A Job Interview
- Sneaky Ways To Research A Company’s Culture Before the Interview
- How to Research Salary Rates Before a Job Interview
Any answer that proves you genuinely know and understand the company can be impressive. The more research you’ve completed about the company and the more genuinely excited you are to work there, the better your answer will be.
Once you have done your company research, then you need to consider what it is about the company that appeals to you and focus your answer on that theme.
The following are some examples of good answers that should be altered to include details and specifics about the company you are applying to.
Four Better Ways to Answer “Why Do You Want to Work at This Company?”
- The vision & values of your company resonated with me. I see sound growth potential and I care very much about the same causes you do. I am excited about the idea of working for a company that shares the same goals and aspirations as I do.
- I was researching articles about your company culture and I was very impressed. I love the idea of working for a company that values innovation and outside of the box thinking, and supports a healthy work life/balance among its employees.
- I am particularly attracted to your support of professional development. I know a lot of the people that work for your company and they always speak about it with positivity and excitement. They told me it was a great place to grow professionally, and to commit to in the long term.
- I want to work for a company that is innovative and a market leader. I strongly believe that the future of the market is in automation, and I’ve seen how invested your company is in developing new strategies and apps for improving workflow. I want to be a part of that, and use the talents I’ve learned to help you achieve that long term growth.
Every single answer should have more specifics and details that about yourself and the company, but you can use these as a baseline for making sure that your answer is impressive to the interviewer.
You should also consider the size of the company when developing your answer. Different things attract people to smaller company’s versus larger companies which can give you clues that you can use in your answer. For example, you might say “I love that you are a smaller company which gives me the opportunity to gain exposure to all areas of the business not simply my job function”.
Have a look at the 2 posts below, they include lots of reasons to work for both large and small companies which you can spin into a good answer: