Why do you want to work here?

[LottyD32]

AIBU to detest this question and find it completely pointless?

Why do they still ask it?
What do they hope to glean from your answer?

We all know the answer mostly is 'I couldn't care less, just give me the job and pay me' so why do they insist on making people jump through these ridiculous hoops?

Preferences? Sure.

The reality of needing a job however will result in most people compromising those preferences. If you are a hotel manager with a choice between one hotel with a job and no job, the size of that hotel will have no bearing on the decision whatsoever.

*"I like the value the company put on their employees" is a bit of a reach.

Are you HR? Do you come up with bollocks mission statements and values and all the rest of it?

But who cares how connected HR are? At the end of the day, you go there, do your work, get paid*

No, I don't work in HR. Not even close.

The value the company puts on the employees is literally displayed in how much they pay them. It is a way to say "I like what you pay." as an answer to that question. In this case value is literally monetary.

Whether or not HR or any other interviewer is connected to the company will tell you exactly what the company culture is really like. You can determine whether people are genuinely happy to work there, whether departments work well together, and pretty critically whether there are any red flags through both the answers (or lack) and the body language.

At the end of the day yes I do go to work, do my work, and get paid -- but I also like working where I do, and working with a bunch of people I can get along with helps. Asking questions helps a candidate make an assessment of the company culture beyond "free lunch Friday" or a fancy coffee maker.

@CapMarvel, have you only ever had the possibility of a) this one job or b) no job?

@CapMarvel

Preferences? Sure.

The reality of needing a job however will result in most people compromising those preferences. If you are a hotel manager with a choice between one hotel with a job and no job, the size of that hotel will have no bearing on the decision whatsoever.

So if you are desperate for a job when you are unemployed you may only be able to focus on that aspect but the interview is catering for a variety of people some of whom may already have a job, or have lots of job options to choose from. And for fairness you have to ask the same questions to everyone.

In the dozens of interviews I've held - nearly all of the candidates were already employed often by our competitors or were internal candidates from a different department within the organisation. 'why this team?' was a really useful question.

@wordler

So to turn it around to the people who really hate this question - and are only doing the job for the money - no personal fulfillment, no future career strategy for the application.

What question would you like to be asked that would give you a chance to show the interviewer what sets you above the other candidates? Assuming your fellow candidates have similar levels of skill and job experience.

Exactly that: "What sets you above the other candidates? Why should we employ you?"

Stop with all the beating about the bush questions and pseudo psychology. Just be straightforward and ask what you want to know, in plain English.

Stop with all the bollocks.

As I've tried to explain - the why of someone's application choice is relevant to many recruiters in many industries when choosing between candidates and it's also the perfect question to use to answer the question "why should we employ you?"

Even if you don't think it makes a difference to your particular circumstance it's a gift of a question if they ask it because it's one you can easily prepare for.

What field are you in @LottyD32?

@Tink626

I'm HR and always ask this question (or a variation of it). I want to employ someone who has bothered researching the company and wants to work for us. Team culture and fit is important.

How does a bit of website research give you any evidence that they will fit into your team?

I am also a bit concerned about your D&I policies if you recruit on that basis. Team fit and culture usually means recruiting in your own image which is bad for diversity and inclusion.

Not being able to answer this question displays a lack of imagination, for me. I might not ask it in quite this way, but I'd be put off by someone who thought "because I need a job" is the only valid answer

and you don't think that the answer people give is likely to be complete bollox? Oh dear.

As for work culture, you aren't exactly going to put on the website that you are micro-managing arseholes even if you are, are you? So how does that work?

I always ask as a warm up (competency based interviews) something like what attracted you to the role and what skills do you think you could bring

the perfect question to use to answer the question "why should we employ you

it isn't. Why should you employ me? Because I have the right skillset for the job. Which may mean spending hours researching your website. In fact for my line of work it might as I do lots of research. But not for most jobs.

[quote MasterBeth]@CapMarvel, have you only ever had the possibility of a) this one job or b) no job?[/quote]
No.

But I know what the reality is for most people, and so I know how utterly pointless asking people "why do you want to work here" and expecting an answer other than "for the money".

@wordler

As I've tried to explain - the why of someone's application choice is relevant to many recruiters in many industries when choosing between candidates and it's also the perfect question to use to answer the question "why should we employ you?"

Even if you don't think it makes a difference to your particular circumstance it's a gift of a question if they ask it because it's one you can easily prepare for.

What field are you in @LottyD32?

Sure, but you have to be prepared to accept that people know that the honest answer (for the money) is one most recruiters will get uppity about so what interviewers will actually do is waffle some bullshit about company values, how the firm is a leader in the field blah blah blah. What does that tell you?

That's why I don't like questions like that - they are never answered truefully so the answers are worthless.

[quote jessy100]@masterBeth It's you who is missing the point!.That point is that most people will tell the interviewer what they want to hear. It's a box ticking exercise for both sides.

T he ultimate aim is to get offered the the job. It doesn't mean that we believe what we are saying to get it.
My nephew doesn't care which supermarket he works for. He couldn't care less If he's packing find a of beans on to shelves in Tesco or m&s.
He wants the job because he has a very expensive holiday planned that he had to fund![/quote]
I think any question where there is a real liklihood that the person will lie is one that should be reconsidered, maybe reframed.

Not in the sense of someone outright fabricating their experience or education or something like that, which is an ethical violation.

But we know that when asked this, the real answer in many cases won't sound impressive, and I think many people feel instinctively that they do not ow the employer that kind of wholly truthful information about their internal motives.

I wonder if people realize how many jobs are actually filled, it's not about some kind of discussion about who they like best or even think would be best fit. That kind of thing is very actively discouraged.

In all of the areas I have worked in it's designed to take all of taht out. Everyone has identical questions. Follow up questions have to be limited and specific in order to assure that. Answers are scored on a simple system. The person with the highest score gets the job, and if they don't the reason has to be clear and serious or they are opening themselves up to serious accusations of bias.

If there is this kind of question, where the real answer would be "because you are the only people that do this type of thing in a 50 km radius and so it's you or digging ditches even though I have some serious misgivings about your current management" you just can't say that. Because all the other candidates are likely to say something more gushy.

I'm willing to lose out on a job offer because someone else has more experience than I do or has done something spectacular in a previous position. But not because their reasons for applying are seen as better.

@wordler

As I've tried to explain - the why of someone's application choice is relevant to many recruiters in many industries when choosing between candidates and it's also the perfect question to use to answer the question "why should we employ you?"

Even if you don't think it makes a difference to your particular circumstance it's a gift of a question if they ask it because it's one you can easily prepare for.

What field are you in @LottyD32?

By "gift of a question" you seem to be saying, a question you can bs about in a potentially effective way.

Which is one reason why people don't like it. I think also people feel it's a bit invasive.

The fact is "because I need a job" is the real answer for most people.

It's not though is it? Majority of the time the person being interviewed already has a job which they are prepared to resign from to take up this new one.

That's basically what the question is asking.

"why are you prepared to leave your current role, in a familiar company, with no doubt accrued service..... for this brand new one in an unknown entity where you'll have little to no employment rights for at least 2 years?"

I have never in my life had a company's best interests or goals at heart, only mine. Companies don't care about you, no matter what they say. Don't get me wrong, I turn up, do the job to the required standard, keep on good terms with my colleagues and boss. I care about doing the job to a good standard, because that's what they're paying me for and I do take pride in my work.
But if I didn't need the money I wouldn't be there. The exception would be if it was a charity whose cause I believed in.

That's exactly how I approach a job. I do the job as best I can, get along with everyone - and then go home and forget about it until the next time I get to the office. I have been in the workforce long enough to know that your employers, in most cases, don't actually care about you and will get rid of you without a second thought if it suits them - so it's a bit rich to expect their employees to have their best interests at heart.

@MangyInseam -

@MangyInseam sorry stupid phone posting issues

I’m sorry you think this type of interview question is invasive. It’s actually a very mild personal question. At a job interview you should expect intensive questioning about your experience skills life situations. You prep to make the most of it.

@SquirrelG

I have never in my life had a company's best interests or goals at heart, only mine. Companies don't care about you, no matter what they say. Don't get me wrong, I turn up, do the job to the required standard, keep on good terms with my colleagues and boss. I care about doing the job to a good standard, because that's what they're paying me for and I do take pride in my work. But if I didn't need the money I wouldn't be there. The exception would be if it was a charity whose cause I believed in.

That's exactly how I approach a job. I do the job as best I can, get along with everyone - and then go home and forget about it until the next time I get to the office. I have been in the workforce long enough to know that your employers, in most cases, don't actually care about you and will get rid of you without a second thought if it suits them - so it's a bit rich to expect their employees to have their best interests at heart.

Can I ask in a general way what your job is? And if you have a general career plan?

You had better be on the ball,if you wan't to work for Alan Sugar, and reach the interview round., thats always fun to witness.

Can I ask in a general way what your job is? And if you have a general career plan?

I'm currently working in a casual office role - for the best place I have ever worked in my life - but am counting down the days until retirement! Previously I worked in administration. I have been made redundant twice, and my ex-DH numerous times - it soon teaches you not to invest too much of yourself into work. I never had a general career plan, never wanted one. I work to live, if I didn't have to work I most certainly wouldn't.

Posters seem to be talking across each other in comparing professional role interviews with kids shelf stacking in one or another supermarket. I agree there is no point in the question for basic retail, admin or other low skill roles. It isn't surprising that people doing those roles think the only answer is "for the money".

In professional roles hoeever there's huge differences in motivation between people targeting a step up including training, extending skills in a particular industry, having old colleagues they want to rejoin in a different company, interest in a particular new code base, interest in the USP of that company's product, interest in travel to certain markets etc etc etc. It's relevant and interesting in those cases, and money is not the only motivator for people doing those jobs.

@LottyD32 Stop with all the beating about the bush questions and pseudo psychology. Just be straightforward and ask what you want to know, in plain English. Stop with all the bollocks.

Has everyone forgotten that the corporate bollocks, psychologically manipulative, deliberately obscure, technically demanding, linguistically complex, impossible to answer truthfully question we are talking about is "Why do you want to work here?"

your employers, in most cases, don't actually care about you and will get rid of you without a second thought if it suits them

Hmm that’s also not true for where I work. And probably why I’m coming from the angle that I can tell when someone doesn’t give a shit/just there for the cash.

If you don’t like your job, you can just tell someone and then have a chat about where else you fit/learn something new and change jobs. It’s a tech company though so the variety is there. They cling onto good people and yeah some have been let go because they were crap.