How to answer the “Why do you want this job?” interview question
Include these two main points to make your answer stronger.
What you offer:
1. Your strengths. Why you’re qualified/how you can benefit the company. I’ll explain more below.
2. The idea that you understand the job. Target what you say about strengths to the job description requirements.
What you gain:
3. The role excites you - say why.
4. You want this job in particular, not just any job at the company.
5. The job connects to your career plan.
6. You intend to stay in the job for awhile.
What you offer
1. Strengths
The way to convince the interviewer you’re the best candidate is to convey your strengths.
Education, experience, skills, and successful projects are all possible strengths.
Here’s the blueprint for how to use strengths to answer this question:
Why do you want this job?
I want this job because it will allow me to use my skills in X, Y, and Z (your strengths).
or
This job is the perfect fit for me because it will allow me to X, Y, and Z (your strengths).
2. Show that you understand the job
The strengths you talk about need to be in the job description.
Read the job description and think about it before you go to the interview. If you tell the interviewer you want this job because you love doing X, but X isn’t a very large part of the job, then they’ll know you don’t understand the job.
Or if you say that the job “sounds great” or something general they’ll wonder if you even read the job description.
If your strengths are tailored to the job description, when you mention them you’ll also be showing your understanding.
What you gain
3. Why the role excites you
You have to show interest in the actual work.
If you want the job because the department is working on some type of cool technology that you are interested in, that’s a good thing to use as an answer.
Or maybe the role is the same thing you do now but on a larger scale – that’s also a legitimate answer you can use.
You must sound interested in doing the work. Not just in getting a job, but in getting this job in particular.
4. Yes, this is a great company, but…
Being excited about the company is okay, but you to say more than that to convince them to hire you.
You need to show interest in the job, not just the company. You’re not going to be working for the company in your day-to-day work, you’re going to be doing a very specific job in a specific department.
If the company is famous, like Amazon, people are excited to work there simply because it’s famous. Yes, but they won’t hire you because you’re excited about working for a famous company.
5. How the job connects to your career plan
Give a sentence or two to give the listener some context for why you’re there. You don’t need to give a lengthy explanation.
You’ll need to do this especially if the job is different from roles you’ve had before – if it’s in a new field, if it’s a downward move, or if it’s a sideways move.
6. The job isn’t just a step along the way
Show that you’re interested in the job for itself, not because it will help you get a better job afterward. Of course all jobs should help you with your career, but you don’t want to sound like you’ll leave six months after you start. Do you sound like you’ll be satisfied doing the job for at least two years before you leave? If not, that’s a negative.
Good sample answers for “Why do you want this job”
Alexa Technical Program Manager
"I'd like to work at Amazon because I think I can help the company open a new business opportunity in the area of home automation. Since the Alexa division is working on this, I can extend my Master's research project regarding home automation, smart meters and Big Data.”
This answer was about why he wants to work at the company, but it would also work for why he wants the job.
He can change it a little to:
"I'd like this job as an Alexa Technical Program Manager because I think I can help the company as it opens a new business opportunity in the area of home automation. I can use the knowledge I gained from my Master's research project, which was about how home automation can incorporate smart meters and Big Data. I’ve spent so much time researching this topic and I want to continue moving this technology forward.”
AWS Biz Dev Manager Gov-Cloud (DOD)
Why do you want this job?
“I’ve been working in cloud computing for years now, and I want to work for the industry leader. In joining this team, I’d be working with the best. I know I can contribute because, as great as the team at Amazon is, no one understands the complexities of operating cloud-based services in government agencies as well as I do. Navigating compliance and security regulations without prior knowledge will slow down the team significantly, and I can fix that. In addition to that, I have the necessary contacts already that would let me find new growth opportunities for the team.”
Software Developer, AWS
Why do you want this job?
What’s thrilling about the idea of working at Amazon is that I wouldn’t just be using other people’s frameworks. I’d be creating frameworks for others to use on my team. Creating frameworks is something I’ve wanted to do professionally since I began my career, but I’ve only been able to pursue that passion through open source projects. As you know, I’m the largest contributor to an open source web testing framework, which is used by some of the largest enterprise companies, and you even use it here at Amazon. That’s exciting, but I did that project on my own time, on the side, and the idea of working at a place where I could contribute to and build frameworks from scratch would help me use my talents in the best possible way while also landing my dream job.
Senior Cloud Technical Account Manager
Why do you want this job?
“After over a decade of managing large-scale distributed systems at everything from high-growth startups to companies providing SaaS enterprise solutions, I’m ready to step away from the keyboard and use my expertise to help customers directly. I want to hear about their problems, and talk to them like partners, leveraging my experience to help them navigate the array of options available to them. The job description mentions trade-offs and risk management, and both of those things are important considerations, but there’s much more to it. For example, how to scale both horizontally and vertically using microsystems requires a tremendous amount of planning, thought, and preparation, in addition to the need for broad and deep knowledge across a number of disciplines. While I know the tech is always evolving, at this point, I can say I’ve seen it all, and no one can represent the VOC like I can.”
QA Manager
Why do you want this job?
“I want this job because I know I can use my skills to make your products better. Based on what I know about the Amazon brand and its products, I know how important quality is to you, and that’s what I bring. Jeff Bezos once said that “The best customer service is none” and the best way to achieve zero customer service is impeccable quality. Your customers expect and demand quality. I spent many years in the QA trenches, working on some of the most demanding software projects in the world. I’ve had to use every trick in the QA book to make sure we were shipping products that were bug-free, performant, and useable. I’ve done everything from basic regression testing to overseeing the creation of a suite of QA automation tools. On the development side, I pride myself on 100% unit test coverage, and demand the same from my reports. On the front end, I wrote selenium tests for a massive web application that had several different user types and a distinct UI for each them. The more complex the system, the more rigorous the QA.”
Related topics:
How to answer, “What is your weakness?”