This is how I got my first job. Later I’ve heard my answer made rounds around the office a bit, but it was totally worth it :D
I was referred by an existing employee though, so they probably accounted for the fact that nobody would bring a complete asshat to their own team.
I live on and continue to get more and more awesome each day for the sole purpose of spiting my enemies.
Can we just take a sec and appreciate the crispness of the lines and text in this image?
Perfect reply
It looks blurry to me, but that’s probably my eyes
I use Boost and often have to open the image in full screen and tap the HD button.
Or grease/other fluid on your display perhaps. Giggety.
Yeah, your eyes look pretty blurry to me as well, but that may just be my glasses.
I now know to read this comic in a British accent. YesIknowtherearemanyaccentsintheUK
Howmanythoughhaveyoucountedthemall?
I don’t think anyone has ever managed. There’s always a smaller, more remote hole that you forget about. And its 5 inhabitants have developed their own accent.
got hired by my dream job and they didn’t even ask me this! i had a whole thing prepared
Do you want to give it to us here instead? :-P
That’s an answer to “Why do you want to work?”
Not an answer to “Why do you want to work here, as opposed to somewhere else?”
Then the answer is, “because you’re hiring.”
Most people in 99% of the world cant go around choosing where to work, most people is pressured into getting any job they can just to be able to eat
Great, then that’s your answer. “I heard about this job from X, the commute works for me and I want to learn about whatever they do”.
If it’s the only company in existence where you are and you can’t choose, then it does have the best commute (winning by having no competition), and you are expecting to be learning about their industry (due to no other options).
Every “I have no choice” answer can be reworded to actual reasons.
reworded to
actual reasons.sound good for an interview.Potato potato, but if someone is already having trouble playing the interview game, I think that last sentence could come across wrong.
Like you said, you take your actual reasons: I have bills to pay, you’re a reasonable distance away, you’re hiring. And you find the truthful but carefully worded way to make it sound acceptable. I’ve always considered this interview question more of a test of communication skills than culty company loyalty test.
Like, if something’s wrong because your co-worker fucked it up are you just going to vomit that point blank at a customer, or do you have the ability to word it better?
My point is just that “I want money” is not an answer, since that would apply to all possible places of employment and yet you applied here in particular. Why? Is it just because you live nearby and there are no other options? Then that’s a perfectly valid answer.
Okay, but I don’t think the scenario you are describing is particularly relevant to the comic. This looks like a white collar job application, not a blood diamond mine or sweatshop.
So back to the point at hand. The question is, why do you want to work here? It’s a super relevant question. If all that was important to you is money, you’d go work on an oil rig. But most people don’t do that. Thousands of intangible factors someone might choose a workplace besides just for cash. Work/life balance. Personal interest. Comfortable work environment. Relevant experience. Proximity to home. Perks…
The point of the question or interviews in general is to stand out from other applicants. The answer “I need cash” doesn’t make you stand out.
“Because I have the relevant work skills you need to pay me for. If not at least I’m willing to work growing into the role.”
It doesn’t matter though. The interview is likely a formality to prove they tried hiring from outside before the job is given to an internal applicant, H1B visa holder willing to work for peanuts, or a boss’s relative.
That statement, stated a little less bluntly, can and has absolutely worked for me.
Perfect, so you have an answer. “I want to work here because I have relevant skills. They come from my previous experience in X where I did Y.”
As for it not mattering, sure, but that’s a criticism of the whole process/the system (which is absolutely fair criticism), not of this particular question.
“Why do you want to work here, as opposed to somewhere else?”
“Well, this company is at the top of my list.”
Sure, it might be an un-ranked list of “places I’m desperate to get hired by” but they don’t need to know that.
I was pretty direct at my last interview about being in the job market due to a layoff. It comes up since I frequently get asked about why I’m looking for a position. At the same time, most folks in my industry have a mortgage, a car payment, kids, or all of the above. In general: they get that I’m trying to avoid going broke, without having to go into details.
I frequently get asked about why I’m looking for a position
The real question is why are they looking to hire? What happened to the last person that held the position? Employers often get confused when this question gets reversed onto them
You need to be motivated and work harder than others! and not because we pay you money, but because you can be an ideal that others follow, don’t you want to be proud of doing more than others but for the same salary?
