Why Are You a Good Fit for this Role - How to Answer

Key Takeaways

many people make the mistake of thinking the why are you good fit for this role question should only focus on what you bring to the table while that is certainly a part of it we'll see in this video that adding an honest selfish element to your answer will help you come off as more genuine and memorable so let's get started there are many variations to this interview question such as why should we hire you and what makes you a good candidate but they're all really trying to uncover the same three things number one what can bring to the role number two what you are trying to get out of it and number three what makes you unique you should definitely address all three of these underlying questions but you want to make sure your answer is structured with the right proportions as well in my experience 50 of your answer should be dedicated to one thirty percent of the time spent on two and the remaining twenty percent left for three let's start breaking each one of these down starting with the first part of your answer what can you bring to the role you want to spend the most time on this part because this is where you get to match a strength of yours to the job requirement in other words your value proposition first you want to do some research and this is where it gets interesting a small trick i like to use when reading through the job description is to copy and paste all the text into a free word cloud generator to see which words or phrases come up the most frequently while the job description doesn't usually paint a complete picture of the role this gives you a great starting point to see which one of your experiences are most relevant for the next step if you already have experience in the area you have identified perfect mention how the new role represents a new challenge for you and how you're looking to further grow your expertise in that particular field if on the other hand you are a fresh grad or working professional looking to move to another industry altogether you want to highlight relevant attributes that are transferable to the new role in other words if you have relevant work experience double down on it if you don't mention skills you have developed that will help you succeed in the new position finally because 50 of your answer is allocated to this first part you can have a full story prepared using the star format if you're not familiar with star or need a quick refresher feel free to check out my behavioral interview video linked down below so for example let's say i'm applying for a position at tesla and totally not because of their latest stock price or anything the job post on linkedin is that of a manager position in their global operations team i copy and paste all the text in their job description to a free word cloud generator that i'll also link down below and here are some of the keywords that stand out team global team supply chain logistics system implementation new process for me my supply chain experience is limited to tracking my package on amazon so that's not really an area i can speak to but i do manage a team and i do optimize a lot of internal processes in my current role as a b2b product marketer so my answer i probably highlight my leadership abilities and give examples on internal processes i work on right now and how those experiences might be applicable to this new role if you found this first part helpful drop a like and comment down below on whether the word cloud tip is something you're planning to use on to the second part of your answer what do you want to take away from this role many candidates are hesitant to say what they want to get out of the job because they think the answer should just be about pitching themselves to the company but the thing is by saying what you are selfishly looking for not only does it help you come off as more authentic but it shows the interviewer that you have done the research because otherwise you wouldn't know about the specifics in the first place for example when i was interviewing for my initial role at google the account manager position in the sales team i specifically mentioned how i get a rush from seeing my clients immediately adopt my recommendations in their google ads accounts this was a big deal for me because in my previous management consulting position it took weeks or even months to see the fruits of my labor but in the sales position at google i saw it almost immediately short-term dopamine addiction aside my answer showed the hiring manager that number one jeff is pretty results-driven since he's excited about the impact that he's made number two jeff has done the research to know that part of the job revolves around the google ads platform and number three he is a genuine person for admitting part of the reason he's applying is for the dopamine hit that he gets if you're having trouble with this part it's helpful to think about the ideal end result if you were to get the job what would happen if you did the job really well would you feel some personal satisfaction like i do would you be able to further grow in your area of expertise would you be able to build connections in a space that you were unable to before for example i know some legal counsels who started off in corporate law that went on to join tech companies because they wanted more practical experience about the laws regulating the internet and technology space final tip for this part is to find someone working in the role that you're applying for and asking them whether they're happy with their job if yes why their answer might give you some inspiration by the way i have a facebook group where i share weekly tips consider joining if you haven't already i'll link it down below finally closing out your answer with something unique about you the reason for this is very simple and slightly superficial and that's to make you memorable in the mind of the interviewer there are two ways to go about this number one mention something truly unique or at least uncommon about you and how that relates to the role you're applying for or number two mention a common strength and give a memorable example for me i spent half my life in the u.s and half around greater china while this background doesn't even make me close to being a unique special snowflake i could and i did mention how my international upbringing would benefit a multinational company like google or i could mention how i'm proactive which is a common strength and give the memorable example that to better engage my clients i went out of my way to create how-to videos when i was still in the sales team so to quickly recap your answer to the why are you good fit for this role question should address all three points the interviewer wants to uncover number one what can bring to the role number two what do you want to get out of it and number three what makes you unique similar to the tell me by yourself question limit your answer to two to two and a half minutes while allocating fifty percent of your time to point one thirty percent to point two and the remaining twenty percent to point three to give you a concise and well-rounded answer