Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How to answer properly “Why we should hire you” question?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 128 posts

Re: Ask HN: How to answer properly “Why we should hire you” question?

#51

Post by thinkloop »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #37
thinkloop wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am not a math person. I can do math, but my brain is wired for language. Not a good time to introduce not's in my opinion. It might work (as it did for you), but it's high risk.

Like I said the second answer applies to me personally. I often say this to convey my honesty and to plainly state that I have a minor weakness that is compensated by a superior strength. If the job requires a math person to sit and code and not talk to non-technical people, then I am the wrong person for that job and both parties are better off if they hire someone else.

"My brain is wired for language..."

Omitting the first part keeps the message and sounds cleaner to me, without risking the person thinking "not good at math? like basic logic?" (rather than the cal 3 you had in mind or whatever).

It's rarely beneficial to use up time highlighting anything you're bad at, rather than better emphasizing what you are good at.

Re: Ask HN: How to answer properly “Why we should hire you” question?

#52

Post by mc32 »

I used to wonder why people would inject predictable boilerplate questions.

Basically, they want to make sure you have the right skills as well as have the decency to be able to prepare correctly and not take things for granted or take anything too lightly.

I mean, if you can't answer a boilerplate question, hoe can they expect you to fulfill the occasional proforma task?

Re: Ask HN: How to answer properly “Why we should hire you” question?

#54

Post by bluGill »

Since it is clear by the fact that you asked this question that you have no clue what you want or why you would hire anyone I no long want this job. Thank you for the interview practice. Perhaps we will meet again.

Of course most people who are interviewing actually need a job and so they cannot afford to tell the truth. So you need to BS your way though, but this is not a useful question to ask in the first place and it reflects bad on them that they did. If you are lucky enough to get two offers this is a sign you should choose the other.

This is the right question to frame the interview around: why should we hire (or not hire) this person. However interviewers need to ask the types of questions that a well prepared interviewee cannot lie and fool the interviewer. There is plenty of research on how to interview people: people who are interviewed have incentive to lie, and probably have done enough research to figure out what lies to tell.

The problem with "Why should we hire you" is you learn one of two things: how good the candidate is at delivering a prepared statement; or how good the candidate is at lying himself out of a tricky situation when put on the spot. The first is interesting only if you are hiring an actor - but in this case you can get more information by giving the actor a short speech and a few minutes to prepare before delivering it. I guess the second is interesting if you are hiring a thief for a job where he might get caught.

Re: Ask HN: How to answer properly “Why we should hire you” question?

#55

Post by fallous »

There are really only two things an employee can provide that makes them worth hiring. First you have to produce more value than your expense, which is the baseline minimum and for some roles is usually sufficient to at least qualify as a potential hire. The second is that you make the people and things around you better, which makes you someone that increases the value produced by other people and processes.

The first is simply additive, the second is multiplicative.

Re: Ask HN: How to answer properly “Why we should hire you” question?

#56

Post by awfgylbcxhrey »

That question is a symptom of the many problems in tech hiring.

1) interviewers spend all their time looking for any reason not to hire you, rather than looking for what value you can provide. Kind of odd for an industry with a supposed talent shortage. They'll make some claim about the cost of false positives, but it's nonsense, at least in America.

2) they expect you to be passionate about sitting in front of a computer all day (because, for some reason, it's not good enough to simply be competent and reliable) but during an interview they expect you to have sales skills and to sell yourself.

Re: Ask HN: How to answer properly “Why we should hire you” question?

#57

Post by rpeden »

awfgylbcxhrey wrote: post #39
kohanz wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your reasoning makes perfect sense, but the answer is a bit dry and, I don't know how to describe it, robotic? As someone who has sat in the hiring chair, if I heard "You'll make more money from my work than I'll cost in salary and benefits.", I'd get the impression of that person someone who maybe views themselves as a profit-generating widget in the grand scheme of the company. I'd wonder a bit what enjoyment/passi…

I'd wonder a bit what enjoyment/passion that person gets from their work. Why can't someone just be a professional who generates value?

I've given co-workers a bit of push-back in the past when they've wanted to give too much weight to passion-related questions when we interviewed candidates.

Not that it can't be important; it can, but the downside is that passion often evaporates when things get difficult. So I'd rather hire someone who is driven by determination and discipline, and uses passion as a nice boost when they can.

It's frustrating to work with someone who gets sulky when we have to slog through the non-fun development tasks that are part of nearly every project. Yes, those parts are no fun, but the faster we buckle down and power through them, the better off we are.

Interestingly, I've found that the best developers I've worked with were the stone cold professionals who just powered through everything, whether it was enjoyable or excruciating. They weren't a bunch of grumpy old farts, either. They were some of the most friendly, jovial people I've had the pleasure of working with over the years.

Re: Ask HN: How to answer properly “Why we should hire you” question?

#58

Post by ant6n »

Humdeee wrote: post #44

I'm a game-changer that can think outside the box. I bring forth a synergy that will leverage my ability to hit the ground running and go that extra mile. Pushing the envelope and reinforcing the company vision statement is what I'm all about. Goal setting and going after the low-hanging fruit is paramount to setting us up as a thought-leader and to pivot in a ruthless, competitive market. I understand that achieving…

Wow, that's like a poem.

Re: Ask HN: How to answer properly “Why we should hire you” question?

#59

Post by neurobot »

in_cahoots wrote: post #34
rpeden wrote: post #6

Assuming they ask this at the end of the interview after you've shown your skills and discussed your experience: "I believe I've demonstrated that I'll deliver significantly more value with my work than I'll cost you in salary and benefits." That's pretty much the reason anyone should hire you, for any role, in any industry. Most interviews are really about demonstrating the value you'll deliver. Keep that in mind wi…

There may be multiple candidates who fit this criteria. How do you set yourself apart?

Yes, there are a multiple candidate, 8 peoples including me.

I'm the only one from my country that apply for this position (how do I know? they tell me).

This interview process, is not the first process. before the interview, there is a "skills assessment" session, that I am passed.

Re: Ask HN: How to answer properly “Why we should hire you” question?

#60

Post by sidlls »

iamatworknow wrote: post #40
b6 wrote: post #10

I hope I'm not alone in thinking "why should we hire you" is a bit of a dumb question and a bit insulting. If I was asked that, I'd be thinking something like: We're all adults here. We know why you're trying to hire someone approximately like me, and why I'm trying to get the job. Let's be friends instead of you trying to get me to trot like a show pony. This isn't a game show. Or if you think it is, maybe I don't w…

Same goes for "where do you see yourself in [some amount of time]?" Is anyone ever truly honest in responding to that question, or is the intent to have the interviewee lie and pledge their long-term loyalty to a company that they don't even work for yet?

It depends on the company and individuals, like everything else. I've had both positive and negative results with honesty.

I was honest with my current company. I told them 5 years from now I'd be considering moving back closer to family with sufficient experience and promotions on my resume to demonstrate my ability to acquire work that pays better than what engineers typically make in that region. I also told them it's unlikely I'd be at the company longer than 2-3 years without some very interesting work.

I had a similar level of honesty with an employer I was interviewing with several years ago and they turned me down (without indicating the reason, but clearly the honesty for that question either worked against me or had little or no impact on the decision).

Post reply on HN