Here’s How to Competently Respond to the Trickiest Interview Question

Interviews can be tricky affairs. On most occasions, it takes a lot more than just meeting the bare minimums of the qualification criteria for you to get a job.

Hiring managers have been known to pose challenging questions as they attempt to learn more about personas. During the interviewing process, it’s quite easy to lose your nerve and respond in an unsatisfactory manner that falls below what’s expected.

Usually, interviewers ask questions about experience garnered, the level of interest applicants have in the position they’re applying to and their future prospects. While most interviewees typically respond to such questions without much ado, the closing question is one that many people fail to muster. Think about it, how best can you respond to the question ” Why should we hire you?”

Many people get fazed when asked on why the company should consider them for the position.

Well, there are so many ways to respond to that. Ideally, recruiters are looking to hear you give them legitimate reasons as to why you’re going to gel in the position you’re applying to. Therefore, you need to structure your response to assuage all fears they may have with regards to your competency. After you leave the room, you want the hiring manager to be absolutely convinced that they have a gem in their hands.

Hardest Hit

While it’s true that many people have a hard time expressing themselves once the question is posed on how they’ll add value to the firm, women seem to be hardest hit on most occasions. There’s plenty of research to back up this assertion.

According to findings, women generally find it harder to self-promote. On the other hand, men find it easier to talk big about their achievements. Researchers believe the reason for this is because, from a cultural context, women are usually modest and humble.

Researchers believe that women find it hard talking about their achievements

As per societal norms, women who deviate from this trend are usually punished. Thus, it’s quite important to evaluate how best to respond to the question given the weight of the matter.

All about the Illustration

As divulged by Ariel Lopez, a career coach and the CEO of 2020Shift, the best way to respond to this is by sharing as much detail as possible on how you’re going to positively impact the company in your position.

Lopez further added that most people usually resort to repeating the contents of their resume during the interview process instead of digging deeper and stating the facts as to why they’re best suited for the job opening.

She opined that generally, hiring managers and recruiters adore people who offer concise answers with regards to their value addition qualities. Lopez mentioned that it’s totally acceptable for you as the respondent to pose a question after they have finished elaborating their strengths.

She shared the question should center around the challenges related to the role right before you proceed to clarify how you would go about solving the issue. Lopez closed her talk by stating that your problem-solving quality needs to take precedence in that particular instance.

Am So Special

Cynthia Pong, who serves as the lead feminist career coach at Embrace Change, cited that the best way to go about the question is by stating the unique offerings you add to the equation whilst being objective on the reasons you’re very interested in the job opening.

Pong believes that to really nail the question and make the job your own, you need to have a lot of preparations beforehand. In addition, she shared that interviewees need to be fully conversant with the job requirements. She recommended that as the interviewee, you have to dig deeper to discover what makes you stand out from the crowd.

While she’s fully behind her approach, Pong mentioned that some women will be intimidated with the question. She went a notch higher by stating the reason why this is so is that women tend to have a flawed school of thought that espouses other people are better than them.

However, she went ahead and revealed the best way overcome such worries is by focusing on the positive things. In this scenario, interviewees need to be cognizant of the qualities in their possession.

Away from the Comfort Zone

Nightingale believes that by playacting as the hiring manager, many women can do away with the inherent fear of talking up their accomplishments.

Melissa Nightingale, the founder of Raw Signal Group, who also dabbles as a bestselling author, confessed that many women find it hard to reveal their accomplishments. In her address, Nightingale shared that the tendency to over-think is the greatest undoing for many women world over.

However, she was adamant that it was strictly a mental issue. One of the ways she suggested interviewees can beat the hurdle is by printing out their resumes or LinkedIn profiles and then play-acting as the hiring manager.

By doing so, Nightingale espouses the belief that anyone can find the right answers on why they qualify. She concluded that often times, the self-confidence from the exercise will likely leave interviewees smiling from ear-to-ear.