How to Answer “Why should we hire you” as a Fresher

The interviews are the most nerve-wracking aspect of a recruitment process, especially for freshers. As you go through these interviews, you will hear several different versions of the “Why should I hire you?” question.

The simple way to answer this question is by being yourself, being confident, and expressing how you can contribute to the company.

Before we get into details about how to answer “Why should we hire you” as a fresher, let’s first try and understand…

The Interviewer’s intent while asking “Why should we hire you”

This question usually comes at the end of interviews. By this time you would have already discussed your technical and soft skills. Even the interviewer has a good idea about your resume and credentials. So with this question, the interviewer is trying to assess 3 things.

How do you stand out among other candidates?

The interviewer has daily conservation with multiple candidates with similar technical and soft skills as you do. Hence they are looking for someone who stands out.

As the question “Why should I hire you?” doesn’t ask for a specific answer, it gives the fresher a chance to elaborate their answer.

This lets the interviewer learn things about the candidate beyond their resumes. Based on the answer given, the interviewer will be able to evaluate whether you have anything special to offer.

Does your skills align with the organization’s goals?

The interviewer will probably have a list of skills that they are looking for in freshers. This list is either created by the interviewer itself or were given to them by the hiring managers.

These are the skills they are looking for in a candidate to help the organization to achieve its goals. Very often these skills are mentioned in the job descriptions posted by these organizations.

So the candidate who identifies and emphasizes them will have an upper hand.

How confident you are about these skills?

Usual interview questions like “what are your strengths/weaknesses” have very direct answers. It doesn’t give the candidate any room to elaborate or share personal experiences and relate them to the job role.

This is why answering the question “Why should I hire you?” can be tricky, especially for freshers. The interviewer will be able to read into your confidence and attitude based on your answer.

Hence it is important to keep that answer brief, cover all the important points (which we will discuss shortly), and most importantly be prepared.

3 things you must cover in your answer as a Fresher

Why that organization?

The best way to answer this question is by doing sufficient research. You need to learn about their goals, services, work culture, expertise, employees, and even history.

You can start off by visiting the organization’s website. Ideally, this will give you an in-depth insight into their services and products. Through their blogs and case studies, you can learn more about their existing clients and work methodology.

Other places to learn more about an organization would be Linkedin and Glassdoor. This will give you insights into their social media activity and employee experience.

The aim here is to find or create a personal connection with the organization. If you are able to relate any aspects of their goals, culture, or expertise you can use that in your answers.

Why that position?

The reason you choose to apply for a particular position is usually because that’s where your interest lies, and you want to develop it further.

Hence through your answer, you need to emphasize how you developed these interests and back them up with personal experiences.

For example, if you are looking for an entry-level sales or marketing position you can highlight any college or personal experiences which lead to you wanting to take up such a position. It could be a project you worked on, an event you helped organize, an internship experience, or even a book or a movie that inspired you.

You need to convey that the position you are applying for is something you are passionate about. Hence adding a personal experience will make it more relatable and will help you stand out.

What makes you stand out among other candidates?

Most of the candidates interviewed by the recruiter will have similar qualifications and skills. Hence it is important to state certain things that will help you stand out from the competition.

Telling them that you are a hard worker, goal-driven and a fast learner will not help you stand out. These aren’t tangible facts that the recruiter can bank on.

You need to highlight extra activities you have done that make you better than other candidates for that role.

This could be a volunteer experience, an internship, or any additional online courses you took. You will need to go into detail about what you learned and how that experience helped you enhance your skills.

Sample Answer

You are applying for the role of Sales Development Representative (SDR) at XYZ organization.

Interviewer – “Why should we hire you?”

Candidate – “Sir/Ma’am, you should hire me because I believe that I’ll be the best fit for XYZ organization in the role of a Sales Development Representative. XYZ has been a leader in the IT sector for the last decade and wants to explore new and innovative ways to generate leads within the millennial audience, and I’m certain I can help you achieve that. During my internship, this is precisely what I did, and helped the organization generate over 1000 leads. I’ve also been attending multiple seminars and workshops conducted by industry experts to learn more about the inner workings of the sales process. This combined with my communication skills which I was able to develop during my college years makes me a perfect fit for the SDR role at XYZ.”

For more sample answers check out this blog post by Board Infinity.

Bonus tips

• This question can be asked in different forms like –
  • “Why do you think you are the best candidate for this job?”
  • “What makes you think you are a good fit for this job?”
  • “Why do you want this job?”
• Make sure your answer doesn’t run for too long. A one-minute answer should be more than enough to cover all important points.
• Use personal experiences as it will help you stand out, and you will have genuine answers for follow-up questions.
• Use facts, and numbers in your answer to support your claims.

Conclusion

If you’re a fresher and don’t know how to answer “Why should I hire you?” it’s best, to be honest, and tell the interviewer why you feel you’re a good fit for the job. You can also follow up with specific examples from your personal experiences and skills that prove you’d be a good fit.

When you are answering a question like “Why should I hire you?”, you will need to explain why you want to join that organization, why that position interests you, and what makes you the best fit for it among other candidates.

Successful job interviews require more than just having the right answers to typical interview questions. To impress any employer, you need to make a good first impression. We hope this blog post has given you some useful tips on how to make a good first impression.

Thank you for reading, we are always excited when one of our posts is able to provide useful information on a topic like this! We hope this article has given you some inspiration about how to answer the question “Why should I hire you”.

If you have any other ideas please leave them in the comments section below. We would love to hear them. Thank you for reading, and good luck!