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Discussion on: "Why do you want to work for us?" - Interview Question (Demystified)

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sorincostea profile image
Sorin Costea

I totally follow your reasoning but for me it's walking a very thin line - you're basically asking to be lied nicely. Even a well researched answer wouldn't be trustworthy enough to use for a decision. They might tell you all excited things about product X while in the end it's still the commute time behind their motivation. Then what do you do? You said it - if you're not google, chances are your insurance products never made a programmer's wishlist so seeing somebody overly excited might even raise a flag. As somebody pointed out, there might be real interest in the tech stack used but I'm sure that will come up much stronger during the technical discussion (and the tech stack excitement is rather something for beginners). I mostly agree to the point of asking about the company, what do they think about what they read... even there there's enough room for nonsense but at least it's less direct.

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skaytech profile image
skaytech • Edited

Agree with most of your points. Again, the intent is figuring out to what extend the candidate makes effort to know about the company or product. Ultimately, technology is an enabler.
As also stated in my article, I would definitely not solely base my hiring decision on this question, but it'll definitely give me a chance to figure out how well the candidate is able to percieve a question that's not direct and make sense of it. In the real world, often solutioning and designing of things not exclusively stated in the requirement is far more valuable than just do what was told.
But, your points are totally valid and several of them had pointed out in twitter as well. In such a case, I would rather look to hire a person who takes the effort to find out more about the company and the role, rather than just turning up for the interview.
Thank you taking the time to read the article and share your views on the same. I appreciate it!!

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davelsan profile image
David Velasco • Edited

Disclaimer: I'm not a recruiter or HR professional.

I'm with Sorin on this. IMO the answer to this question in most cases has questionable value.

I understand the interviewer is looking for a good fit, and so should the candidate. To ascertain this I believe there are better methods.

Two examples, without trying to be comprehensive:

  • Fitness for a specific role is to ask about soft skills and technical competence. It will be apparent whether the candidate has cultivated an interest for the skills required. If this is the case, chances are it is a good choice.

  • Fitness for the company's goals and core principles is to ask about personal interests, motivations, and passions. I should be able to tell whether someone is telling the truth, especially if I too believe and am committed to those same values.

Of course nothing is so black and white. Thankfully we still have humans conducting the interviews.

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skaytech profile image
skaytech

Agreed mostly. The only caveat is maybe I wouldn't give the same leverage to senior profiles. Your argument sits fairly with junior Devs. However, having said that your next point resonating Gary's comment to rephrase the question sounds more likely to be the path forward.