How to Answer the Question "Why Should I Hire You?"

PART OF THE WEEKEND UPDATE SERIES: Celebrity recruiter Brian Daniel shares insights on how to answer the age-old question: Why should I hire you?

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VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

"Why should I hire you?" This is a very difficult question to answer. It's probably the most common question that you're going to get an interview, and even though people know this question is going to be asked of them, not very many candidates are able to express themselves, in a very meaningful way, how they can serve the employer.

So, what can you do? First and foremost, I'd like to give you an example: Let's suppose That you were going to hire someone to build a pool in the back of your house. So, the guy comes over and he isn't very enthusiastic and is energy is low... And he says to you: "Okay... yeah... um... and I can build a pool, and we're going to do this." There's no excitement. There's no passion about the job. Is there?

If you had a guy come over to your house and say to you in a very excited and passionate way, "I got it! I know what I'm going to do! I see it... The past three jobs that I did, let me tell you how I really brought a lot of wow factor to the project" and he expressed in a very detailed way... He was able to articulate in a very detailed way, with passion, what he's going to do in your backyard: "And I'm going to do this, and I'm going to do this, and I'm going to do this..." Which guy are you going to hire? Well, the answer is obvious, isn't it?

In jobs... in the interview, it is exactly the same kind of situation. I cannot tell you... I cannot tell you how surprised I've been over the years. The biggest surprise, maybe, in my recruiting career would have to be hearing these stories from these young, eager candidates that go in and they "smoke" [outshine] people with more experience... they the "smoke" people with more experience... people with higher degrees, because they are able to go in with passion and excitement; and articulate in a very detailed way I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

And specifically, I hate to say it this way, you have to "sell" yourself, right? You have to "sell your skills," but you have to articulate in a way where you're selling your abilities in a way that it serves the employer's needs. That is an important, critical part. That is about "doing your homework" and studying the job description in very detailed way. Going to the company's website and "doing your homework," and then being able to express to them in a very detailed way when you're saying I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.

You don't waste any time explaining things that they're not interested in. This is the number-one rule in sales. 30 years ago, I was a fitness trainer and assisting guests. And they come into the gym I'm the membership counselor... you don't want to spend any time explaining things to them, if they're not interested in the aerobics, you don't bother explaining the aerobics to them.

The job description, your skill set, and everything have to be tied together. Thank you very much. 

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