Why Should I Hire You?
Hello everyone,
Lots of my clients come to me for support when prepping for interviews.
It’s something I love to do because I know that with some tweaks and refinement, I can help people represent themselves well to their potential new employees.
I’d love to share a few of my tips with you here, and it’s the subject of this week’s podcast, too (if you know someone who’s soon heading to interview, then do forward this on to them!)
To begin, there’s two key aims that you need to keep in mind, and in balance, when you’re in an interview.
:
1. You need to stand out
2. You need to sound honest
These two key aims need to be held in tension throughout the interview process — it’s no good standing out if what you’re saying isn’t honest.
It’s no good being honest and not articulating anything of any merit.
So, as you prepare, keep these two things in mind as your goal.
One question that doesn’t always illicit the best responses is:
Why Should We Hire You?
It’s a great question because it gives you the chance to talk freely about what you can bring to the organisation. But again, it has some potential problems.
Some will:
OVERDO IT
If you go too far and sound too exceptional or perfect you won’t ingratiate yourself to anyone at all, leaving nothing but the taste of ego in the panel’s mouths
UNDERDO IT
If you don’t say enough and miss out on the perfect opportunity to talk about who you really are and what you bring due to the fear of sounding like an ego
GO BLAND
If you keep it generic or use irritating buzz words, you’ve missed out on the clearest opportunity to talk about you
This question is a good one - it’s one that you can prepare for!
It’s your chance to talk specifically about who you are and what you bring, it’s a chance to connect to the interviewers, and demonstrate to them that you know yourself.
You know you’re not everything, but you know what you are, and that you’re good at it.
You can connect to the panel in an honest, genuine way, and leave them something to think about.
Here’s a few pointers to help you prepare well for your next interview:
It's The Story of Us, Not The Story of Me
Do your best to connect what you say about yourself to them, to the role, to the organisation.
Connect the dots between what you are saying about yourself, and what they are looking for, what they need.
The interviewer is wondering, ‘are you what we are looking for?’ — you need to do the work for them to spell out that the answer is yes.
Lean Into Your Strengths
Each of us has something that makes us unique — you have strengths and talents in a combination unlike anybody else. That’s what you need to talk about.
Get specific, avoid being generic, and speak confidently about who you are.
There are things that you do that you can do better than 10,000 others. Tell them.
Give an accurate and specific description of who you are, and people will sit up and listen. Get exact, get accurate, get specific.
Also — be truthful. If you say you are something that you are not, you will only let them down and also hate your job.
Look For Alignment
How do your strengths and talents align to this organisation, its people and teams?
Take the time to look into the company’s culture, their mission.
Do you like the look of the culture —is it something you’re looking for?
How do you represent their values and culture in your life?
For more tips and help on this crucial topic, have a listen to this week’s podcast.
In the podcast you’ll hear me chat more about:
📝 Why they should hire you
📝 How to talk about weaknesses (but avoiding sounding like you have red flags)
📝 Why saying you’re a perfectionist or workaholic isn’t a weakness it’s a subtle flex
📝 How to practise and prepare well
📝 How to ask the interviewers great questions
This week’s pod is well worth a listen, even if you’re not job hunting and just fancy a bit of a pep talk about what makes you brilliant.
You are the person they’re looking for - you have brilliant ideas, strengths and talents and it’s time to tell them about it!
With love,
Hannah x
P.S. I have a few coaching spots available in the next month if anyone wants some specific interview prep — just hit reply to this email and we’ll be in touch.
P.P.S. If you know anyone in the job-hunting space, do forward them this email and share the love!