Why Are You Interested in This Position

Interviews

Dec 27

Never before has there been such a simple, straightforward interview question that so many people fumble. This question may also rank highest in regards to the amount of bad advice there is out there about how to answer it.

No joke, I couldn’t find one good interview answer on the first two pages of search results - many of those results were written by interview coaches themselves.

So in the interest of the public good, let’s set the record straight and give you a sample answer framework you can use next time you’re asked “Why are you interested in this position?”

Why Employers Ask “Why Are You Interested in This Position?”

Like any other question, when you know why someone is asking you something, you can usually give a better answer. Obviously when you are asked this question, the interviewer is trying to assess if you are interested in the role, but it goes deeper than that.

Alignment With Career Goals

Similar to the question “Where do you see yourself in 5 years,” the interviewer wants to know if this job fits into your career path. It has to make sense to them and you may need to help them make sense of it all with your answer.

Your Understanding of the Job

They want to know that you understand what this job will require from you. They may use this as a way to gauge how well you understand the day-to-day duties of this job and how passionate you are about the work. If you’re interviewing with a hiring manager (vs a recruiter), they may care even more about your passion level depending on the job and the manager.

Assess Work Readiness

They also want to know that you have the skills and experience they believe are necessary to perform the job. They’re looking for clues in your answer that may support this.

Determine Motivation and Mindset

Two other big things that hiring managers and recruiters hope to uncover in your answer are whether you will have intrinsic motivation for the job and a growth mindset. Both of these are indicators of high performers. They also frequently correlate with retention numbers and some people will use them to assess the likelihood of you staying in the job.

Assess Your Fit Into the Culture

To a lesser extent, I find that interviewers are trying to assess whether you will fit into the company. The exception to this is if you are interviewing with a mission-driven organization. In those cases, this becomes more true. They want to know that you are passionate about the mission and the work the organization does.

Outside of mission-driven organizations, I don’t think most interviewers are trying to assess your enthusiasm level unless you’re applying to be a character at Disneyland. For most of us, there’s no need to be over the top with excitement.

Likelihood of Accepting the Job Offer

Some view the answer to this question as an indicator of how serious you are about the job and how likely you might be to accept the job over a competing offer as well. I wouldn’t say this is a primary reason for asking (there are better questions for this), but your answer can offer insights.

Alternative Questions to Why Are You Interested in This Position

There are many ways interviewers can ask this question and they all are asked for roughly the same reasons. Here are some similar questions that you can answer the same way using this guide.

Why do you want to work for us?
What about this job interests you?
What led you to apply for this job?
Why are you interested in this role?
What made you interested in applying for this position?
Describe why you are interested in this position.
Why did you choose to apply for this job?
Why do you want this job?

Components of a Strong Answer

This question is pretty straightforward; it isn’t a trick question. Most people aren’t expecting an answer that wow’s them either. They’re just expecting an answer that has some of the following.

Demonstrating Job Knowledge

Your answer should show the interviewer that you fully understand what this job is and what it will require from you. If you can also convey that you understand how the role fits into the bigger picture - bonus points for you!

It’s okay to reference the job description in your answer and even ask intelligent questions about upcoming projects or team dynamics at the end of your answer.

Aligning Skills With the Position Requirements

If you talk about being excited to perform a particular task, being challenged by something, or developing a skill, make sure those are all things that this job can offer you.

Furthermore, I often see people talk about what interested them and it’s a small portion of the overall job. That might raise red flags that you won’t enjoy the majority of the job. Whenever possible, try to align your talking points with the core components of the job.

Help Them Understand How This Fits Your Plan

If you have relevant experience, explain in your reply how you plan to contribute to this role and why that excites you and challenges you. If you’re making a career change, a lateral move, or even a downward move, make sure you communicate why this makes sense for you.

Let’s say you spent the past 5 years as a Director of Customer Success for a tech company and were recently laid off. The market is in shambles and there aren’t many opportunities at your level and in your space so you decide to take a step back into an Account Manager role in a different industry.

In this case, you would want to explain to the interviewer why this makes sense for you. You might talk about how it’s more important to you that you use the skills you’ve developed over the past 5 years vs. chasing a title. Let them know that customer success and account management have a lot of overlap, it’s all the same to you, and that you don’t care about the title of the job.

By focusing on what challenges push you to grow professionally, you can start to put the interviewer at ease and help them see how this can make sense for you too.

Make It Clear What You Can Do For Them

The best candidates always tell me what problems they will help me solve as part of their answer. Have ideas about how you can help the company succeed in this role. Know what is happening in the company or the industry. Perhaps there have been changes to their products or service offerings or there is a competitive pressure they are facing.

What knowledge and experience do you have that could be helpful to this employer right now? Maybe that’s a unique perspective if you come from a non-traditional background. Wrap that all up with why this interests whether that’s because you get the chance to apply your skills to a new industry or mix and match knowledge.

Showing Enthusiasm for the Company and the Work

I’ve interviewed over 10,000 candidates during my time as a recruiter and as a hiring manager. Many of them show enthusiasm for the company, but they forget about the job. I think it’s more important to show enthusiasm for the work that you will do vs working for the company.

Big name companies, especially, get a lot of applicants who are excited about working for the company, but what makes you stand out is why you are excited about this particular job at this company.

This may be difficult for some of us depending on the job and our situation. I remember working in fast food for a stint and I didn’t view it as a very serious job. And let’s face it, I wasn’t that excited about it, but it paid the bills and got me through college. But just because I didn’t view it as a serious job, didn’t mean the leadership team didn’t.

In fact, many jobs that we entertain to simply collect a paycheck have some of the most passionate and devoted managers. If they take it seriously, you should too.

Sometimes it’s hard to sound excited about entry-level roles or “filler jobs” but we can all find something that interests us if we look hard enough. And frankly, we should always take pride in our work. You never know who’s watching or who you could impact for the better on any given day.

Take my fast food example. Maybe you had a bad experience at a restaurant or had to wait too long for your food on an already short lunch break in the past. Part of your answer to this interview question could be showing that you can relate to their customers and that you’re excited to be a part of a team that helps make people’s already short lunch breaks a little better by not making them wait in line for their food longer than they have to.

If you are interviewing to work for a mission-driven nonprofit, you should also touch on why that mission is important to you.

Specific, Well-Thought-Out Responses

When I started writing this article, I searched the internet to see what advice others were giving. I was incredibly disappointed by the examples because they weren’t well-thought-out. Most of the examples you read on the internet or social media are full of generic BS. Employers can see that from a mile away.

Your response should be specific to your industry and the job at hand. It should also have some thought behind it. I’ll give you some examples later so you can see how specific they are. A successful answer to this question is all about having intention with your answer.

Sample Answer Framework

I personally think that there is nothing wrong with being interested in a job because of the paycheck, but I probably wouldn’t lead with that. So let’s wrap up this question in a nice box with a bow on top to make it easy. As you read the examples in this framework, keep in mind that I wrote those based on one particular job description, purposely choosing those statements because they were important to the interviewer.

What I’m trying to say is that it’s not solely about why you are interested in the job, but what interests you in the job that the interviewer also might care about.

Opening: Confirm Experience in Role or Industry

If you’ve done the job before or worked in the same industry, lead with that. If you haven’t, lead with relevant skills instead. Here’s what that might look like:

I’ve been in customer service for 4 years now working in telecommunications so I was naturally attracted to this job.

Middle: Reinforce a Problem and a Solution

Next, bring up a problem the company is facing (usually you can find this in the job listing) and reinforce your ability to solve that problem. Here’s what that could look like:

In my last role, I had a first-call resolution rate of 85% and an average talk time of 3 minutes per call, handling around 20 calls per day. This is the type of work I’m good at and I love to do. From reading your job, this seems to be the exact type of thing you’re looking for someone to do here.

Closing: Connect to a Personal Motivation

At this point, you’ve already got the interviewer interested in your interest and abilities. The closing is gravy on top. This is where you can pick something more personal such as the job being close to home, a great commute, that you use and love their products, the company’s mission, or that you’ve had great experiences with the team members you’ve met so far.

Here’s an example:

It also doesn’t hurt that your office is only 2 blocks from my house too. That’s just a bonus for me.

End Your Answer With a Smart Question

The best interviews I’ve ever been a part of are the ones where the candidate can create a conversation by asking unique questions. When you wrap up your response, toss the ball back. Ask a question that will help you answer future questions and gain clarity about how well-aligned your response was.

Here’s an example:

May I ask, what metrics do you measure customer service reps on and where do you see the biggest opportunities for improvement as a department?

Prepare for Follow Up Questions

If you use this framework and are currently employed, be prepared to answer follow-up questions about why you are leaving your current job.

You can also expect specific questions based on what you said in your answer. In my example above, I might expect questions about how I achieved an 85% first-call resolution time.

Industry-Specific Approaches

Here are some specific examples based on answers I’ve heard from candidates during interviews.

Entry-Level Jobs

I was interested in this job because I’ve been studying accounting in school. I’ve had the opportunity to learn about reconciling balance sheet accounts, depreciating fixed assets, supporting journal entries, and practicing these things in an academic setting. I know how to do them, but your job will give me the opportunity to put those skills into action and learn the nuances that come with doing the work.

Marketing Jobs

I’ve had a diverse career in marketing doing everything from graphic design to SEO, but what I’ve always been exceptionally good at, and enjoy, has been newsletter management and community-building activities. That’s why I applied for your job.

At my current employer, I was tasked with taking over our internal communications and our online community for SMB and mid-market clients last year and within 6 months we were able to increase engagement by 42% and our customer success teams told me they also noticed a decrease in customer issues because we were proactively addressing them in community forums.

It’s my understanding that these are the skills you’re looking for in whoever steps into this next role and if that’s the case, I’m very excited about this opportunity.

Analyst Roles

I’ve spent the past two years as an IT Analyst managing, administrating, and upgrading enterprise IT systems. The majority of my work at my current company is in SQL management, but what really excited me about your job was that it included a blend of SQL and R script.

While I think SQL is important, I don’t want my other programming languages to go dull. I applied for your job because of the diversity in programming it would allow me to touch.

It also doesn’t hurt that every team member I’ve met so far has been incredibly knowledgeable and willing to share their experience working here which further excites me about this opportunity.

Program Manager Positions

My last job involved a blend of program management among other things in the fintech space. Two of the things I enjoyed the most were establishing team collaboration indicators and improving resource utilization rates.

My understanding is that there are many departments involved in your program initiatives. The idea of having a large stage to continue expanding my skills in these areas really excites me the most.

Sales Jobs

Before they eliminated the SMB department at my last company, I had brought in 40 new customers last year alone and increased ARR by 32%. I think there’s a real need for the kind of services that your company provides and my passion is really working with those smaller businesses and helping them grow.

I was most interested in your opportunity because I’ll be able to use my skills from day one to make an impact not only on our sales but also for the clients you serve.

May I ask how much focus there is on SMB sales at this moment?

Tips for Different Experience Levels

Fresh Graduate Perspectives

If you are a new graduate, you likely don’t have much experience in a particular industry or job outside of a few internships. Instead of building your answer based on past experiences, leverage the knowledge and skills that you’ve developed through macadamia and internships.

Here are some examples:

As a graduate in UI/UX design with two design internships where I focused on user research, your job seemed like a good next step for me. Your job listing mentioned quite a bit of emphasis on user research, but also other areas that I’ve been studying such as designing interfaces and prototyping.
I feel that this opportunity offers me the environment I need to become an expert in these areas while at the same time I can start making impacts from day one with my existing knowledge and experience.

I grew up in a poor area and my parents didn’t have a lot of money. My cat fell from about 3 stories one day and was limping. We couldn’t afford to take her to the vet so I Googled resources to try and help her. Fortunately, with some home remedies and restricting her activity, she got better and lived a long life.
The reason I’m sharing this with you is because that inspired me to study veterinary medicine and I was attracted to your job because of the fact that you provide low-cost clinic services to those who need it.
If there was an organization like your’s near my neighborhood when I was growing up, I wouldn’t have been so stressed when my cat fell. And if I can provide that kind of peace-of-mind for others who want a pet but can’t afford expensive vet bills, I’m ready to get to work.

Mid-Career Career Changes

If you don’t have traditional work experience, you need to find a way to communicate how you can contribute in this role. If you answer with things that are only about you and don’t show mutual benefit, it’s not going to do you any favors.

Here are some examples of how others have done this successfully:

I view this copywriting job as the intersection of everything I’ve done previously which is why I’m excited about it. I’ve spent the past 8 years in sales, marketing, and customer service talking to our customers at different stages of their buying journey.
I know what makes them tick, I know what bothers them, and I know what good messaging looks like. I applied for this job because I see it as an opportunity to take everything I’ve done these past 8 years and put it to work from day one.

I’m interested in this job because I’ve spent the past 3 years in accounts payable working with accounts receivable employees from companies like yours. My job was always to stretch cash flow and in some cases even find ways to extend payment deadlines as far out as possible.
Your job excites me because it gives me the opportunity to flip the script. I know the tactics on the other side to delay payments and I’m excited to use my knowledge to improve collections in an ethical way without sacrificing any critical relationships.

Management Positions

For management positions, you might include leadership experience, team development successes, strategic planning abilities, change management skills, or business acumen in your answer.

Here is an example of what this answer may look like for a management job.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed most in my career has been organizational design and scaling teams in a sustainable way. What stood out to me about this position and your company was that you had a need to scale quickly. I find that many managers focus on profitability and growth, but ignore sustainability as they rapidly scale so I’m very excited to learn more about your plans and how I might be able to bring my experience to your company.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

I’ve conducted a lot of interviews. I’ve sat in a lot of interviews as a silent observer over the years too. Here are the common mistakes I see when people answer this question (probably because they read bad advice on the internet).

Generic Responses

This is the one that usually gets people. And it’s not just people interviewing. Take a look at this example from a well-known interview coaching company.

"I'm interested in this job because I can see that, in this role, my skills could help solve this problem within your company. I also see an opportunity for me to learn and grow these skills, so we both would benefit personally, professionally, and financially. If I can come in here and solve problems and accomplish your goals, I know I can develop my career the way that I want to."

Do you see the problem with statements like that one? You could say that in any job interview - and that’s a problem. There’s nothing specific to the company or the job. Could you say this and still get the job offer, possibly. But I guarantee that you’re not impressing anyone.

Cliche Answers

I don’t see this as often, but avoid cliches like these:

"I need a job"
"The salary looks good"
"I heard it's a great company"
"I want to try something new"
"It seems like an interesting opportunity"

Focusing Too Much on Personal Benefits

I don’t think that you should avoid any personal benefits, but as you’ll notice from the sample answer framework I shared, it’s the last thing I share in my response. If all you say for being interested is that it’s close to home, it has great vacation time, it has work-from-home options or a great compensation package, I think you’re leaving an opportunity on the table.

The best interviews are the ones where both parties are focused on finding a mutual fit where they can both benefit each other.

Lack of Research

In today’s job search with so many tools at our disposal, there is no reason that you shouldn’t be prepared before the interview. Look the company up online. Visit their website. Check Google Alerts for any recent news about the organization. Review their products or services. Look up employees on LinkedIn and see their backgrounds. Review their SEC filings.

Overemphasis on Salary and Benefits

Look, I get it. I wish working jobs because they pay well was more normalized, but it isn’t. Most people want to know that you’re interested in their job for reasons other than just pay and benefits.

Stepping Stone

Don’t make it sound like this job is a stepping stone to something else. It might be, but you don’t need to share that right now. It’s not the appropriate time. The interviewer doesn’t need to know that you’ll be doing this job forever, but they probably want to know that you’ll be there for a couple of years.

Don’t make things harder on yourself by introducing doubt. This only makes it sound like you might leave the second you find that something next.

Focusing Only on Qualifications

Why are you interested in this job funny

I see this frequently in interviews. People overly focus on how they meet the qualifications that the job advert lists. It’s not necessarily wrong or bad to do this, but focusing too much on it can harm you.

Everyone I interview should be able to tell me that they have 2 years of doing the thing I listed as a requirement in the job posting. That’s not what makes you unique, a good fit, or someone who has the right motivations.

Using Humor

I’m a big fan of humor in many situations. Interviewing is not one of them. Cracking jokes about how you’re here for the money or the interviewer looks like they could use your help is not going to be productive.

Preparation Strategies

Company Research Techniques

Company website (if they lack one, that tells you something too)
Google alerts with the company name or hiring manager name
10K and 10Qs
Media coverage
Company social media accounts
Look up former and current employees on LinkedIn
Read up on industry news
Check press releases

Job Description Analysis

Reading a job description is an art and a science. It’s a skill that is learned over time. But here’s a quick cheat sheet.

Read the opening paragraph. This often gives clues about how the role fits into the bigger picture and the problems the company may need you to solve.

Read the responsibilities bullet points. This will give you clues about what type of experiences the interviewer might find valuable. It also will give you clues about scope and context that is important to them.

Read the qualifications, but you probably already meet these if you’re getting an interview. Sometimes there are clues about the software and other things that the company is using. This may be useful for some interviews.

Look for repetition in the job description. Often important things are repeated throughout the document. You may find elements of the same thing in the opening paragraph, responsibilities, and again in the qualifications. That should tell you that this is important.

Personal Value Proposition

Not only is this relevant to this question, but so many others that will be asked. Take some time to think about:

What past career successes could you potentially repeat at this company?
How did you exceed expectations at your previous jobs?
What problems did you help previous employers solve?
What ideas could you come up with to help this company?
What lessons have you learned that you can use to create value for this employer?

Practice Methods

Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. I highly recommend one of two things. Either spend some time with an interview expert or use a mock interview software.

Because there are so many options out there and many of them are rubbish (I know I’ve tried them), here are two lists you may find helpful for this:

My top 6 list of interview coaches. I highly recommend Andrea Tropeano on that list. She’s affordable and knows her stuff.
My article about how to use AI for an interview. I include some AI interview tools that I’ve used and I know work.

Follow-Up Questions to Expect

Here are some of the most common follow-up questions I hear managers and recruiters ask after “Why are you interested in this position?”

Why do you want to leave your current job?
What do you know about our company?
What are your salary expectations?
How does this position fit your career goals?
Why should we hire you?
What experiences do you have in (a skill or job that you mentioned in your response)

What If I’m Not Interested in the Job

There may be times in your life when you just need a job - any job. Many people have been there. And this situation can make it difficult to answer this interview question. Because let’s face it, the truth is we aren’t interested in the job. We just need to put food on the table.

So let’s tackle this. There is a lot of advice out there that will tell you to act interested or pretend. That doesn’t sit well with me. Any skilled interviewer will snuff that out and know you’re being disingenuous. That’s not a great way to start a conversation.

Instead, I would challenge you to find parts of the job that you “could” be interested in.

At one point in my life, I interviewed for a job at a fast-food restaurant. Trust me, I wasn’t that interested in the work, but it paid my bills and got me through college.

Maybe you’ve done something similar. I would challenge you to think about a bad experience you might have had at a restaurant. Maybe you had a 30-minute lunch break and had to wait too long for your food.

Part of your answer to this question could be showing that you can relate to their customers and that you’re excited (maybe a little bit) to be part of a team that helps make people’s already short lunch breaks a little better by not making them wait in line longer than they have to. That’s something I know I could get behind.

You don’t have to pretend that flipping burgers, or data entry, or even answering phones is your lifelong dream job (unless it is), but you do need to show interest that they know you’ll do a good job.

Another way to look at this would be to compare it to something else. Why would you prefer this job to another job that might be less desirable? Answer that question and you may have a good answer.

Why Are You Interested in This Position Recommended Reading

Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years [Interview Answers]

How to Use AI to Prepare For Interviews

What Are You Looking For In Your Next Job [Interview Answers]

Cole Sperry has been a recruiter and resume writer since 2015, working with tens of thousands of job seekers, and hundreds of employers. Today Cole runs a boutique advisory firm consulting with dozens of recruiting firms and is the Managing Editor at OptimCareers.com.