Many employers seek professionals who understand their career goals and have a plan to stay at the same organization for an extended amount of time. This is why many hiring managers ask the question “What brings you here?” when interviewing for an open position within their company. If you’re looking for a new job and are in the process of attending interviews, it’s important to anticipate and prepare for this question. In this article, we explain why employers ask “What brings you here?” and share steps and examples to teach you how to create an effective answer for this question.
Why Are You Here? What Brings You Here? Interview Questions and Answers
Example answers to “What brings you here?”
Here are some examples of how you might answer this interview question:
Be specific
When answering this question, its often best to provide specific details in your response. This allows interviewers to better understand your motivations and can help you articulate them more clearly. If you want to work for the company because of its culture, explain specifically what you like about it. If youre interested in the position because it offers room for advancement, mention which role you eventually want to have. Providing a specific answer can make your response more effective and allow the interviewer to learn more about you.
Example: “I would love to earn the opportunity to become a diversity and inclusion manager at this company in the next five years, as I know the company values diversity and culture. I believe my work in this role may lead to this promotion, which can allow me to build relationships within the company and eventually achieve one of my career goals.”
Example 1: Career goals
If one of your main motivations for applying and interviewing for the job is to meet your career goals, you might answer like this:
Example: “I am here because Im excited about the opportunity to work in an editing position. My long-term career goal is to become a lead editor for a major publication, which is a reputation your company has. I like the fact that my work can reach a broader audience when working for this company, and my previous experience as a literary reader and an assistant editor allowed me to obtain the experience I need to reach my career goal and succeed in this role.”
Consider your career goals
Its usually beneficial to accept jobs that can allow you to advance your career and reach both your long-term and short-term goals. Sharing your career goals can help employers understand how you might fit within the company. Its also beneficial for both parties to understand the professionals career goals because some positions may not offer the right opportunities for the professional to meet their goals. For example, if a professional wants to earn a certification but the company doesnt offer tuition assistance or part-time hours, it may be challenging for the professional to make this achievement.
Identify what your career goals are and then decide how the job opportunity for which youre interviewing fits in with your goal. For example, if you want to become a CEO, you can earn valuable experience through various positions over the course of your career. Explain why your career goals fit in with the company when answering this question to show employers youve contemplated the opportunity and are interested in the position.
Example: “My goal is to become a department manager eventually, and I would love the opportunity to earn a promotion from within, as this can help me become a better manager. Im interested in this position because it could begin my career at this company and allow me to exercise my teamwork skills while developing other proficiencies, such as leadership and delegation.”
To help you prepare for your job interview, here are 20 of our newest interview questions.
This question is a fundamental yet very challenging interview question to navigate. Your natural instinct is to think Well, you called me here for an interview!” Digging deeper into the real question – the interviewer wants to hear about the excitement that you have for this job, and the opportunity to be interviewing with their company. Hiring authorities often receive hundreds of applications per job posting, so its a huge compliment to your skills that you were chosen for an interview! Now it is time for you to reciprocate and discuss why you are thankful for being here today. Give a brief overview of why you are looking for a new opportunity, and why this role caught your eye. Show a full understanding of the responsibilities of this role by matching their skills request with the skills you offer.
” Digging deeper into the real question – the interviewer wants to hear about the excitement that you have for this job, and the opportunity to be interviewing with their company. Hiring authorities often receive hundreds of applications per job posting, so its a huge compliment to your skills that you were chosen for an interview! Now it is time for you to reciprocate and discuss why you are thankful for being here today. Give a brief overview of why you are looking for a new opportunity, and why this role caught your eye. Show a full understanding of the responsibilities of this role by matching their skills request with the skills you offer. For example: “
“I am here today because I have a great interest in what your organization in achieving in the oil and energy space. I have a new diploma in oil and gas office administration and would love nothing more than to start my career in this industry with your esteemed organization.”
“I am here because I know that my skills are an excellent match for your needs. When I initially read your job description, I saw a strong correlation between your needs and what I can offer. For example, I have experience in cross-departmental team management and am a six sigma black belt.”
“My blend of expertise in social media marketing and content writing is what brought me here today. I want to take these skills and blow away your expectations when it comes to this content marketing position. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to be here today. I have had an eye on your agency for some time now and was thrilled to be alerted to this opening.”
“I have followed your brand for many years now and loved that you are a trailblazer in fashion. Working here would be a dream job for me, and I am very thankful for the consideration you are giving me today. I want to forge a long-term career with your brand.”
“My love for sales, as well as my experience in your specific industry, is what has brought me here today. Your organization has an excellent reputation with clients and great ratings online which caught my attention as well. I want to work with you on building your new territory and training new sales teams. I know I can bring this territory to be the most profitable in the state.”
“I am a passionate educator and have a penchant for the arts. The fact that you are a private school with an arts focus is incredibly exciting to me. I appreciate the opportunity to be here with you today and look forward to highlighting how I will excel in this role.”
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What brings you to this interview?
This is where the interviewer wants to see how well you have researched this position, how committed you really are to the company, and why you are looking for a new job in the first place. Make sure you read up on the job and can say exactly how it fits your skills. Do your homework on the company so that you can explain why you are on their interview couch and not the competitor’s. Finally, you will inevitably have to explain what brought you to a job interview, prepare to outline your reason for changing jobs.
FAQ
What to answer for what brings you here?
Why are you here for this job?
What can you bring to the company * Your answer?
Why do we hire you best answer?
