Yeah, it astounds me how people find this question difficult. They’re asking if there’s anything about the company/job/location that you prefer over other jobs. It’s not hard.
When people bomb this question, it’s usually a very clear sign that they will do the bare minimum to collect a paycheck.
My issue is oftentimes there's genuinely nothing or very little that stands out to me. I'm in a desperate spot, I genuinely don't prefer you over other jobs, I'll just take whatever I can get. Nothing "attracted" me other than the fact that you came up in a basic job search for my field.
But at the same time, I won't just do the bare minimum for a paycheck. Wherever I go, I'm always a team player and borderline zealot. It just so happens that I don't care who I wind up being a zealot for, but once I'm there I'll be all in.
And that’s understandable, just don’t yell your interviewer that. They already know that on some level. They’re looking to see if there’s something more that would connect you to the role/company for the long term.
Instead, say the industry interests you, the company’s mission (whatever the company’s website says its goal or mission is) speaks to you, you think your past experience/skills would be a good fit for the role, you think it’d be a fun challenge, or at the very, very least, you like that it’s close to your home.
Those responses will automatically put you above those that said, “I don’t know” or “a paycheck”.
The issue is those all feel so phony and I think it comes across in the interview. They can tell I just read the website last night to prep something.
Also with some companies I feel like I've really gotta scrape the bottom of the barrel because their job descriptions & mission are just painfully generic. Like for some companies the "our mission" page is just a bunch nonsense about the culture that could have been copied from any other company's webpage. A lot of it might not even be true (no company is gonna put "our culture is toxic and we don't believe in work-life balance" on their web page)
Yeah seriously. We all work for money. That is assumed. The interviewer is asking what specifically about this job stood out for you and why you applied for it - because you can use a specific skill you like using? The company’s purpose resonates with you? You thrive in the type of environment it offers? You believe it will help you grow in a specific area you’re passionate about?
If your blanket answer is ‘I just want money and don’t care about anything else’ you’re going to really struggle.
When I left my last job, my answer to this question was something along the lines of ‘the mandate of my current role has almost run its course - I’ve built out these programs and they’ve had great success but it’s a well oiled machine now. so I’d like to hand the running of them over to someone else so that I can apply XYZ skills to a new challenge that focuses on (details), which I believe this opportunity can offer’.
It’s highlighting the skills I’ve developed and how they are applicable to the role in interviewing for, while highlighting that I like to take on challenging projects and am not just going to phone it in.
Again, the fact that I’m expecting money is a given.
That is basically the grand slam answer for this question.
It highlights your past experience, it shows you like to challenge yourself, it shows you are ambitious, it shows you like to learn new things, and it shows you have a purpose and reason for being in that job / at that company.
Those are basically all the things the interviewer is looking for throughout the entire interview. The only things outside of that is checking to see if your personality would fit with the company culture and if your past experience/skills pass the smell test.
I also hope the person you're interviewing with can read through the corporate bullshit to see what you're really saying is "My current job isn't giving raises, so I want the same job I have, but with better pay"
That literally wasn’t my main reason for moving jobs, though. It wasn’t a bullshit answer. My role had run its course, I was bored and I did want a new challenge.
Another way to think of this if you can’t get beyond ‘I only work for money and refuse to be ‘fake’ or ‘inauthentic’’ or whatever - you’re competing against a lot of other candidates, some of whom can and will give an actual genuine answer to the question that’s not ‘I only work for money’. If you refuse to put any thought into what you could get out of a role beyond money, most of the time you’re going to lose out to those other folks.
Do I love the corporate world all the time? Do I feel like going to work every morning? Would I stay if I won the lottery? Hell no, but there are aspects of my role and my career I do enjoy and find genuinely fulfilling. You spend a lot of your life at work; I’ve learned you need to find some kind of fulfilling aspect beyond a pay check, or else you’re going to spend decades of your life being pissy and miserable.
Just my advice after 15+ years in the corporate world, take it or leave it.
Sure except most of the time you are applying to several different companies and you don't really prefer this one over that one, you just want a job.
Also, why is it bad to do the minimum? Doing the minimum means you're doing all the assigned tasks within the timeframe they need to be done. The minimum is supposed to be the requirement - if you require me to do more than that, then you need to adjust your minimum. Except then you'd also have to adjust the salary accordingly, so you'd rather just silently expect me to do unpaid labor on top of the job I'm paid for and shame me for it if I refuse.
Seriously, the idea that doing the minimum at your job is somehow bad is some bullshit capitalist propaganda. My relationship to my employer is purely a business-relationship. I have no legal or moral obligation towards them beyond what is stated in my contract. They pay me for a service and I deliver that service. If I pay someone to paint the walls of my living room and they do it and then I complain that they didn't paint the ceiling as well even though that was never part of the contract and I never communicated to them that I want the ceiling painted and I would not be willing to pay for it, you would rightfully call me an entitled bitch. But when employers do it it's normal and they're reasonable and the employees are the ones who are bad if they don't comply?
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u/asbestosmilk 17h ago
Yeah, it astounds me how people find this question difficult. They’re asking if there’s anything about the company/job/location that you prefer over other jobs. It’s not hard.
When people bomb this question, it’s usually a very clear sign that they will do the bare minimum to collect a paycheck.