Liz Ryan tackles the question "Why Should we Hire You?" in this blog post. In her opinion this fairly standard job interview question shows a lack of imagination. She suggests some new questions that could be asked that show more respect to the candidate and allow for the demonstration of the candidates thinking skills.
The problem with her advice is that it is very likely to turn off about 90 - 95% of HR managers. Since this questions can come at any point in the interview, as the candidate you have to be prepared with several points that you can use to build the appropriate answer. While I have not had the time to read all of the comments on the original blog post (over 420 when I last checked...) it appears to me that many of the comments from actual HR folks are explaining/defending the use of this question. The comments from others seem to be split between: "great article", "this bothers me too..." and "won't this make you appear negative..."
Timing is Everything
So why might this be bad advice? Well the first reason is that depending on when in the interview the question comes, might indicate the types of information that the interviewer is looking for.
If the question comes near the beginning of the interview, it is your opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the position and company before the interview process. It also allows you to demonstrate your abilities to summarize your qualifications and link them to the skills/abilities they are looking for. Finally it allows you to begin asking about additional insights for what they are looking for in the ideal candidate.
If the question comes near the end however you have used the interview to demonstrate what you learned about the company/position before the interview. So now you are using your answer to demonstrate what you have learned during the interview, and how you view yourself in relation to the stated need for the position. Even though I as the candidate know nothing about the other candidates, I should be the end of the interview know a great deal about the position and company. I obviously know a great deal about myself. The interviewer, therefore, is looking for how well I can communicate my knowledge about myself and how my skills/abilities match the needs of the company. It is in essence my final pitch to sell myself to the company.
As a job candidate I can sympathize with the sentiments expressed by the people commenting on Ms. Ryan's blog post, but as a research expert I hope to instill the opportunity this question presents to the candidate. Remember to use these opportunities as a chance to make yourself stand out from the candidate crowd!
As always I welcome comments/feedback.
