Phone Interview Question: "Why Did You Choose To Apply With Us?"

ElementaryOS

Greetings,

So I managed to get one phone call back from the 10-15 jobs I've applied for thus far. (CompTIA A+) It was Future Shop and the lady asked: "Why did you apply with FutureShop?" For whatever reason I thought I had to give specific reasons so I start naming reasons off the top of my head. Reasons like: "I shop there, Popular brand, Geek Squad, etc.. Her tone of voice began to sound really negative and I know that I blew it.

How do you guys / gals answer that question? I am thinking that I should just be honest next time: "I'm applying at every business that I think might be interested in hiring a certified computer tech."

I think I may also have sounded desperate on the phone too, which would have contributed to her voice tone changing.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

stryder144

I look at what they do. For instance, one place I applied to provides technical training software. Thus, they provide a means for people to develop their knowledge, get certified, and better their financial/family/etc situations. So, my reply to that question would be that "I love to help people and would be honored to work for a company that gives people the opportunity to live out the American dream. I applied to your company since you provide people with the means to develop their knowledge, get certified, and make a better life for themselves."

techfiend

One thing is don't be honest with that answer, interviews are half bsing, especially when trying to get your foot in the door. I am in the same situation and know how it is. In a retail store I'd answer, "To apply and grow my skills while satisfying customers and helping the company reach it's goals." It's kind of generic and would change a bit based on the company but I've always had the interviewer talking positively afterwards. In my experience all interviewers have smiled hearing about personal drive (growth) and also like to hear how the business would benefit from you.

Jon_Cisco

You could be honest and a little more interesting. I am looking for another career opportunity and I think I could meet your needs. I was very interested in learning more about this position. I have not interviewed in a long time so take this with a grain of salt. However most people are in a hurry and at the phone stage they probably don't want to be bored with details. One or two sentences should quickly relay your answer. Good Luck!

yzT

from my experience I can tell you to go straight to the point and don't say "bullshit" like "I shop there, Popular brand, Geek Squad, etc."

At the beginning I was like you, writing all kind of shits on cover letter just trying to get a call back. Then I started to go to the point, "I'm this and want this, if you're interested call me back", and I started to get tons more of calls.

Raisin

Desperation can be a real killer in any interview. The thing that helped me was realizing that I don't need THAT job in particular. I was turned down after a interview and took it pretty hard. I ended up finding a better job for much more money and the location was only 10-15 minutes away from me. I never would have been available for that if I took the first position. The place that turned me down ended up calling me later with the good news that they were ready to hire me on. I got to experience the intense satisfaction of being able to turn them down.

Personally I would just go with the honest answer, mainly because I don't want to work for someone that demands BS from me on a regular basis. Also if the tables were turned I don't think I would have a favorable opinion of someone who kept giving me BS answers to simple questions. Just be polite about it and try not to sound like you have an attitude when you're being honest.

Danielm7

I go with honesty. I mean, sure, if you're not working right now then "I need work!" isn't really the right answer. But, I try to be a little selective in the positions I apply to, so I know what draws me to them, and I try to explain that. For example, on my last interviews I was changing my focus from what I've done in the past and specializing. It's obvious in my changes in education, certs and outside projects that I'm doing everything to try to get into that specialty. So, if they were a dog food company I wouldn't be like, "I've always wanted to work for a dog food company so bad because you're the leader in all natural pet foods!" But more that I'm really focusing on this specialty and their position seems like a great fit for what I'd like to get into so I was excited to find it and applied immediately.

A friend of mine is a developer for an health insurance company. They pretty much wouldn't let him out of the first interviews without telling them that he's soooo passionate about health insurance. Meanwhile, it was a nice raise, shorter commute with great benefits in a good company, that's all he saw.

kj0

Honesty. But if you're going to stretch the truth, then you just need to make sure you can back it up when you do.

I just went through several interviews about 2 months back, and most were "..I see that this a great company, any interactions I have or have heard of have been in a very positive manor. I am always willing to learn and move forward as I currently feel as where I am is at its peak."


it work. There will be questions you've never had before. I had one position I applied for through a recruiting company, and unfortunately when she called back, it was for a completely different job that had just come up (No post on the career search site yet) - this meant I had no prior information to go off. Where she really caught me out - and I learnt quick for the next time - She made it sound as though she was just informing me of he new job and wondering if I was interested, then she went on for another half hour asking a lot of questions. She was obviously really good at working people through to do a thorough check, but it certainly was a learning curve.

You'll get it, and it will all come with practice. but the main thing I found when it took time to land a job is that the right job will come along and be the best one for you.

Nersesian

For me, this is one of those BS interview questions HR drones use to fill the space between what they think is a good question and the time they've selected to end the interview. If you're answering honestly, you're going to say "You advertised the ability to pay me for something I'm willing to do for money."

No one is going to say that, so you're going to have to slip in a nice solid fib. I tend to go with, "I actually wasn't looking terribly hard for new employment, but a colleague of mine passed the advertisement along to me and I would have been remiss if I didn't apply to such a fine institution with such wonderful rich history."

jeremywatts2005

Funny story about a question similar to this. I am interviewing a candidate and ask him if he prefers engineering or monitoring. The job is engineering that he is applying for. He then tells me he prefers the monitoring aspect over the engineering aspect. I ask him why he applied for an engineering job. He then tells me that he applied because he needs to interview weekly with someone. Dead silence on the phone and interview over. I think he realized he was screwed.

darkerz

"Welcome to Walmart! Why do you want to work for us?"

...

"Be... Because I love you".


it's a good idea trust me i'm an engineer.

ElementaryOS

Great ideas guys! Wow, this thread has turned into gold with all of the wonderful suggestions and information thus far!

darkerz wrote: »

"Welcome to Walmart! Why do you want to work for us?"
...
"Be... Because I love you".
it's a good idea trust me i'm an engineer.

Except for this one, LoL.