Guest blog written by: Jane Dowson, Student Recruitment Advisor at EY

Why do you want to work for our company?” – What are employers looking for when they ask this question?

It’s a question that you’re going to hear for years to come when you enter the world of employment. “Why do you want to work for our company? It’s also a question that many people find really difficult to answer, but it shouldn’t be. The fact is that employers merely looking for the truth.

Why do we ask these question to begin with?

Simply put, employers get a huge amount of interest for a small amount of roles. Many initial applications are quite clearly copied and pasted and speculatively sent around an array of other organisations too. These are easy to spot and immediately raise concerns that the candidate doesn’t really know, or worse, care what they are actually applying for. Asking the question means we can find out whether you really do want to come and work for us.

What do we want to hear?

Believe it or not we just want a genuine answer. We’re really keen to know what it is you like about us and why that makes us a good fit for you. It definitely helps if we know that you’ve done a little research about the company, our values and our goals.

How can you stand out?

As you can imagine we hear a lot of the same answers, so it’s always good if you can stand out from the crowd and set yourself apart. It might sound difficult, how many ways can there be to say that you like a company? We know everyone has read the website and promotional material, but it’s how you build upon this that counts. Tell us about yourself and how you match our values and goals, providing examples if you can. You are unique and so are your experiences and aspirations. If a company can get to know you, we start to be able to imagine you working alongside us. We can see from your examples how you could bring something unique to the role or how it matches your personal development aims.

How to prepare for this

One thing that many people struggle with, is celebrating their own strengths and achievements. A great place to start is to write down all the things you’re good at and enjoy doing. As a next step, write down the key goals and values of the organisation you’re applying to. Once you have these side by side, try and marry them together. Imagine yourself working in the role you’re applying for and think about how you could apply your strengths to it. By doing this you’ll naturally give yourself more confidence and this will hopefully be reflected when you present your answers to a potential employer.

THE ANSWER

All employers are looking for is someone who is genuinely passionate about the opportunity of working for their firm. We don’t expect you to be an expert, but if you can show you’ve made an effort to do some research and you’ve genuinely given thought as to how you’ll be a fit for the company, you’re likely to leave a good impression.

 

 

Applications open now for Summer Internships, Industrial Placements and Graduate Roles at EY in 2018 – http://ukcareers.ey.com/graduates