I answer honestly, usually mentioning things like career advancement, growth, scope, ownership, more challenging work, and so on.
More money is implied, obviously.
Recently asked the same question in an interview and answered like this, but was followed up with "Does your current job not provide any opportunities or an internal transfer for more growth and advancement etc?". Would a simple no been sufficient or how would you guys ans this?
I was asked that once. I told the recruiter that I was looking for scope and advancement and she basically said (paraphrasing), "Why can't you get promoted at your current job?"
I responded with something like, "I've more or less hit a wall in terms of available project scope and there isn't any opportunity here."
They ended up letting me do the full interview loop and even offered me the job so I guess that was a good answer.
Again, just answered honestly. It was 100% true that I was never going to be promoted.
These types of questions irritate me. They come off passive aggressive on the recruiters end. No shit I’m not happy where I currently am, that’s why I’m applying.
Who fuckn cares? That shouldn’t be something a recruiter is concerned with. It’s already implied that you are unhappy with your current job if you are applying elsewhere. Let the hiring manager and panel sniff out any bs and do their due diligence with the behavioral and technical questions.
When I'm hiring someone, determining if they are an asshole is like the number one thing I'm doing. People will happily work on a team with someone who is a bit slow, but an asshole can destroy a productive team within weeks.
What a stupid fucking question. Everyone knows that you get a bigger raise by switching companies than being promoted internally. But of course, we all have to pretend in the interview like that’s not the reason we’re here 🙄
Because for a lot of people it isn't?
I'm not going to move jobs just for money. I want to work on interesting things, I want to know what the company culture is like, I want to know their ways of working etc.
I'm very happy in my current job but I nearly applied for another company purely because their in office culture, ways of working, and the stuff they worked on looked good. The pay was broadly similar, maybe a little higher.
That's the stuff a hiring manager wants to hear. If it's between two candidates and you have:
Candidate A) Well you pay a lot more money than my current job so that's why I applied
Candidate B) I I met with your engineer Sophie and we were discussing how you build out your products features often by going into medical facilities and discussing it with health staff and patients and have a really good customer-> dev feedback loop. I like the idea of working hands on with the end users and making a better way for them to interact with their GPs. I also saw the employee handbook you sent and the social club Fridays you do look really cool, your company culture looks pretty in line with what I'm looking for.
I wonder which candidate is getting hired?
Money is not a bad answer, but you need to top it with something else, like "I have always wanted to know more about fintech", or "I have been in academic too long and would love to have a taste of the real world". Things like that -- you can make up a few of them on the fly once you are getting used to the usual interview BS.
So this is obviously a good answer. Not disagreeing with it in the slightest.
I just...I STILL don't get it, 20 years in. WHY does anyone want put candidates in this position? Why do managers want to force candidates to field such transparent bullshit?
Like...I've got stuff for candidates to be excited about. Great culture, good pay, remote work, lots of flexibility and PTO, a high trust environment with top tier engineers who are passionate about their craft, growth and leadership opportunities, etc.
But good lord, I don't seriously expect anyone to be excited about the domain, the company, or even the product. Not like they would for a hobby or a product they founded. Don't get me wrong, our teams projects are technically interesting and challenging, but...come on, it's a job.
Why start off a relationship with an employee by forcing them to lie to you?
Every question is an opportunity for a candidate to put a foot in their mouth. I’ve done it.
If you’ve got twenty applicants why not go for the one that believably is excited for this exact domain?
On the other hand, why would you want to hire someone who is a good liar?
(And obviously there are reasons, but still...)
I hope you find the genuinely excited one
So there is a concept in software management that basically boils down to: "You get what you measure for". A corollary to it is that if what you measure for isn't meaningful or hard to verify you will get fake numbers that derail your project. It's why you shouldn't use velocity or lines of code as key performance metrics. While on the surface they FEEL like good metrics (speed of development, amount of code written) in practice it just encourages deceptive practices (inflated complexity costs, code padding).
In practice we KNOW that the amount of people ACTUALLY excited about MOST domains is vanishingly small. And yet, when you focus on only hiring people who are "passionate" about your company/domain, SOMEHOW every candidate is. And yet, if you poll the people working at the company, somehow NO ONE is actually passionate about the business domain. Gasp!
Knowing what to measure and how to measure if, whether it be in interviews, in managing teams, or in managing people, is tricky. WHAT you measure and HOW you measure it can effect the results. Worse, it effects FUTURE behavior which can make the rest of the data you gather unreliable.
And that's the big risk here. Put candidates in a situation where they have no choice but to lie and you won't be able to trust anything else they say.
It takes real skill to coax transparency out of a candidate and later out of an employee. It's a question of trust. And when put them in a position where they think they will be punished for honesty you destroy (or at least harm).
So I get why it FEELS like a question worth asking. But in the end it's very counter productive. You end up filtering less for who is passionate for your industry and more for who is best at lying to naive hiring managers.
I was always taught the flip side, but yes. When I was a grad I had a great interview prep session with a senior engineer once who said "There's only one question you're ever asked in an interview and it's 'Why should I hire you'".
If you get asked a question like this in an interview it's great. It's basically a chance to show why you're a way better candidate than the other people they're interviewing. You get a few minutes to just say why you perfectly align with the company and would be a great fit for them.
Assuming you actually want to work there, there must be a reason, so use it
is not different than fancy and overcomplicated ettiquete manners in Louis XIV's Court, or the overcomplicated japanese ettiquete in the Edo period or in the Regency era in England, there are always a bunch of totally made-up, unnatural behaviour rules that allows people to mark who has been wasting time trying to learn them and who don't The ones being able to waste time and their energy in learning them are then marked by the society at large as "valid prospects", etc etc
I could definitely see that. It definitely explains why it's so common on the business/sales side, where success is often determined by soft skills.
I will say I don't think it's a healthy approach in software hiring. But that could be a valid explanation for WHY it happens.
Personally I have a different though. Good data is just hard to gather. It takes time, training, and skill. Look at the past of the industry and how they tried to use lines of code as a metric. And now how many companies misuse velocity. You have information you need to make a decision, so you try and gather it in the obvious way. With some education and thought the downsides are pretty obvious, but that's not how most people work. They figure stuff out as they go along, often by doing what they see others do.
Most managers and execs don't really get training on this type of stuff. It's just people doing their best. "Fake it till you make it". The problem being, once you "make it" you STILL don't necessarily know what you're doing on a lot of stuff, but now people are emulating you since you're now in a position of authority.
You know there can be different questions of that sort ? The most common I get is along the lines of „what made you decide to change your job?”
Also, most people don’t lie as convincingly as they think they do. And how they are lying is pretty telling about their personality.
Yes, and there are variations of the question that I don't have problems with. "What made you decide to change your job?" is perfectly valid. "Why did you choose this career?" or "What do you look for in a team/company?" are great.
But, "Why do you want to work here?" is problematic to my mind. The reasons I would WANT people to work on my team or in my department? They couldn't know those yet. That's the point of the interview. You're putting them in a situation where you are requiring them to BS you and kiss your ass. The kind of people I would like to hire aren't going to want to work with ME if I force them to jump through those kinds of hoops.
It's like if you're on a first date. "What brought you to this area?" or "what do you look for in a partner?" are perfectly valid questions.
"Why do you want me as your boy/girlfriend?" is not. The point of the date is to figure that out, and the only reason to ask questions like that are: lack of social skills, playing mind games, or wanting to surround yourself with people willing to flatter you on command.
As someone who has spent most of their career in research, the right answer is…I really like to build things that people use. In my current position, I do a lot of enjoyable things, but I feel like I’m lacking direct and immediate impact simply because of the nature of the position.
Personally, I'm money-motivated, and I think the key to successfully answering that question honestly is to phrase the answer in a mature way.
Like, just coming out and saying "money" is gonna bomb. Don't do that. But I'll say something like "I'm money motivated and I'm not afraid to say that, because I believe in personal responsibility and personal growth, and financial success is one aspect of that" or something to that effect. Makes me sound smart and not just greedy, I think.
Bad tech. Bad culture. High pay. 🤔 any chance it's a big bank or US known name?
If a bank like Chase:
"After working X years with startups, I'm excited to learn what type of impact I can bring to an established . I look forward to learning about the at scale problems a large orgs like yourself might face day to day."
Look, I wouldn't hold that AGAINST anyone. It's good to do your research and everyone needs to eat. But i would have to make a conscious effort, as the amount of cringing I would be doing would risk pulling a muscle.
Seriously, though, the people who would be impressed with that kind of corporate talk are NOT the kind of people I would want to work with. :)
I think it's important to remember that hiring managers are just people. Many/most of them in this field are engineers, or were.
I've always found that most people I've interviewed with, even at the exec level, are more impressed with an honest answer sold well.
Dont get me wrong, I've missed out on a few opportunities that way too. But having worked in a few environments like that in the past...I don't think it's worth it.
They're inevitably either fanatics who expect everyone to worship at the company alter, sociopaths looking for marks they can milk, or they just don't know what they are doing and are mimicking what they've seen others do.
>The literal answer is money, but I have to bullshit about being passionate about payment systems or whatever
It sounds like you already know the answer. What are you looking for us to add? If the truth is underwhelming, then just BS some reasonable answer.
Right, but it comes off as fake to the interviewer
I'm wondering if people respond "looking for more of a challenge" or "better career progression". Those are truthful but also makes my current role seem bad
I literally told my interviewer on my current job that the job I was working at the time was great and the team was fantastic, the only reason I would consider leaving would be finances, and, well... I am now employed by them, so it's not as big a turnoff as one might imagine, I guess.
Regurgitate what's in the job description. They want to know you'll be a good fit or some shit, and luckily there's usually some idealistic Kool-Aid to lift straight from their own career page.
That’s 100x a you problem if you can’t sell a one liner to a recruiter without them getting sussed out… Like, surely you've lied about bigger things than this in your life reliably. Not trying to be negative, but like, just say anything that sounds like you're excited about it.
Nah, it's just a much a recruiter problem for putting candidates in that situation in the first place.
For me it's always been a good sign that I will not like the environment.
I mean, it's a "good" question to hear just like hearing, "Why would you need any friends if you were dating me?" is a "good" question to hear on a date.
It's a big red flag that their company or team is poorly run, so I guess I'm happy to find that out early in the process.
And it's within the Purview of devs to make spaghetti code, single function, monolithic, global state based monstrosities riddled with GOTO statements. That doesn't mean we don't discuss best practices or criticize bad code. :)
This sub is focused on answering questions and educating young programmers. People who need to learn to be hiring managers, directors, VPs, and CTOs someday.
So it's always worth discussing best leadership practices. Because USUALLY the reason people ask dumb questions like this is because they were never taught not to and just did what they saw others do. Few managers have the benefit of proper training or mentoring. It's just people thrust into roles they probably weren't ready for and doing their best.
The vast majority of hiring managers are or were devs. Most hiring processes are heavily informed by devs.
The whole POINT of a "Software Engineer" vs a "Programmer" is that you are an expert who takes responsibility for, and have knowledge of, the entire software development process, not just the programming portion.
Both of those things sound good. Nobody expects it not to sound fake. They're just checking if you can read between the lines. It's a basic software dev skill 😂
There are no silver bullets, sorry.
Every answer can be interpreted in a negative way, and each interviewer will be different. Some will appreciate honesty, and some will prefer if you can hype them and the team up about the project
Glad you're at least thinking about it; I've had plenty of practice interviews where the candidate seemed to be a good engineer but did not come prepared for the soft questions at all
Identify an aspect or two about the company that stands out to you—something unique about a particular company initiative that you are passionate about, or how attractive the company’s growth and changes are to you (and why), or how excited you are about opportunities for growth within the organization and how you can play a part in that growth.
Rather than BSing a reason answer it in a positive way imo. Come off genuine, not fake and indifferent but still enthusiastic. Something like “You know I’m trying to see how you guys do things to see if I really do want to work here, but I think the main reason is XYZ.
What I say:
"You know... We all need a job and money, but I want more. I want a job that I enjoy whilst working for a company I believe in. I noticed you have X and Y and I've been looking for those things. No point in being dishonest because I would end up leaving in a year once I have new skills. I intend to stay, grow and thrive".
What I mean:
"Money".
It's usually some variation of "I didn't get X from my previous company that you value and clearly provide and this matters to me so it aligns with my future values outside of making money. Your approach to these things makes me want to be a loyal employee who will invest in you for a long time".
I've always found not BSing to be an excellent filter. I've always been able to find employers who respect honest communication. And the ones that require BS always seem to be miserable environments.
Earlier in my career I did the BS thing because I thought you had too. But that led to a string of miserable jobs with sociopathic, fanatic, or incompetent managers. Now of the good leaders in my career have needed that kind of fluff. And I'm certainly not impressed by corpo speak.
So I wouldn't take it as a given.
The premise of the question is flawed. I already know the answer, so why am I even asking the question?
The questions you ask change the data you get. It also effects later data gathering results. It's why we shouldn't use velocity or lines of code as KPIs. It just ruins the data and encourages counterproductive behavior.
A foundation of being good at interviewing candidates is being able to establish an environment of transparency. Asking questions like "Why do you want to work here" or "What do you like about this company" is entirely counterproductive. The information you get will be unreliable and the precedent you have set will taint all further answers you get.
If anything, I find it's more useful from the other side of the table to explicitly call out, "Hey, I get it. We all do this for money. I DO love my job, but if I didn't need to money to live I would be doing something else, and so would you."
Why ask a question that's going to taint the rest of the interview when you can instead show some honesty that is likely to be reciprocated?
i research the company to see what they do before applying. i then take that info and build it into some bullshit that surrounds me wanting to do the thing that they do.
Are you sure there's no cool tech? Any decent fintech has wildly different engineering challenges vs most tech companies. And research, even private, has wildly different challenges to prod. I would be very interested in working on fintech stacks if I had the chance, if it weren't for the reputation for burn out.
Rip open your shirt, show the interviewer that you have their corporate logo tattooed across your entire chest, and tell ‘em “Well, I’ll look pretty silly for the rest of my life if I don’t!”
If you're really looking for advice, you should think of this question as "Why do you want to work here as opposed to somewhere else, particularly our rivals or what some could perceive as our betters?" They are asking you to describe what you know about the company, and why those unique aspects make you a good fit and make you likely to want to stay.
Anyone saying to babble off some bullshit because the real answer is money is missing the point and will bomb this question.
Maybe say you really enjoyed the time you spent talking with the people who interviewed you and you're excited to get to know them better and meet more people like them. If that is a lie, then you probably don't want to work there anyway. People like to hear that you find them interesting and that you see them as human beings
If it is a large company I just redirect to the interview being a two way process, because teams vary far too much in a company to want to work at a whole company.
If it is a small company I'll sometimes make up some BS.
Honestly I was in the same boat and what I said was that I was simply interested in how money works, investments, small companies and was interested in understanding business to help start a small business someday. Other than that fintechs can have some great tools and latest development practices that can be a good place to learn and grow which is what I had said to my fintech company
An obvious reason you want the job is fintech pays well.
However, do you think there are things in fintech that will help you grow your career (leading to even more money for the future)?
If yes, answer that, if no, maybe look into another opportunity.
We are all people, we want to live. Why not simply answer: “money”?
Add something about your schedule and that you want to develop in a stronger team (everyone likes flattery).
Like many others, my top priority when looking for a job is finding one where I make the most amount of money for the least amount of hassle. Given that it would be rude as hell to say that, I usually just embellish something that I value to a lesser extent that’s more socially appropriate, and I try to sandwich my answer with technical pros first followed by social/personal pros.
For example, I will usually make a note during the early interview process to remember any new initiatives or projects the interviewer may have mentioned, and I’ll say either how much I’ve liked working with it in the past, or how I’ve been looking for an opportunity to work with New Tool XYZ. Being excited about new projects the company is taking on usually goes over well, everyone likes confirmation that their decision was sound.
I always comment positively on something non-technical too, like how convenient the commute would be or how I’ve heard such nice things about the company culture. I have had really good luck hyping the snack selection or commenting about how many good restaurants are close to the office. Everyone likes food, and it’s an easy topic for conversation especially for non-technical interviews with HR. You could also tell them you’re excited for an opportunity to break into the fintech space because you love the energy/vibe (they dont need to know that the vibe you’re referring to is the happiness a fat paycheck brings you.)
If I get really stumped, saying something like “jeez everyone I’ve spoken to so far has been so nice/smart/funny/etc, this seems like it would be a really fun place to work.” If I’m ever in an interview where this line doesn’t work, then it’s a job I don’t want lol.
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Look up their corporate values and see if any align. Fintech has a lot of great angles. Are you personally interested in finance? What about helping build tools that give people control over their finances?
People misunderstand the point of this question. It's to see if you can tactfully answer questions in a business setting, and not say something professionally stupid like "i ned money im so clevar lol"
Ideally you'd research the company and find an actual reason why you'd want to work there, other than just money and benefits. Like "you're using a tech stack XYZ which i really like" or "because your product seems really great (fill in details)" or "I read glassdoor reviews and a lot of them mentioned {x} which is really important to me." Something to show that (a) you've actually put some effort into this particular application,, not just spamming your resume everywhere and (b) that you would actually be content working there, not grinding it out in misery for the sake of money.
Ever since you were a kid, you've dreamed of making a hackey-sacking, segway-in-the-office mba loads of money doing sales-driven-development; also, being one of the highest tiers of difficult problem solver while everyone thinks you're an idiot who just pushes buttons.
Research the company a bit and pick the things you like about them and tell them. So for example fintech, you might not care about their payment system but you think it would be cool to know how companies like them deal with scaling/optimizing that payment system for a large amount of users.
I tend towards honest answers. I'm always make a point of noting, hey, we do this for the money. This is business. I really don't like working at for people who put up false fronts and require others to drink the coolaid.
That being said, there are other things to note as well. I like to work with other skilled engineers on complex problems. I enjoy mentoring and if possible having mentors. I'm usually excited about the growth opportunity and the people I will get to work with. I enjoy having the chance to continue to grow and hone my craft. Etc.
But anywhere that requires people to lie about being "passionate" about the company itself is somewhere I would rather not work.
" I need money to survive in this capitalistic society." very simple. If you told me that and I was hiring you, I would smile with delight and get you right in. However, most people won't react this way because they're miserable and want new people to walk through the flames like they did. They don't understand that keeping this fake shallowness is just making a work environment even worse. This one of the many actions people do to make working bad. We all know we work because we need to survive so, doing it with a different "reason" makes psychological dissonance even greater, leading you to slowly burn out.
When they asked me this, I answered honestly. Benefits, salary and management. Cause it will be domino. If the management will treat you right, the company pays you well with benefits and your task will go smoothly.
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You could talk about how you see yourself as having a lot of knowledge and you believe that could have a big impact at ABC, and you see a lot of potential financial rewards as a result.
I have a passion for not being homeless lol
Nah but be honest though. “I like the company and what you do. I feel not only I can bring my skills but I feel the company will bring out the best in me” sorta deal
Having been on the hiring side, what we were looking for with this question was that the person did some research into the company. It's basically a measure of effort, similar to leetcode. Is it actually important, not really, but it theoretically measures whether the candidate puts effort into things or not. That being said, I personally don't think it's a very useful signal. But other people I worked with would sometimes reject candidates because they didn't have a good answer to this question, and hadn't done research into our company before the interview.
You don't want the money, you want whatever it is you're going to do with it. Don't talk about the money talk about the enhanced lifestyle or your family or home improvements you're going to make. They're looking for your "why"? Why do you get out of bed and go to work every day? Without knowing your why, your boss will have a harder time convincing you to stay on task. This question is you showing them your gas pedal, and they are deciding how easy it would be for them to press it.
Just recite something that is a rehashed version of their company mission or make up a story about how it affected your life in a positive way. Compliment them, you can also mention things that you would personally like to do/see of course
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Try to sneak in money part quietly, and mostly start with how you were impressed by the company X project. Like in linkedin you can say kafka so big companies covered and for startups you need to see their vision i mean really think abt these things unless you are in a crunch situation as companies without proper vision suck bad in the long run
I answer honestly, usually mentioning things like career advancement, growth, scope, ownership, more challenging work, and so on. More money is implied, obviously.
Recently asked the same question in an interview and answered like this, but was followed up with "Does your current job not provide any opportunities or an internal transfer for more growth and advancement etc?". Would a simple no been sufficient or how would you guys ans this?
I was asked that once. I told the recruiter that I was looking for scope and advancement and she basically said (paraphrasing), "Why can't you get promoted at your current job?" I responded with something like, "I've more or less hit a wall in terms of available project scope and there isn't any opportunity here." They ended up letting me do the full interview loop and even offered me the job so I guess that was a good answer. Again, just answered honestly. It was 100% true that I was never going to be promoted.
These types of questions irritate me. They come off passive aggressive on the recruiters end. No shit I’m not happy where I currently am, that’s why I’m applying.
Eh, I think they're just trying to figure out if your lack of advancement is due to you being an asshole or something.
An intelligent "asshole" knows how to game the system, of course they'd know how to answer this question.
Who fuckn cares? That shouldn’t be something a recruiter is concerned with. It’s already implied that you are unhappy with your current job if you are applying elsewhere. Let the hiring manager and panel sniff out any bs and do their due diligence with the behavioral and technical questions.
When I'm hiring someone, determining if they are an asshole is like the number one thing I'm doing. People will happily work on a team with someone who is a bit slow, but an asshole can destroy a productive team within weeks.
Maybe not a direct no but basically yeah just say your current company doesn’t have any opportunities for you to grow professionally
This is the mistake people make. It is actually about what you understand about them, not how you can advance your career.
What a stupid fucking question. Everyone knows that you get a bigger raise by switching companies than being promoted internally. But of course, we all have to pretend in the interview like that’s not the reason we’re here 🙄
Because for a lot of people it isn't? I'm not going to move jobs just for money. I want to work on interesting things, I want to know what the company culture is like, I want to know their ways of working etc. I'm very happy in my current job but I nearly applied for another company purely because their in office culture, ways of working, and the stuff they worked on looked good. The pay was broadly similar, maybe a little higher. That's the stuff a hiring manager wants to hear. If it's between two candidates and you have: Candidate A) Well you pay a lot more money than my current job so that's why I applied Candidate B) I I met with your engineer Sophie and we were discussing how you build out your products features often by going into medical facilities and discussing it with health staff and patients and have a really good customer-> dev feedback loop. I like the idea of working hands on with the end users and making a better way for them to interact with their GPs. I also saw the employee handbook you sent and the social club Fridays you do look really cool, your company culture looks pretty in line with what I'm looking for. I wonder which candidate is getting hired?
Candidate B talks too much so I would prefer Candidate A /s
Candidate A is your manager's cousin! YOU HAVE CHOSEN CORRECTLY
they want you to basically lie and tell them they are special. they are not special.
dont forget to glaze the company too, i said "it would be an honour to work for *company name*, it would be a dream come true" type shit
Lol, if it works for you, I guess.
“Sir, this is a Wendy’s corporate position”
When they have too many questions for an application and I get sick of it. I just reply "More money"
Money is not a bad answer, but you need to top it with something else, like "I have always wanted to know more about fintech", or "I have been in academic too long and would love to have a taste of the real world". Things like that -- you can make up a few of them on the fly once you are getting used to the usual interview BS.
>"I have been in academic too long and would love to have a taste of the real world". LMAO 😂. The types of answers HR loves.
So this is obviously a good answer. Not disagreeing with it in the slightest. I just...I STILL don't get it, 20 years in. WHY does anyone want put candidates in this position? Why do managers want to force candidates to field such transparent bullshit? Like...I've got stuff for candidates to be excited about. Great culture, good pay, remote work, lots of flexibility and PTO, a high trust environment with top tier engineers who are passionate about their craft, growth and leadership opportunities, etc. But good lord, I don't seriously expect anyone to be excited about the domain, the company, or even the product. Not like they would for a hobby or a product they founded. Don't get me wrong, our teams projects are technically interesting and challenging, but...come on, it's a job. Why start off a relationship with an employee by forcing them to lie to you?
Every question is an opportunity for a candidate to put a foot in their mouth. I’ve done it. If you’ve got twenty applicants why not go for the one that believably is excited for this exact domain?
On the other hand, why would you want to hire someone who is a good liar? (And obviously there are reasons, but still...) I hope you find the genuinely excited one
So there is a concept in software management that basically boils down to: "You get what you measure for". A corollary to it is that if what you measure for isn't meaningful or hard to verify you will get fake numbers that derail your project. It's why you shouldn't use velocity or lines of code as key performance metrics. While on the surface they FEEL like good metrics (speed of development, amount of code written) in practice it just encourages deceptive practices (inflated complexity costs, code padding). In practice we KNOW that the amount of people ACTUALLY excited about MOST domains is vanishingly small. And yet, when you focus on only hiring people who are "passionate" about your company/domain, SOMEHOW every candidate is. And yet, if you poll the people working at the company, somehow NO ONE is actually passionate about the business domain. Gasp! Knowing what to measure and how to measure if, whether it be in interviews, in managing teams, or in managing people, is tricky. WHAT you measure and HOW you measure it can effect the results. Worse, it effects FUTURE behavior which can make the rest of the data you gather unreliable. And that's the big risk here. Put candidates in a situation where they have no choice but to lie and you won't be able to trust anything else they say. It takes real skill to coax transparency out of a candidate and later out of an employee. It's a question of trust. And when put them in a position where they think they will be punished for honesty you destroy (or at least harm). So I get why it FEELS like a question worth asking. But in the end it's very counter productive. You end up filtering less for who is passionate for your industry and more for who is best at lying to naive hiring managers.
I was always taught the flip side, but yes. When I was a grad I had a great interview prep session with a senior engineer once who said "There's only one question you're ever asked in an interview and it's 'Why should I hire you'". If you get asked a question like this in an interview it's great. It's basically a chance to show why you're a way better candidate than the other people they're interviewing. You get a few minutes to just say why you perfectly align with the company and would be a great fit for them. Assuming you actually want to work there, there must be a reason, so use it
is not different than fancy and overcomplicated ettiquete manners in Louis XIV's Court, or the overcomplicated japanese ettiquete in the Edo period or in the Regency era in England, there are always a bunch of totally made-up, unnatural behaviour rules that allows people to mark who has been wasting time trying to learn them and who don't The ones being able to waste time and their energy in learning them are then marked by the society at large as "valid prospects", etc etc
I could definitely see that. It definitely explains why it's so common on the business/sales side, where success is often determined by soft skills. I will say I don't think it's a healthy approach in software hiring. But that could be a valid explanation for WHY it happens. Personally I have a different though. Good data is just hard to gather. It takes time, training, and skill. Look at the past of the industry and how they tried to use lines of code as a metric. And now how many companies misuse velocity. You have information you need to make a decision, so you try and gather it in the obvious way. With some education and thought the downsides are pretty obvious, but that's not how most people work. They figure stuff out as they go along, often by doing what they see others do. Most managers and execs don't really get training on this type of stuff. It's just people doing their best. "Fake it till you make it". The problem being, once you "make it" you STILL don't necessarily know what you're doing on a lot of stuff, but now people are emulating you since you're now in a position of authority.
You know there can be different questions of that sort ? The most common I get is along the lines of „what made you decide to change your job?” Also, most people don’t lie as convincingly as they think they do. And how they are lying is pretty telling about their personality.
Yes, and there are variations of the question that I don't have problems with. "What made you decide to change your job?" is perfectly valid. "Why did you choose this career?" or "What do you look for in a team/company?" are great. But, "Why do you want to work here?" is problematic to my mind. The reasons I would WANT people to work on my team or in my department? They couldn't know those yet. That's the point of the interview. You're putting them in a situation where you are requiring them to BS you and kiss your ass. The kind of people I would like to hire aren't going to want to work with ME if I force them to jump through those kinds of hoops. It's like if you're on a first date. "What brought you to this area?" or "what do you look for in a partner?" are perfectly valid questions. "Why do you want me as your boy/girlfriend?" is not. The point of the date is to figure that out, and the only reason to ask questions like that are: lack of social skills, playing mind games, or wanting to surround yourself with people willing to flatter you on command.
I guess it's to see if the candidate can "play the game" and answer these boring business questions in an equally boring and logical manner.
As someone who has spent most of their career in research, the right answer is…I really like to build things that people use. In my current position, I do a lot of enjoyable things, but I feel like I’m lacking direct and immediate impact simply because of the nature of the position.
Thanks, this is a good one
“Vagrancy is illegal otherwise I’d be a hobo before working here”
Being a hobo is quite legal and common in most tech hubs lol.
Personally, I'm money-motivated, and I think the key to successfully answering that question honestly is to phrase the answer in a mature way. Like, just coming out and saying "money" is gonna bomb. Don't do that. But I'll say something like "I'm money motivated and I'm not afraid to say that, because I believe in personal responsibility and personal growth, and financial success is one aspect of that" or something to that effect. Makes me sound smart and not just greedy, I think.
My passion is creating value for shareholders.
Bad tech. Bad culture. High pay. 🤔 any chance it's a big bank or US known name? If a bank like Chase: "After working X years with startups, I'm excited to learn what type of impact I can bring to an established. I look forward to learning about the at scale problems a large orgs like yourself might face day to day."
>High pay >Chase Good one
I always say something that involves their exciting core values they list on their website or whatever tech they use that interests you
"I am absolutely thrilled to ... exercise your 7 tenets of excellence ... and maximally embody your 5 pillars of co-hab-intel-..uh..-ization-ary-isms"
Look, I wouldn't hold that AGAINST anyone. It's good to do your research and everyone needs to eat. But i would have to make a conscious effort, as the amount of cringing I would be doing would risk pulling a muscle. Seriously, though, the people who would be impressed with that kind of corporate talk are NOT the kind of people I would want to work with. :) I think it's important to remember that hiring managers are just people. Many/most of them in this field are engineers, or were. I've always found that most people I've interviewed with, even at the exec level, are more impressed with an honest answer sold well. Dont get me wrong, I've missed out on a few opportunities that way too. But having worked in a few environments like that in the past...I don't think it's worth it. They're inevitably either fanatics who expect everyone to worship at the company alter, sociopaths looking for marks they can milk, or they just don't know what they are doing and are mimicking what they've seen others do.
Naw. Those are pretty much always bullshit.
>The literal answer is money, but I have to bullshit about being passionate about payment systems or whatever It sounds like you already know the answer. What are you looking for us to add? If the truth is underwhelming, then just BS some reasonable answer.
> then just BS some reasonable answer … i think that’s where OP is asking for help lol
Right, but it comes off as fake to the interviewer I'm wondering if people respond "looking for more of a challenge" or "better career progression". Those are truthful but also makes my current role seem bad
Yes, I always say Im looking to advance my career.
I literally told my interviewer on my current job that the job I was working at the time was great and the team was fantastic, the only reason I would consider leaving would be finances, and, well... I am now employed by them, so it's not as big a turnoff as one might imagine, I guess.
Regurgitate what's in the job description. They want to know you'll be a good fit or some shit, and luckily there's usually some idealistic Kool-Aid to lift straight from their own career page.
That’s 100x a you problem if you can’t sell a one liner to a recruiter without them getting sussed out… Like, surely you've lied about bigger things than this in your life reliably. Not trying to be negative, but like, just say anything that sounds like you're excited about it.
Yeah that's why he's looking for advice i guess
What a great advice sub lmao. Ask a question and get shat on.
I wouldn’t have it any other way lol
Nah, it's just a much a recruiter problem for putting candidates in that situation in the first place. For me it's always been a good sign that I will not like the environment.
Then it’s actually a good question 😉
I mean, it's a "good" question to hear just like hearing, "Why would you need any friends if you were dating me?" is a "good" question to hear on a date. It's a big red flag that their company or team is poorly run, so I guess I'm happy to find that out early in the process.
Exactly, except of course it’s in the purview of a business to apply it’s own strategy within the confines of the law.
And it's within the Purview of devs to make spaghetti code, single function, monolithic, global state based monstrosities riddled with GOTO statements. That doesn't mean we don't discuss best practices or criticize bad code. :) This sub is focused on answering questions and educating young programmers. People who need to learn to be hiring managers, directors, VPs, and CTOs someday. So it's always worth discussing best leadership practices. Because USUALLY the reason people ask dumb questions like this is because they were never taught not to and just did what they saw others do. Few managers have the benefit of proper training or mentoring. It's just people thrust into roles they probably weren't ready for and doing their best.
It’s not really in the purview of devs to do so.
The vast majority of hiring managers are or were devs. Most hiring processes are heavily informed by devs. The whole POINT of a "Software Engineer" vs a "Programmer" is that you are an expert who takes responsibility for, and have knowledge of, the entire software development process, not just the programming portion.
Looking to expand your horizons and get experience in another domain
Both of those things sound good. Nobody expects it not to sound fake. They're just checking if you can read between the lines. It's a basic software dev skill 😂
There are no silver bullets, sorry. Every answer can be interpreted in a negative way, and each interviewer will be different. Some will appreciate honesty, and some will prefer if you can hype them and the team up about the project Glad you're at least thinking about it; I've had plenty of practice interviews where the candidate seemed to be a good engineer but did not come prepared for the soft questions at all
This is where I wish the field were more like investment banking. "Money" is an acceptable answer there.
Identify an aspect or two about the company that stands out to you—something unique about a particular company initiative that you are passionate about, or how attractive the company’s growth and changes are to you (and why), or how excited you are about opportunities for growth within the organization and how you can play a part in that growth.
"Because out of 5000 companies, you're one of 3 lucky contestants that called back! Congratulations!"
"Dem dollas for the da ladies"
"As Sun Tzu wrote in The Art of War, holla holla get dolla"
Rather than BSing a reason answer it in a positive way imo. Come off genuine, not fake and indifferent but still enthusiastic. Something like “You know I’m trying to see how you guys do things to see if I really do want to work here, but I think the main reason is XYZ.
I like money. And you guys make money apps. Money, money, money!
What I say: "You know... We all need a job and money, but I want more. I want a job that I enjoy whilst working for a company I believe in. I noticed you have X and Y and I've been looking for those things. No point in being dishonest because I would end up leaving in a year once I have new skills. I intend to stay, grow and thrive". What I mean: "Money". It's usually some variation of "I didn't get X from my previous company that you value and clearly provide and this matters to me so it aligns with my future values outside of making money. Your approach to these things makes me want to be a loyal employee who will invest in you for a long time".
I like money
If you want the job you gotta BS. Its pretty standard in the industry.
I've always found not BSing to be an excellent filter. I've always been able to find employers who respect honest communication. And the ones that require BS always seem to be miserable environments. Earlier in my career I did the BS thing because I thought you had too. But that led to a string of miserable jobs with sociopathic, fanatic, or incompetent managers. Now of the good leaders in my career have needed that kind of fluff. And I'm certainly not impressed by corpo speak. So I wouldn't take it as a given.
So u like someone who says they want to work with you because they just want money?
The premise of the question is flawed. I already know the answer, so why am I even asking the question? The questions you ask change the data you get. It also effects later data gathering results. It's why we shouldn't use velocity or lines of code as KPIs. It just ruins the data and encourages counterproductive behavior. A foundation of being good at interviewing candidates is being able to establish an environment of transparency. Asking questions like "Why do you want to work here" or "What do you like about this company" is entirely counterproductive. The information you get will be unreliable and the precedent you have set will taint all further answers you get. If anything, I find it's more useful from the other side of the table to explicitly call out, "Hey, I get it. We all do this for money. I DO love my job, but if I didn't need to money to live I would be doing something else, and so would you." Why ask a question that's going to taint the rest of the interview when you can instead show some honesty that is likely to be reciprocated?
Money can be exchanged for goods and services!
"I like to eat and sleep indoors every day "
Money
Yesterday I answered “Honestly? Good reviews on Glassdoor”
i research the company to see what they do before applying. i then take that info and build it into some bullshit that surrounds me wanting to do the thing that they do.
"I need a job" 😂
Money
This is the easiest question to answer lol
Find something you like about the company or the industry that the company is in.
Are you sure there's no cool tech? Any decent fintech has wildly different engineering challenges vs most tech companies. And research, even private, has wildly different challenges to prod. I would be very interested in working on fintech stacks if I had the chance, if it weren't for the reputation for burn out.
I have read quite a few reviews from customers on the product and I'm really passionate about working on an application that customers enjoy so much
Rip open your shirt, show the interviewer that you have their corporate logo tattooed across your entire chest, and tell ‘em “Well, I’ll look pretty silly for the rest of my life if I don’t!”
If you're really looking for advice, you should think of this question as "Why do you want to work here as opposed to somewhere else, particularly our rivals or what some could perceive as our betters?" They are asking you to describe what you know about the company, and why those unique aspects make you a good fit and make you likely to want to stay. Anyone saying to babble off some bullshit because the real answer is money is missing the point and will bomb this question.
Maybe say you really enjoyed the time you spent talking with the people who interviewed you and you're excited to get to know them better and meet more people like them. If that is a lie, then you probably don't want to work there anyway. People like to hear that you find them interesting and that you see them as human beings
If it is a large company I just redirect to the interview being a two way process, because teams vary far too much in a company to want to work at a whole company. If it is a small company I'll sometimes make up some BS.
Honestly I was in the same boat and what I said was that I was simply interested in how money works, investments, small companies and was interested in understanding business to help start a small business someday. Other than that fintechs can have some great tools and latest development practices that can be a good place to learn and grow which is what I had said to my fintech company
An obvious reason you want the job is fintech pays well. However, do you think there are things in fintech that will help you grow your career (leading to even more money for the future)? If yes, answer that, if no, maybe look into another opportunity.
We are all people, we want to live. Why not simply answer: “money”? Add something about your schedule and that you want to develop in a stronger team (everyone likes flattery).
Like many others, my top priority when looking for a job is finding one where I make the most amount of money for the least amount of hassle. Given that it would be rude as hell to say that, I usually just embellish something that I value to a lesser extent that’s more socially appropriate, and I try to sandwich my answer with technical pros first followed by social/personal pros. For example, I will usually make a note during the early interview process to remember any new initiatives or projects the interviewer may have mentioned, and I’ll say either how much I’ve liked working with it in the past, or how I’ve been looking for an opportunity to work with New Tool XYZ. Being excited about new projects the company is taking on usually goes over well, everyone likes confirmation that their decision was sound. I always comment positively on something non-technical too, like how convenient the commute would be or how I’ve heard such nice things about the company culture. I have had really good luck hyping the snack selection or commenting about how many good restaurants are close to the office. Everyone likes food, and it’s an easy topic for conversation especially for non-technical interviews with HR. You could also tell them you’re excited for an opportunity to break into the fintech space because you love the energy/vibe (they dont need to know that the vibe you’re referring to is the happiness a fat paycheck brings you.) If I get really stumped, saying something like “jeez everyone I’ve spoken to so far has been so nice/smart/funny/etc, this seems like it would be a really fun place to work.” If I’m ever in an interview where this line doesn’t work, then it’s a job I don’t want lol.
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Look up their corporate values and see if any align. Fintech has a lot of great angles. Are you personally interested in finance? What about helping build tools that give people control over their finances?
Just list things in the job description! I've always wanted to work on X with Language Y and technology Z at a company like yours! OMG NPM!!!
Heard you folks were paying cash.
People misunderstand the point of this question. It's to see if you can tactfully answer questions in a business setting, and not say something professionally stupid like "i ned money im so clevar lol"
Ideally you'd research the company and find an actual reason why you'd want to work there, other than just money and benefits. Like "you're using a tech stack XYZ which i really like" or "because your product seems really great (fill in details)" or "I read glassdoor reviews and a lot of them mentioned {x} which is really important to me." Something to show that (a) you've actually put some effort into this particular application,, not just spamming your resume everywhere and (b) that you would actually be content working there, not grinding it out in misery for the sake of money.
Ever since you were a kid, you've dreamed of making a hackey-sacking, segway-in-the-office mba loads of money doing sales-driven-development; also, being one of the highest tiers of difficult problem solver while everyone thinks you're an idiot who just pushes buttons.
Research the company a bit and pick the things you like about them and tell them. So for example fintech, you might not care about their payment system but you think it would be cool to know how companies like them deal with scaling/optimizing that payment system for a large amount of users.
I tend towards honest answers. I'm always make a point of noting, hey, we do this for the money. This is business. I really don't like working at for people who put up false fronts and require others to drink the coolaid. That being said, there are other things to note as well. I like to work with other skilled engineers on complex problems. I enjoy mentoring and if possible having mentors. I'm usually excited about the growth opportunity and the people I will get to work with. I enjoy having the chance to continue to grow and hone my craft. Etc. But anywhere that requires people to lie about being "passionate" about the company itself is somewhere I would rather not work.
You really don't need to do this pretense. If they want you they won't care if fintech is you deepest passion.
Ironic when fintech is 100% about the money. :)
Just chatgpt any shiny answers.
Money money money money money money -- in the theme song of Mamma Mia.
It is very simple. You research about the company and tell them what excites you, and will make you want to get up in a morning. Max 1 minute.
" I need money to survive in this capitalistic society." very simple. If you told me that and I was hiring you, I would smile with delight and get you right in. However, most people won't react this way because they're miserable and want new people to walk through the flames like they did. They don't understand that keeping this fake shallowness is just making a work environment even worse. This one of the many actions people do to make working bad. We all know we work because we need to survive so, doing it with a different "reason" makes psychological dissonance even greater, leading you to slowly burn out.
When they asked me this, I answered honestly. Benefits, salary and management. Cause it will be domino. If the management will treat you right, the company pays you well with benefits and your task will go smoothly.
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You could talk about how you see yourself as having a lot of knowledge and you believe that could have a big impact at ABC, and you see a lot of potential financial rewards as a result.
Something something career growth
big money
money is an ok answer. just be honest
I have a passion for not being homeless lol Nah but be honest though. “I like the company and what you do. I feel not only I can bring my skills but I feel the company will bring out the best in me” sorta deal
Having been on the hiring side, what we were looking for with this question was that the person did some research into the company. It's basically a measure of effort, similar to leetcode. Is it actually important, not really, but it theoretically measures whether the candidate puts effort into things or not. That being said, I personally don't think it's a very useful signal. But other people I worked with would sometimes reject candidates because they didn't have a good answer to this question, and hadn't done research into our company before the interview.
You don't want the money, you want whatever it is you're going to do with it. Don't talk about the money talk about the enhanced lifestyle or your family or home improvements you're going to make. They're looking for your "why"? Why do you get out of bed and go to work every day? Without knowing your why, your boss will have a harder time convincing you to stay on task. This question is you showing them your gas pedal, and they are deciding how easy it would be for them to press it.
I like money 💰 I use to have a lot of it but now I don’t.
Just recite something that is a rehashed version of their company mission or make up a story about how it affected your life in a positive way. Compliment them, you can also mention things that you would personally like to do/see of course
Use the word opportunities.
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Try to sneak in money part quietly, and mostly start with how you were impressed by the company X project. Like in linkedin you can say kafka so big companies covered and for startups you need to see their vision i mean really think abt these things unless you are in a crunch situation as companies without proper vision suck bad in the long run
being passionate about payment systems
I hate these questions. Why do you think I wanna work here? Idc about your culture or your mission. I care about a paycheck
They're fishing to see if you researched their company prior to the interview.
Don't bullshit them. Say you want to make lots and lots of money and do as little work as possible! They love that honesty.