
Ask HN: How to answer properly “Why we should hire you” question? - neurobot
I&#x27;ve ask somewhere on the internet about this question. But, never receive good response and also the answer is not related on my field.<p>This question, has make me failed on interview process on one of antivirus company, despite, it was long a ago, sometimes I cannot move on and still wondering what is the best answer for this typical question.<p>Since, this site a lot of IT guys, it might be related and I hope I will received very good advice and answers.<p>Thanks.
======
rpeden
Assuming they ask this at the end of the interview after you've shown your
skills and discussed your experience:

"I believe I've demonstrated that I'll deliver significantly more value with
my work than I'll cost you in salary and benefits."

That's pretty much the reason anyone should hire you, for any role, in any
industry.

Most interviews are really about demonstrating the value you'll deliver. Keep
that in mind with every question you answer. When talking about your skills
and experience, describe how you'd use them to help the company your're
interviewing with.

If you're being interviewed by the hiring manager, ask them questions to
determine what _his or her specific problems are_ , and talk about how you'll
help solve those problems. If you've done that, you should probably skip the
equivocating and just say:

"You'll make more money from my work than I'll cost in salary and benefits."

Because if you haven't already convinced your interviewer of that by the time
you're asked the "why should I hire you?" question, you probably don't have a
chance regardless of your answer.

EDIT: I like the points some people have replied with! Answer #2 would
probably work best if you're a short term contractor who has to deliver cold,
hard value quickly.

My initial responses were probably a bit of a grumpy off-the-cuff response to
an interview question I think is a bit pointless. The general sentiment is
true, but if the interview has been conducted with minimal competency by the
interviewer, then you'll have already spent the whole interview talking about
why they should hire you and the value you deliver.

If instead they open with "why should I hire you?", that's probably not a sign
that the interview is going to go well either.

~~~
kohanz
Your reasoning makes perfect sense, but the answer is a bit dry and, I don't
know how to describe it, robotic? As someone who has sat in the hiring chair,
if I heard "You'll make more money from my work than I'll cost in salary and
benefits.", I'd get the impression of that person someone who maybe views
themselves as a profit-generating widget in the grand scheme of the company.
I'd wonder a bit what enjoyment/passion that person gets from their work. I
know that's completely unfair, but it's just not a very natural-sounding
response. I just think there are, I don't know, "warmer" ways to phrase it?

Keep in mind, the person deciding to hire you is often somewhat removed from
the bottom line of the company's financials. Even though the end-goal is to
make the company more money, the hiring manager is often not primarily
motivated by that. They're looking for someone who will deliver quality work
while fitting in well with the rest of the team (this part is so important).

So my advice would be to add a tinge of enthusiasm and a display of
personality that you believe would mesh well with the "vibe" of the existing
team. Something like "Given that you're working on projects A, B, and C, I
think my experience with X, Y, and Z can really help improve both the velocity
of the team, as well as the quality of our output". You're saying basically
the same thing, but more in manager-speak (depends on the manager, of course).

I know these are all qualitative/subjective things whereas your statement is
very objective, but that's because I don't believe the hiring process is all
about technical merit and productivity. As much as we might dislike it, it's
about "fit", whatever that means.

~~~
awfgylbcxhrey
_I 'd wonder a bit what enjoyment/passion that person gets from their work._

Why can't someone just be a professional who generates value?

~~~
chias
Because your enthusiasm is your most valuable asset. Enthused employees tend
to be a lot more productive, and also drive up the morale among their peers.

~~~
awfgylbcxhrey
_Because your enthusiasm is your most valuable asset._

Wow, no, that's not even remotely true. My years of experience and track
record of delivering completed products is my most valuable asset.

Enthusiasm doesn't get the job done. Enthusiasm and passion are fleeting.

Honestly, I cannot express how horrified I am by your reply.

~~~
ryandrake
I've had to deal with enough code fueled by enthusiasm. I much prefer working
with code fueled by best practices, focus, and competence.

------
b6
I hope I'm not alone in thinking "why should we hire you" is a bit of a dumb
question and a bit insulting. If I was asked that, I'd be thinking something
like: We're all adults here. We know why you're trying to hire someone
approximately like me, and why I'm trying to get the job. Let's be friends
instead of you trying to get me to trot like a show pony. This isn't a game
show. Or if you think it is, maybe I don't want the job after all, because I
value my dignity.

~~~
iamatworknow
Same goes for "where do you see yourself in [some amount of time]?" Is anyone
ever truly honest in responding to that question, or is the intent to have the
interviewee lie and pledge their long-term loyalty to a company that they
don't even work for yet?

~~~
sidlls
It depends on the company and individuals, like everything else. I've had both
positive and negative results with honesty.

I was honest with my current company. I told them 5 years from now I'd be
considering moving back closer to family with sufficient experience and
promotions on my resume to demonstrate my ability to acquire work that pays
better than what engineers typically make in that region. I also told them
it's unlikely I'd be at the company longer than 2-3 years without some very
interesting work.

I had a similar level of honesty with an employer I was interviewing with
several years ago and they turned me down (without indicating the reason, but
clearly the honesty for that question either worked against me or had little
or no impact on the decision).

~~~
iamatworknow
Good point. Answering honestly will have one of two possible results: they'll
appreciate your candidness and won't hold it against you, or they'll disregard
your application because your honest answer was "not what they're looking
for".

In the latter case that's probably a good thing since you probably wouldn't
want to work for a company that will judge you negatively for voicing an
honest opinion (or prediction). Sounds like a toxic environment brewing from
the get-go.

Still a bad question, in my opinion.

------
chias
This question is your friend.

Don't view it as an "ok, so you did fine I guess, but you better justify your
existence now and play mind games" type of thing. Instead, view it as an
opportunity to end the interview with your best foot forward. Use it as an
excuse to do three things.

1: Summarize what went particularly well in the interview. Your interview was
probably not perfect, and this question lets you refresh the good parts in
your interviewers' minds right before leaving.

2: Talk about why you think this job is something that you would enjoy. _Your
most valuable asset to this company is your enthusiasm._ It's excited and
enthused employees that drive the workplace.

3: Bring up stuff that you _wish_ they had asked you but that didn't come up.
Did you make something cool a while ago that showcases your skills, but it
never came up in conversation? Now is the perfect time to show it off.

~~~
FT_intern
> Your most valuable asset to this company is your enthusiasm.

This makes me want to puke.

~~~
chias
Again, as responded to a separate (related comment):

Sorry, I should have said: _besides your competence_ , your enthusiasm is your
most valuable asset.

In more detail: _assuming all other things equal_ , an employee who wants to
be where he or she is will be more valuable than an employee who is bored. You
have had your entire interview to demonstrate your competence. Assuming you
have done so, when you're down to the final softball question, enthusiasm
matters. Assuming you have not done so, no answer to this question is going to
get you hired.

------
Humdeee
I'm a game-changer that can think outside the box. I bring forth a synergy
that will leverage my ability to hit the ground running and go that extra
mile. Pushing the envelope and reinforcing the company vision statement is
what I'm all about. Goal setting and going after the low-hanging fruit is
paramount to setting us up as a thought-leader and to pivot in a ruthless,
competitive market. I understand that achieving this level of excellence is a
byproduct of continuously moving the needle forward. Once the ducks are in a
row, together we can unleash this unicorn to the world, and prove we are truly
best of breed.

Cue eye-twitch...

~~~
djkrudy
As a hiring manager, I would never believe this response, because as an
interviewee there isn't a company on the planet I could say all these things
about AFTER working there for 30 years, much less before working there. I'd
just laugh because anybody who says something like this has no idea how mucked
up a simple task can get in the real world. Jeez, are you a second semester
business administration UG student?

~~~
Humdeee
"So, did I get the position?"

~~~
djkrudy
"Do you have any questions for us?" "Um, how many days can I call in sick in a
year before I get fired?"

------
patio11
So what's your theory of the mind as to why they would ask this question.

I have two scenarios:

a) They don't want to hire you.

b) They do want to hire you, but are incompetent at interviewing.

A key realization from poker is that if you're in the a bucket your answer to
this question _literally doesn't matter_, so you optimize for the case where
they do want to hire you. I think that this would counsel a response which is
chest-thumping by HN standards but still likely to be effective. (Think of how
you would deliver the answer to that question if you were utterly indifferent
to their approval, because it's so patently obvious, and a little bored before
your next meeting.)

------
jMyles
The main thing that an interviewer is asking you when they ask you this is to
essentially repeat back what you've heard them say.

The best answer to this question is, "I've heard you say that you are looking
for a, b and c, and I think that I can mesh well with your team and accomplish
these things."

~~~
Taylor_OD
This. Tell them what they want to hear. You should know what they want to hear
from the conversation preceding this question.

------
rm_-rf_slash
I have two microwave-ready answers for this kind of question.

1: "I am always learning. I am not afraid to try a new technique or even an
entirely new framework and programming language. All I need is time to learn
and trust that I will arrive to the level of competence required of me. I may
not know everything now, but I will not stop learning. Even if I know
everything I need to do my job today, I will continue to learn how to do my
job tomorrow."

Simple and truthful, although the second answer relates more to me as a
person.

2: "I am not a math person. I can do math, but my brain is wired for language.
That is why I became a programmer: I can speak to the machine just as I can
speak to a customer. By hiring me, you are hiring a liaison between the
technical people, the non-technical people, and the technology itself. I can
understand non-technical people's technical needs and communicate my technical
solutions better than most programmers. I can work with people as well as I
can work with machines, and that is why I am a very effective developer."

The second answer got me the job I have now.

~~~
thinkloop
> I am not a math person. I can do math, but my brain is wired for language.

Not a good time to introduce not's in my opinion. It might work (as it did for
you), but it's high risk.

~~~
rm_-rf_slash
Like I said the second answer applies to me personally. I often say this to
convey my honesty and to plainly state that I have a minor weakness that is
compensated by a superior strength.

If the job requires a math person to sit and code and not talk to non-
technical people, then I am the wrong person for that job and both parties are
better off if they hire someone else.

~~~
thinkloop
"My brain is wired for language..."

Omitting the first part keeps the message and sounds cleaner to me, without
risking the person thinking "not good at math? like basic logic?" (rather than
the cal 3 you had in mind or whatever).

It's rarely beneficial to use up time highlighting anything you're bad at,
rather than better emphasizing what you are good at.

------
pwython
The first result on Google has pretty much all the advice you should need:

[https://biginterview.com/blog/2013/04/why-should-we-hire-
you...](https://biginterview.com/blog/2013/04/why-should-we-hire-you.html)

------
tqkxzugoaupvwqr
I think this question is insulting. You can either lie or tell the truth.
Lying doesn’t reflect well and the truth is mostly “Well, I need money and
this job seems okay.” Of course, no one wants to hear that – even though this
answer is to be expected in most cases.

You can manage (and diffuse) the situation by replying with humor. Make an
over-the-top statement with a big smile to say something without saying
anything. Like “Because I can do everything you need, and I can do it better
than all the other candidates!”. Do not talk about money and especially not
about costs. Just keep it light. A dumb question warrants a dumb answer.

------
JSeymourATL
> This question, has made me failed on interview process... I cannot move on.

You MUST move on. It's an asenine question, the sign of a poor interviewer.
And it's impossible to know for certain that your answer was the deciding
factor why you did not get the job.

Suggest replying with a question-- "Are there any areas lacking in my
background or skill sets that you are concerned about or possibly feel isn't a
good match for your team?"

This helps foster more dialog-- probe for any perceived negatives and then
address those concerns.

Everyday big companies screw-up recruiting, missing-out on otherwise very
qualified, even brilliant talent. Here's a take on Googles process >
[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-02/book-
revi...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-02/book-review-work-
rules-by-google-s-laszlo-bock)

------
stevarino
Ask yourself what you haven't covered. My go-to answer on this is cultural,
not technical. Explain the perspective you approach problems with, how you
interact with others, the experience you have that might not be obvious in a
resume. Maybe even reach a little and go back to something a family member
taught you, or how some life hardship improved your outlook.

This is a great question to me as it provides so much opportunity. If you
can't answer this with enthusiasm, then I think you should reflect on what
makes you valuable. I promise that there is something...

------
niftich
Was this question not originally intended as a nudge to drop some of the
implicit formality of an interview -- where even if the atmosphere is
colloquial, the power balance tilts in favor of the company -- and prompt the
candidate to plainly speak about their thoughts?

Some might propose that it's advantageous to play the mind games and construct
an answer tailored to the culture fit of the company. I question the wisdom of
this: this is akin to lying on a dating site, where the truth, irrespective of
its subtlety, will come out in a relationship sooner or later.

In my opinion, the point is to find a good employer-to-employee match, and you
won't know what answer the interviewer is looking for -- so it's best to drop
all pretenses and fall back to primal emotions: excitement, desire, etc. I
want this. I want the challenge of working here. I think I'd be a great fit
because <short but authentic personal anecdote>.

I don't think this is akin to a retail employee reluctantly feeling pressured
to pledge their allegiance to the brand, but rather a plain assessment of why
you felt to apply there. Perhaps they're looking for a little reassurance that
_they 're_ not an interchangeable cog in your plan, just like you want to feel
like you're valued as a person, not just the sum of all your skills.

------
dinososs
It may be easier to answer if you tell us how you have been answering the
question. For example, what did you say to the antivirus company person that
made you fail the interview?

------
tps5
This question exists because it's hard.

One reason it's hard because the true answer is always: "because you believe
that I will complete more work and therefore generate more profits than the
other 8 people you interviewed, and because you like me more than them based
on the 40 minute conversation we just had." That is not a valid answer in most
interviews I can imagine taking place.

Another reason this question is hard is that questions which ask you to boast
about yourself are always awkward to answer. I find it always comes off better
to be humble in interviews, and this question seems like it's almost begging
you to talk yourself up.

Given this, I would approach this question by ignoring it (more or less) and
answering a different question: "Why do you want to work here?"

"This area genuinely interests me and I'm excited about this work."

"This is the work I want to be doing. I prefer the work that goes on here to
the work that goes on in the 3 other places I interviewed at last week."

I think you can leave out the "...so therefore I will work very hard" bit,
because that's a given. Convince them you actually want the job. If you
succeed, that's a valid, though roundabout, way of giving them a reason to
hire you.

------
arghIdontwantto
Because I will be the best fit for the team from all available candidates. If
you think someone else is, then it is that person you should hire.

Honest, to the point and not BS crap

------
cheath
For what it's worth, it's a horrid interview question. But I'll put that aside
for a second.

Having candor and talking as though you were the interviewer can show empathy
for their thought process while deliberately disconnecting you from the
answer. This can kinda disarm the awkwardness of selling yourself so
blatantly.

Example:

"If I were in your shoes - I would be looking for someone who would be the
best fit for the team and can demonstrate X, Y, and Z skills [Note: great time
to demonstrate understanding of what they're hiring for and pander towards
your specific skill set. The real important thing here is knowing what X, Y,
and Z should be]. Hopefully I have demonstrated that I fulfill those
requirements through our interview, but certainly let me know if there are any
areas that I can provide additional clarity. [In a sales interview, sometimes
someone goes for a close here. Asks the interviewer if they have any
objections about moving them forward to the next step. That's too aggressive
in an engineering interview, but this might eek out an additional question or
two. But in all likelihood, they'll just move right along]".

------
RandomOpinion
Businesses hire people to solve a problem. (Big surprise.) Therefore, to
answer the question effectively, you need to figure out what problems they
need to have solved[0]. Figuring this out includes the research on the company
you've (hopefully) done before applying, reading and fully understanding the
job description, and asking questions during the screening & interview loop
along the lines of "What issues is your business trying to solve?", "What
role(s) do you want the person that you hire to play?", "What pain points does
your organization have?", etc.

From there, the response should more or less write itself: "My
experience/skills in X, Y, and Z are going to help you solve problems A, B,
and C that you're having" or, for less senior applicants, "I'm very interested
in learning more about the technologies/skills you need me to have to solve
problems A, B, C and my past work in I, J, K shows that I can acquire those
skills easily and will be effective in applying them to your problems."

[0] This includes ones that they may not even know they needed to have solved.

------
pizza
It's a question about:

\- investment: showing why/how you maximize their profits amongst other
candidates

\- relief: proving you will make their lives/jobs easier

\- simplifying the selection process: providing a means by which the employer
orders the candidates through their own descriptions of the job

\- sanity-checking: giving bad candidates the opportunity to self-disqualify,
or alternatively indicating a signal for the company to "re-think"

------
nailer
> This question, has make me failed on interview process on one of antivirus
> company, despite, it was long a ago, sometimes I cannot move on

Stop. Hiring is sometimes stupidly arbitrary. Hirers are fallible and some of
the best or most respected developers in the world have been rejected. It
means nothing:

[http://rejected.us/](http://rejected.us/)

------
dpark
> _This question, has make me failed on interview process on one of antivirus
> company_

What was your answer? You'd have to bomb this question pretty badly for it to
sink an interview.

I'd guess that you didn't get the job for some other reason, which could be in
your control or not. You could have had a poor technical showing that day. You
might have been so awesome they thought you'd seen all the questions before.
The interviewers could have been having a bad day. They might have had
multiple candidates and had to pick one. They might have suddenly instituted a
hiring freeze. You might have seemed like a poor cultural fit. They might have
been racist. The hiring manager might have left the company suddenly and they
decided to close the req. There are at least a hundred reasons you might not
get a job and you generally have no visibility into the real reason.

------
janbernhart
There is no 1 answer that would be best in all cases. Depends in the company
you're interviewing for, how the interview went so far and most importantly:
who you are. Don't fall into the trap of overselling yourself because you
think that's what they want to see. Most tech departments I know prefer
modesty. The question might be a check to keep arrogant / over-confident folks
out.

Something along the lines of 'I love my craft/job and am very interested in
the challenges your organizations has' is probably a safe bet.

I hate this interviewing question btw, really don't know why you would ask it
unless you're interviewing for sales positions.

------
krisroadruck
"I have identified several key areas where I can bring value to the company.
Here are a few:

 _list things you can do for them that will make an impact_

Additionally, I am reliable, flexible, work well with others and will work
hard to make a difference here wherever I can."

------
ebbv
I don't think I can tell you the right answer since I don't know you
personally. But I can tell you how I answer it; which is I think of my best
traits that apply to the position I'm interviewing for.

You should follow the same thought process prior to the interview; what do you
bring to the table for this job. Are you experienced in the field? Do you have
high productivity compared to other people you've worked with? Are you really
enthusiastic about the work? If it's a team based environment, do you have
experience working in or even teams in this field?

That's how you answer that question.

------
awfgylbcxhrey
That question is a symptom of the many problems in tech hiring.

1) interviewers spend all their time looking for any reason _not_ to hire you,
rather than looking for what value you can provide. Kind of odd for an
industry with a supposed talent shortage. They'll make some claim about the
cost of false positives, but it's nonsense, at least in America.

2) they expect you to be passionate about sitting in front of a computer all
day (because, for some reason, it's not good enough to simply be competent and
reliable) but during an interview they expect you to have sales skills and to
sell yourself.

------
fallous
There are really only two things an employee can provide that makes them worth
hiring. First you have to produce more value than your expense, which is the
baseline minimum and for some roles is usually sufficient to at least qualify
as a potential hire. The second is that you make the people and things around
you better, which makes you someone that increases the value produced by other
people and processes.

The first is simply additive, the second is multiplicative.

------
internalfx
Respond with a very matter-of-fact tone saying: "If the answer to that
question isn't obvious, then I'm not sure why I would choose to work here."

------
bluGill
Since it is clear by the fact that you asked this question that you have no
clue what you want or why you would hire anyone I no long want this job. Thank
you for the interview practice. Perhaps we will meet again.

Of course most people who are interviewing actually need a job and so they
cannot afford to tell the truth. So you need to BS your way though, but this
is not a useful question to ask in the first place and it reflects bad on them
that they did. If you are lucky enough to get two offers this is a sign you
should choose the other.

This is the right question to frame the interview around: why should we hire
(or not hire) this person. However interviewers need to ask the types of
questions that a well prepared interviewee cannot lie and fool the
interviewer. There is plenty of research on how to interview people: people
who are interviewed have incentive to lie, and probably have done enough
research to figure out what lies to tell.

The problem with "Why should we hire you" is you learn one of two things: how
good the candidate is at delivering a prepared statement; or how good the
candidate is at lying himself out of a tricky situation when put on the spot.
The first is interesting only if you are hiring an actor - but in this case
you can get more information by giving the actor a short speech and a few
minutes to prepare before delivering it. I guess the second is interesting if
you are hiring a thief for a job where he might get caught.

------
ohitsdom
This answer is best tailored to the core company values. What questions have
they been asking you? What traits and skills are they looking for? If you get
this question early on, it might be difficult. But if it's later in the
interview, you should have been able to pick up on a pattern or theme to the
questions (flexibility, specific expertise, initiative/motivation, etc).

~~~
neurobot
The question is on title I am asking about, because there is no technical
question anymore, because I've pass this session on "skill assessment" that
before the process interview is start.

I apply for "vulnerability analyst" or "vulnerability security" kind of..
can't remember. sorry.

btw, it's for junior (because it under 5 years experiences).

------
mindcrime
I don't think there's one "stock" answer to this, although @rpeden's response
is pretty good.

My take is that you should be doing values elicitation throughout the
interview (that is, asking questions to find out what they are looking for)
and then you just use that question as a chance to pitch yourself as the ideal
candidate based on their criteria.

------
mc32
I used to wonder why people would inject predictable boilerplate questions.

Basically, they want to make sure you have the right skills as well as have
the decency to be able to prepare correctly and not take things for granted or
take anything too lightly.

I mean, if you can't answer a boilerplate question, hoe can they expect you to
fulfill the occasional proforma task?

------
vorotato
If you have to ask I'm going to put my time and effort into a company that
already sees something valuable in me. Thanks for your time.

------
bitwize
Why do you feel the need to impress an employer with a BS answer to a BS
question.

Companies _should_ be willing to give you a fair shake if you made it as far
as an interview. If you have to justify their decision to consider you during
the interview process, how would they be on the actual job? My guess: not very
pleasant.

------
bsvalley
It' a non-technical way to see if it's a great fit or not. Before an
interview, you should always prepare the following 3 key points:

\- My XXX will help your company succeed.

\- Your YYY will help me grow

\- I believe in your ZZZ

XXX: skills, experience, etc. YYY: technology, project, product, etc. ZZZ:
vision, culture, values.

~~~
ashark
Bearing in mind (this part's tough to come to terms with for anyone raised to
value honesty) that _zero_ of those things need to be true—they just need to
be what will get you the job, and they need to be said convincingly-enough for
the person interviewing to accept what you've said (depending on the situation
they may not even need to _believe you_ —interviews are _weird_ ).

It's not that they _have_ to be false, but in the vast majority of all
successful interviews ever where these things were asserted, _some or all of
them were_. If they're not true _and_ you're not willing to lie about them,
it's typically not worth interviewing.

~~~
bsvalley
I'm %100 on your side. This is how the whole hiring process works though, on
both sides. The employers make it sound like a dream job and they know it's
not. So... it's a complete joke and that's why the process is very subjective
anyway

------
mydpy
The answer to this will probably change based on where you are in your career.

~~~
falsedan
I think devs at all levels can help a company reduce waste or increase output.
The answer is always, "I will help your company be more effective (at making
money/executing its non-profit work)".

------
planetjones
I'd hope the interview / assessment process already gives the interviewer the
answer. If not I doubt the interview process. A good answer to this question
will mean very little.

------
fluxic
[https://youtu.be/mJHvSp9AKYg?t=39](https://youtu.be/mJHvSp9AKYg?t=39)

------
megamindbrian
"You shouldn't. Instead you should hire all 10 other candidates to do the job
that it would take me to do."

------
telebone_man
"I just want a business/client to take advantage of my enthusiasm" has worked
well for me!

------
VLM
Some of the responses are a little over broad. Sometimes in an interview the
discussion will revolve around current projects and challenges and the
candidate needs to pay close attention and repeat back. Thats really all there
is to it.

It wasn't in the bland HR generated job req but todays task is we're trying to
talk to the MQTT server and ... anyway five minutes later to see if the
candidate is listening the interviewer asks why you ... If the candidate
responds with something indicating the candidate heard the interviewer five
minutes ago talk about MQTT servers or libraries or whatever, then awesome,
thats exactly what the interviewer expected. If the candidate rambles about
their resume its because they were not paying attention and in the workplace
its annoying to tell someone what to do and then have them go off on a totally
separate tangent. If the candidate panics and goes lost in space, they were
daydreaming about lunch or the TV show they watched last night and that is
also annoying in a professional workplace during a professional conversation.

"Yo I heard you say in this interview you're working on X Y and Z right now
and let me tell you all about how I can speed it up and lower risk by helping
you out with X Y and Z."

Oh and don't surprise the interviewer. They read your resume and expect an
answer along the lines of what they read. Or heard. Even if its true don't
suddenly shout out Holy Cow thats exactly like a programming assignment I did
in class or some random thing. Before they even asked they already guessed
what your response will be and you want them all warm and fuzzy by restating
what they expect.

You know take home projects? This question is like a take home project without
the take home. You mention rabbitmq they freak out or go on a fizzbuzz tangent
or talk about freebsd in general, not so good. If it were a take home
assignment they'd fail or come back with a solution to a different problem,
not so good. You mention rabbitmq and they respond rabbitmq ah now there's an
attentive on task future employee whom if I HAD assigned a rabbitmq take home
project would probably have returned with a solution to the rabbitmq problem
as opposed to something else or nothing...

Edited to add, think of it like the conversation you probably have with your
boss on a regular basis. Especially if the interviewer might be your new boss.
Boss says yo I'm getting a lot of heat about bug #15133 and feature request
#126699 and then you talk about the weather for ten minutes and the
conversation closes with some sort of what you're doing today? and it better
revolve around #15133 and #126699 and I totally have a plan and the skills to
handle it, definitely not oh shit I type meta-x panic-mode, or I have no idea,
or how about that TV show last night, or whatever.

------
LoonyBalloony
"Why should I work for you?"

