Application why are you interested in this position

All varieties of this question require a similar response. In this article, we discuss the best ways to answer this question with examples. Many interviewees address the first three questions, but it is easy to overlook the fourth.

Remember that employers value candidates who aim to meaningfully contribute to company goals while also advancing their own careers. While you should certainly craft an answer to this question that addresses your unique skills and qualities as it relates to the position, there are several general steps you can take as you prepare before the interview:. Thinking about this question before the interview will enable you to quickly answer the hiring manager, demonstrating professionalism and preparedness.

To develop a response, you must first understand the responsibilities of the position. Thoroughly reviewing the job description before the interview is a good idea. Are you going to interact with customers? Will you be responsible for accounting-related tasks? This knowledge is essential to properly communicate your motivations for pursuing the role and to understand which of your qualifications are most relevant.

This information tells you which professional skills to highlight in your answer. With the above example, you could respond with an answer such as:. I feel this position will allow me to succeed because my interpersonal skills help me establish meaningful relationships with vendors, and my experience with accounting software allows me to confidently manage invoices and inventory databases.

The type of role. The size or type of company for example a start-up. And you need to make sure whatever you say fits their job and company. You could mention details you saw on the job description, on the company website, etc. Show them you understand what their role involves and are excited to be doing the work!

For this final step, you can also consider adding a bit about how your previous experience will help you do well in their job. However, these sample answers can help you see all of our advice in action. Adapt your answer to suit your reasons, but keep the tone, timing, and general strategy in mind as you craft your answer:.

Designing web pages to optimize the user experience is something that I excel at and enjoy. As someone who grew up in a place with unhealthy tap water, I know how important achieving this vision is to create healthy and productive communities. Working together with your engineering team, I think we can come up with exciting solutions to these and other emergent problems. My research also showed that ABC has a great professional development program to upskill workers, which to me indicates a commitment to collective improvement that I appreciate.

Some common interview questions have a lot of potential for horrible mistakes. Focusing too much on yourself. No enthusiasm. You may have sent your resume all over town and this is just the first place to call you in for an interview. Do your research and have a plan. Resume repeats.

This is not a question about walking the hiring manager through your resume. Our resume builder tool will walk you through the process of creating a stand-out Architect resume. Reflect on your past achievements. Be positive and authentic. As for authenticity, that pre-interview self-reflection will go a long way. Ask follow-up questions. So forget automated translations or even professional translations from folks who do not possess a decent level of technical knowledge.

Now, for some, this may seem like an insurmountable challenge. It can indeed prove pricey. But there are strategies to lower the price of entry. My teammate and I did back in the days to analyze the manuals we had on hand and prioritize them. Translating the full page user manual that explains all the bells and whistles? Very time-consuming indeed!

Beginning with the "Getting Started" document? Much, much more doable. Some good distributors will even do this for you. If you have local engineers on staff, they may similarly be able to do it. After all, when you start operations somewhere, you always need to wear a few hats.

Of course, clients will keep on asking for more documentation to be translated over time. But in my experience, the amount and schedule is usually negotiable, and over time it is possible to grow the diversity and quality of documentation as local sales grow.

That is an effective way to manage the barriers to entry. Japanese customers in the software industry aren't only asking for documentation, of course.

They conduct their whole business in Japanese—sometimes, even with foreigners. That may surprise some because English is very much the lingua franca of the software industry. You can usually get by speaking English only with clients in many countries around the world. But anyone that ever visited Japan will confirm that things can be quite different there.

Why is this? Essentially, learning a foreign language is always easier if your target is close to your native tongue. For instance, English and French share many words. They use a similar sentence structure, namely subject-verb-object. They also share the same alphabet, minus a few diacritics. Japanese uses two sets of alphabet-like symbols more accurately described as syllabaries while still sprinkling a fair dose of kanjis —symbols that express ideas and were initially imported from China.

And while Japanese chose to import phonetically many words from English and other European languages, the pronunciation can be significantly different. That one is tricky. I know. I am a student of the Japanese language.

It takes a lot of practice—and a lot of "CPU cycles"—to flip the order of words before uttering a sentence! That has significant impacts on both external and internal stakeholders. For example, say your company sells a unit test tool. You want prospects to find you, so you finance a keyword search targeting Japan. However, sponsoring "unit testing" may not yield much in terms of leads.

So, do you need a Japanese website? However, it would help if you did not forget the impact of the language barrier you may have internally. For example, communicating with your local employees can sometimes be equally challenging. As a result, they may feel that you do not fully grasp their situation. You may fail to pick up on a few cues they provide out of cultural differences. For instance, Japanese business speech tends to be very formal, very polite, and for those accustomed to a much more direct speech style, it may create confusion.

For a funny example, watch my video above. Just as showing the flag is an effective strategy to build your local presence see the first part of this article , it can also be an excellent lubricant for your relationships with the remote Japan office or distributor.

In my experience, there are plenty of things that may only become apparent to executives after speaking face-to-face with remote employees.

As I explained before, business relationships in Japan tend to be very formal. When you enter a boardroom to meet people for the first time, you are expected to go around the room in a specific order. You meet the senior person first and yes, you sometimes need to guess who that is. You then present your business card with two hands, with the writing facing your counterpart. Then, pronounce a few words to introduce yourself bonus points if done in Japanese , and bow down.

Repeat for other attendees. The Japanese language reflects this. Ever wondered about the long diatribes waiters at restaurants pronounce when you enter the place? Yes, that is keigo too. You ignore manners to your peril. If a prospect concludes that you are not paying sufficient respect, he may conclude you will not be a reliable business partner. Pure and simple. Fortunately, there is a simple way for you to prepare: do your research. You may even learn some of the local tongue.

After all, doing business is about building trust, which requires breaking the ice. However, there is no need to be perfect. For one, usually Japanese do not expect perfection from you. You are a foreigner, after all. Besides, keigo is difficult even for the Japanese to master! For example, a few years ago, I visited a prospect of ours.

A competitor also a foreign company visited them before and claimed that only their tool could be used for a certain level of certification because they had a feature we lacked.

That was incorrect. We were used successfully at that level of certification by other clients. And that competitor probably knew it, as I saw this "fact" repeated by many clients in Asia.

However, when you tried to set the record straight, many clients viewed my answers with suspicion. Usually, I keep my cool at all times, especially in Japan. But on that occasion, I allowed myself, quite consciously, to express irritation. Irritation because it was not accurate. Irritation because, in my view, this was a lack of respect for the client.

I told him they probably knew better. And I offered to put him in contact with clients of mine that would confirm what I said. That is definitely not what you can expect from your typical Japanese businessman. And truth be told, expressing irritation is usually a risky strategy. But in my judgment, the circumstances warranted it.

As a foreigner, I enjoyed a bit more leeway. So, by all means, learn and respect the local culture. The more you know, the better you will be. But realize that your status as a non-native doesn't only carry disadvantages.