What Can You Bring to The Company? (With Sample Answers)

No Comments

This job interview question, “What can you bring to the company?” is your chance to convince the hiring manager why they want you to work for them. It’s also an opportunity for you to explain what makes you stand out compared to all the other candidates interviewing for this same position. You see, a hiring manager’s job is challenging because they must match the perfect candidate with the right experience and skills to the job’s requirements. In the end, interviewers are interested in one thing only..what? Well…read on to find out!

In This Article

What the Interviewer Wants To Know
How To Answer “What Can You Bring To The Company?”
Top Performing Sample Answers (Templates)

What the Interviewer Wants To Know

Interviewers want to understand one thing: Can you add VALUE to the company? You see, organizations are a collection of people working towards a common goal. Each team member has a unique set of experiences and skills which add value to the organization helping them achieve a common goal. In other words, hiring managers want to know how your experience and skills add value to the organization. It’s that simple!

However, with other candidates who also possess unique skills and experience for the job role? How do you separate yourself from the rest of them? Well, it’s by describing to the hiring manager what you can do for the company, “NOT” what the company can do for you. Remember, companies hire a candidate to solve a problem for them. So, describe how you have been able to use your skills and experience in the past to help other companies solve similar problems. How do you do this?

Start with the job description by HIGHLIGHTING the KEY SKILL requirements for the job role. Doing this will give you an idea of the kind of candidate the company is looking for and what problems they are trying to solve. For example, let’s look at this random job description:

Now, we can determine from the job description the following: they need someone Reliable, Engaging, has Excellent Communication, Adhere to Schedule, has the Ability to Multitask, and has Attention to Detail. 

Next, research the company to understand its culture and values. What does company culture mean? “It’s defined as a shared set of values, goals, attitudes and practices that make up an organization.”

You see, the hiring manager wants a candidate with the right skills for the job and someone who shares the same values as the organization. You can find this information by visiting the company’s website or LinkedIn page. Here’s an example, if you are interviewing for a job at Facebook, visit their website and locate the information here – https://www.metacareers.com/facebook-life/

BONUS TIP: Speaking to someone who works at the company to learn more about culture and value is a great strategy. Reach out to someone on LinkedIn or connect with someone through a friend.

How To Answer “What Can You Bring To The Company?”

It’s time to describe how your skills and experience align with the company’s requirements. We recommend using the following template when structuring your answer:

First, use the job description and write down the main problems the company wants to solve. Let’s do this together: Here is a job description, and we can determine they are looking for a candidate to do the following: (Highlighted)

 

Second, illustrate how your skills and experience can solve this problem. Use examples, if possible, from your previous work history. Use the STAR method when PREPARING your answer:  STAR stands for Situation (describe the problem), Task (what you decided to do), Action (how you completed the task), and Result (the outcome of the situation).

Finally, add a few sentences describing your strengths and how they fit perfectly into the company culture. Remember, the goal is to align your past experiences with the company’s needs and the job requirements. I recommend NOT including anything that does not add value to your answer.

Why Did You Leave Your Previous Job? (Interview Question With Samples)
What Is Your GREATEST Weakness? |13 Weaknesses To Use In Your Job Interview
How To Write A Thank You Email After Your Job Interview | 3 HIGH-CONVERTING Email Samples To USE

Sample Answers (Templates)

Here are some popular sample answers you can use as a template when preparing your own. Of course, these templates should be customized to match your previous job experience, skills, and qualifications.

1) Here’s a job description for a role at TikTok as a User Support Lead. Here are the KEY requirements for the job.

After reading through TikTok’s job posting, we understand they seek a candidate to help them solve the following problems.

Gather, analyze, and present data to (a) understand and improve upon the team’s efficiency and quality of work, and

Collaborate with cross-functional teams and external vendors to ensure a safe, consistent, and ever-improving experience for our users.

Now, we visited TikTok’s company website to understand more about its culture and mission. TikTok’s culture and mission: “Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy.”

“You are looking for someone who can analyze data to help improve a team’s efficiency and work with various teams and vendors to improve a user’s overall experience. I believe that my experience matches perfectly with your requirements. Throughout my various job roles, I have worked independently and in teams to ensure the highest quality of work is delivered to our customers. For example, at (name of company), I analyzed campaign performance data so the marketing team could make informed decisions on what ad groups were hitting our target KPIs. This data also helped the design team produce media we knew would provide the highest ROI. I am happy to say that I increased efficiency by 10% quarterly through my reporting. I also have experience improving the user experience because I worked with the development team at (name of company) to ensure that the user experience remained seamless from start to finish. I tested different processes, for example, a user’s ability to log in to their account without any errors and their ability to create, edit, and upload media to their publishing accounts. During one session, I noticed that when a user changed their password, it would not be done instantly, stopping them from logging into their account for 3-4 hours. This ultimately hurt the user experience and was not good for our business because we lost revenue when users were not logged in. So, I created a report and forwarded it to the development team to be corrected. Now quickly, I believe my ability to think outside the box and find creative ways to get things done will also be an asset to your organization.”

Great, let’s move on to the next…

2) Meta is looking for a Project Manager. Here’s a job description and the KEY requirements for the job.

After reading through Meta’s job posting, we understand they are seeking a candidate to help them solve the following problems.

Interface with partners and partner managers to support partner’s business and performance goals through operational troubleshooting, analysis, product deep dives, and presentations.

Support day-to-day operations, prioritize incoming requests, troubleshoot issues, and improve performance for creators.

And,

Partner with cross-functional teams, driving collaboration by receiving, processing, and communicating updates on time.

We visited Meta’s company website to learn more about its culture and mission. Meta’s culture and mission can be found here: https://www.metacareers.com/facebook-life/

“After thoroughly reading through the job description, you are looking for an experienced candidate with the skills and qualifications to lead a team to ensure the performance targets are met. My ability to prioritize projects will help your organization accomplish this objective. I’m someone who supports my colleagues to help them troubleshoot performance issues to get the job done and ensure that deadlines are met. I’m also a commercially aware individual who understands how a business operates to make money, so I go above and beyond to work with different departments toward a common goal. To illustrate this, when I was working at (company name), our team developed software to streamline the inventory reporting process. Each team was responsible for a different part, like interface, testing, reporting, etc. There were delays Throughout the project because some teams involved would not provide updates on time, pushing back the entire project. I decided to take action and, at the end of each week, would have a Zoom meeting to get an update instead of waiting for two weeks. This way, we were quick to catch delays before they happened. Finally, I want to make a long-term impact in your organization by removing barriers so we can progress as a company and as individuals.”

3 Secrets To PASSING Any Interview No Matter What The Industry
TOP 16 Interview Tips That Will Get You Hired! (Prepare Like A PRO)
Why Should We Hire You? | 6 BEST Answers To Pass Your Interview
What Are Your Strengths? |15 GREATEST Strengths With Sample Answers
Tell Me About Yourself Interview Question With 5 Sample Answers (Video And Transcript)

Looking for more interview questions? Check out these lists of questions (and example answers!)

14 TOP EMT Interview Questions and Answers – General and Behavioral
14 Zara Interview Questions And Answers – General And Behavioral
16 Common Pharmacy Technician Interview Questions and Answers – General And Behavioral
15 Common Substitute Teacher Interview Questions And Answers – General And Behavioral
30 Common Nursing Interview Questions And Answers
16 Common Dental Assistant Interview Questions and Answers – General And Behavioral
12 Common Truck Driver Interview Questions And Answers