[djkrudy]

This is not an answer to the question. The question is actually "Why should we hire you, INSTEAD of the next person in the door. I'd be weary about working for a company that fell for the "You give me money I give you work worth more money" answer. This question is asked to discern why or how you cannot be generalized into being just another grunt who will be the first to be laid off. What qualities, morals, connections, skills, perspectives do you bring? This is your chance to not be a piece of paper. Speaking to your resume is very dry, this is an opportunity to show your intrinsic value. Warren Buffet is just an investor, right? Elon Musk is just a business magnate, right? NO, these leaders have qualities that don't fit into work experience. The hiring process is 2 things really: 1, finding grunts to create slightly more value than they are paid(as told in above answer), and 2, a lot like venture capitalism. A good company is looking for people with high potential to pay back 10x, 100x, etc in innovation, or as leaders. If they hire the first 50 people in the door, they have a 1 in 50 chance (for example) but if they vet and press people to explain why a company should bet on them, instead of a random selection of "qualified applicants", they can improve those odds considerably. If you think the job search is literally luck of the draw in a pool of people with similar experience, or a comparison of who has the most degrees, you won't succeed in face-to-face interviews. I'll provide my stock response, paraphrased, but your answer should be true for you, this is an answer that MUST be truthful, because they're asking for your identity. "Why should we hire you" "Because of my dogged commitment to "right". I'm someone who will not be happy with the answer I get in the typical 9-5 if I know I can get a better one. I'm not content biting my tongue on a new idea, even if it creates more work for me. I will stand up for fair treatment of ALL of my coworkers, and I will gladly accept, and seek out criticism about my work and behavior. Integrity is the most important moral I have, and that means it stands above profit, job security, etc etc etc." Do you have a life experience that armed you with incredible empathy? This is when to break that out, without sounding whiny. Do you have skills that don't fit within the scope of experience, but provide you with an edge in day to day tasks, etc?

[rpeden]

You make good and fair points.

The first answer I wrote assume you've already described your unique qualities, skills, perspectives earlier in the interview. Because all of those non-monetary contributions absolutely provide value. And they definitely can be, and often are, the difference between success and failure for teams and companies.

I think if you've spent the interview gently highlighting all of the ways you provide value, then when you're hit with a closing question like "Why should I hire you?", you likely won't need to spend too much time describing what that value is. Reiterating a few of the points would often be a good idea, though.

The second, more blunt answer I wrote is probably most appropriate if you're a contractor who has to come in, deliver something valuable very quickly, and then go away.