4 Tips Of Answering The Question "Why Shouldn't We Hire You" During The Interview

In this global era, having a well-settled life is crucial and a job is one of the important components of a well-settled life. Getting a job is not that easy. You will have to go through various stages and the interview round is one of the most difficult yet important stages. Every question asked in an interview is like the building stone of your career. Hence, you must be very careful while answering them. You know you have to highlight your skills and make a positive impression on the employer when the interviewer asks you to give a reason for hiring you. You know how to articulate your answer positively but the difficult part arrives when you are exposed to the question, “why shouldn’t we hire you?”

You may get discouraged and disappointed by this question because, until this question, your whole focus was on impressing the employer and making him believe in your potential. This is another way of asking the traditional interview question, “what is your biggest weakness?” It can turn things around if you don’t understand the employer’s motive behind asking this question. “Why shouldn’t we hire you for an interview ?” is a tricky one to answer and it required your utmost care. 

Why Does the Interviewer Ask, “Why Shouldn’t We Hire You”?

Every candidate prepares for the questions in advance but the shocker comes when the employer bombards you with “why shouldn’t we hire you interview question” because it may be possible that you didn’t pay any heed to this. Hence, preparing for this question in advance is more important because it gives you a chance to outshine others. It provides you with a chance to highlight your strength, honesty, and capabilities. You must understand the employer’s motive behind asking the question, “why shouldn’t we hire you”. They did not ask this question to highlight your weakness but to know how well you can handle this kind of situation that compels you to think out of the box. If the employer is hiring you then it’s his right to know you in and out. Hence, they usually ask this question to get a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses so that the balance can be maintained.

How to Answer Why Shouldn’t Hire You to Question in An Interview?

“Why shouldn’t we hire you for an interview question” expresses negativity, so you should try to turn it into the positive side. You should twist the question and emphasize your strengths, however, revealing some of your weak points will also be good. The below-mentioned tips will help you in answering this interview question –

Conduct Research

You know very well that research is a key to success. Research provides you with an abundance of information. So, before going for a job interview, you must conduct proper research and get every possible information about the company. This will help you in framing the answer during the interview round. If you know the objectives and expectations of the company, you will be able to turn the question around. If you are aware of the work culture of the company, you will be able to decide which quality of yours will suit the job role and the company’s culture. For instance, if you know that the company is looking for someone who can be an active member, you can say that the employer shouldn’t hire you if they are looking for someone who follows the instructions and does not give his/her input in the company’s activity. This way you can highlight your quality of being an active participant and someone who has their point of view about the situation.

Be Honest

No one in this world is perfect. Everyone has some weak points so you should not say that “There is no reason to not hire me”. This will show your incapability of thinking out of the box and handling tricky situations. This way you will highlight your weakness. Hence, be honest with yourself, your answer, and the employer. By being honest, we didn’t mean that you should reveal everything and provide them with an actual reason to not hire you but you should highlight some of your weak points that may not cause any big hindrance in your performance. For example, you can say that you are an over-thinker which leads you to overanalyze things or you can say that you are a bit emotional and get hurt easily. You can even say that you are not a morning person for that matter. You must have something to say to this question that will show your honesty as well as your ability to think quickly.

Know Your Weakness

The question “why shouldn’t we hire you” entirely based on the weak points can be a small reason for creating hindrance in your performance. Hence, you must identify and know your weak points. You should not shy away or feel guilty about being weak at something. The concept of the perfect employee doesn’t exist so, there is nothing to fear. So, prepare in advance and know where you are lacking. Know your weakness and mention them during the interview. But don’t go overly negative rather discuss your weakness along with how you are trying to improve it. Don’t forget to mention what you are doing to improve that area.  Never mention any such points that make you look ill-fitted for the job.

Value Your Strength

Your strength, skills, knowledge, and experience are the greatest support in your career. Hence, you must know and value your potential. This question is generally asked to trick you but you can turn the tables by playing tricks on the employer. You can do this by emphasizing your strengths in place of weaknesses. However, you must mention a weak point of yours that will not affect your productivity along with highlighting the quality of yours that will help in increasing the growth and productivity of the company as well as yours.

Conclusion

When exposed to the “question why shouldn’t we hire you”, you must act smart by bringing your strengths into the spotlight. You should never go on highlighting the negative point but must mention a weakness. Ignoring to answer is not a good option that will show your inability to think. Also, don’t give them any big reason to not hire you. Maintain your honesty, turn the tables in your favor, and win the game of the interview round.